Death to "offers"

The wise thing to do is post the link to your Wants within the FT thread you start. It's something, at least.

 

doesn't the sticky in the iso/ft forum prohibit " offers " style threads?

edit: 4th bullet

 

Whenever I see, "ISO: Offers," I immediately get turned off. My assumptions of the OP are typically:

1) doesn't have a good sense of 'trade value' and might be thinking their semi-limited local is Pequod material
b) isn't interested in setting up a fair trade, but looking to max out what I'm willing to offer
iii) will dump whatever deal we agreed upon for the next juicy beermail he/she receives

Is there anything wrong with these practices? No, with the exception of (iii), but it seems like lazy practice. If you have zero idea on fair value, do a little research. If you do, offer some starting point or beers you'd consider for the trade.

 

i couldnt agree more!!

 

I prefer someone list at least a few specific beers they are looking for to at least provide some range of what value they are looking for. When I see only "offers" it does kind of seem like an auction. I've had a few good trades happen by responding to one of those, but it's the exception not the rule.

For example something like this would be fine for me
ISO: Dark Lord, CBS, Upland lambics, other stouts/sours

It at least gives some expected range.

 

I wish there were a separate forum for posting auctions, and that posting there blocked a user from posting in the ISO/FT forum for a certain period of time. If you want to maximize your value on every trade, go ahead, but do it from the back of the bus (so to speak).

Oh, and the Trade: Auctions forum would also have an "Enter at your own risk - threadshitting is absolutely allowed here" sticky...

 

Only time I pull the “offers” is when trying to trade in-person and locally. Being in the same area for this means I probably have really similar selections. Seeing what people offer tells me what they may have that I can't get locally. I guess I could just submit "barleywines" or "interesting stouts". Had no idea it was that kind of turn-off. And I know not everyone is like me, but my wants list is huge and hard for me to narrow down, especially when I'm in the same area as potential trading partners. But the point has been noted.

 

I recently did a trade where I was in search for random offers. I listed a few styles I liked and a few beers I was interested in, and ended up setting up two trades, both for beers I had never heard of before, two of which were from breweries I'd never heard of. At least for me, when I ask for offers, I'm interested often in obscure or local beers that I don't know about rather than trying to drive up the value of what I'm trading.

 

I think that part is the key difference between what people are talking about in this thread and your post. Many "offers" posts seem to not list any specific beers, definitely lending to the "maximizing their potential" theory.

 

Build it and they will come.

 

What you said doesn't come across as an auction post to me. In my opinion, suggesting that offers are allowed, even in the title, isn't the problem. The problem is when it comes across as an ISO: BEST offers. At that point, I get the impression that the person has purchased a bunch of beer off the shelf to leverage a trade. I don't have a problem with that inherently, but if you're trying to turn it into an auction, then there's very little chance that I'm interested in participating.

 

There are two types of "offers" posts. One is just looking for best available auction style. Two is legitimately looking for something interesting and off their radar.

It's not always easy to tell which is which, but it is an important distinction.

Also, this all gets further complicated by the widespread use of "ISO: Wants". Is there really any difference between saying "ISO: Wants" and "ISO: Offers"? I really don't think so. Even if the intent is slightly different, both ISO's end up fielding offers.

 

I've used the practice dozens of times and it's worked well for both parties. Almost all of my trade posts are open-ended either on the ISO or the FT side. If you can't muster up the nerve to make a tempting offer maybe you should sit this one out and trade for something else.

 

That is the best reference I have seen all day. Heh, whale tail.

 

I agree that exploiting trade value sucks, but there are times where is it just tough to juge what people want. I for example am planning on trying to find a Hill Farmstead trading partner soon and having a lot of trouble finding one with the current state of the site/community. So I might have to post something like ISO: HF Stuff, FT: Cali stuff/Bruery RS, which I know is overly general, but it is the best I can do right now.

 

Don't see a problem with it. If you really want the beer, make your offer. If he comes back and tells you someone offered 'more', tell him to trade with that person instead.

 

i dont mind someone asking for offers, there's definitely been times where i'm not totally sure what i want and would like to see what's out there.

what DOES bug me though is when people put up a pretty rare beer (ie - kate, CR, or something along those lines) without any inkling of what they might want for it. then we get a bunch of people offering up locals, 120min, and vintage rogue beers, followed by other people saying stuff like "you better come more correctly than that," turning the whole thread into a mess of crappy offers and threadshitting.

this is also magnified when traders with no wants/gots/reviews post these threads bc no one has any clue as to what they want or have tried already. they could have ticked 2k beers or they could have randomly stumbled upon beatification/black note/ba hunahpus bc they live in the area or have friends who brought them to the release. once again, communication is key.