It's Not Fair, It's Really Not Right...

True. Yeah, I've only heard that one once but I quickly bowed out.

 

It depends on the beer, if its a relatively available beer like Heady Topper that is going to trade at $4$ with other limited, brewery only type beers. If its something like Proprietor's Bourbon County, then its only going to trade $4$ with other equally limited beers, and if you are trading "up" in quality, expect to be on the short end of $4$ stick.

 

Just throwing out an educated guess here:
In the first scenario Beer X is most likely Mexican Cake. OP probably paid north of $20 in NY.

I am very curious what beer Y is though.

 

No, he was trying to trade 1 can(not a 4 pack) for 1 track 10, then offered 2 cans. Still way off what I wanted to trade

 

To me, it really depends on what is considered to be overpaid for you and your potential trade partners. Anything above brewery price? Use the lowest cost where you "saw" it for in a low cost of living area? BCBCS '14 for example were $12/ea at most stores in NYC, $10/ea here in Philly. It's a lot less in the south Atlantic distro areas. Russian River sours are consistently between $18-21/ea here in Philly. They're $13-14/ea at RR.

I really believe in being flexible with your trade partners and be honest upfront. I generally tell potential trade partners to look to complete trades first with those who live closer to the brewery. I will let them know what these cost me and let them decide whether or not they are willing to trade at that price. Most of the time, though, if the difference is significant, I take my cost + cost at the brewery and divide by 2 and use the average, effectively having both partners footing the "over charge". In turn, I am willing to do exactly the same, i.e open to trades for the cost my partners paid, take average, or whatever we agree on. Of the many trades I completed, I think there were 2 instances where potential trade partners saw the price quoted and decided not to pursue.

The main thing here is to give your potential trade partners a choice and let them decide whether or not paying a particular price is fair to them and not force them to take it.

 

I don't understand how this average/brewery retail cost stuff is relevant. The concept of $4$ is that both parties are parting with a certain amount of goods, which is = to an amount of $ they have previously spent. The idea is that the returning beer cost the other party the same amount, so that the net change of $ is 0. You are essentially each going out and buying a selection of beer from someone else's area for the same amount of $.

If you're concerned about value above or below actual $ spent in any way, then don't trade based on $4$.

 

The issue is when someone pays a big mark up, then wants to re-coup that cost. If they are the only one trading a certain beer, well fair enough, but if there are alternatives out there that paid the normal price... For example, I recently traded some Bomb! In San Francisco, other major metros it retails for $10 a bottle. I traded it as $7 a bottle because that is what it costs in its home state - I knowingly paid a big mark up and I feel like a douche if I then passed that decision on to a trade partner.

We are usually only talking a few bucks, but I saw KBS selling for $10-12 a bottle. Well, it was $5-6 at retail (or the brewery release) so sometimes people have actually paid double the price they should - it is up to the individual, but I wouldn't trade with someone who wanted $12 for KBS...

 

The goal of a $4$ trade is an exchange of assets netting a change of $0 between 2 people (aside from shipping). You are more or less trading access and transferring money both ways. Once you deviate from the price someone has already paid, you're trading on value (aka the brewery set the value at $8 so that's what it is worth), and that isn't a $4$ trade.

 

I think we just disagree on what $4$ is.

 

You're using national average cost or something akin to MSRP to represent the $ in $4$ as opposed to the actual $ paid. But the trade is between two people who have quantifiable prices paid, so adjusting those prices only makes it more approximate for no reason. What's the point of trading MSRP for MSRP if everyone has invested amounts different than those and you can use the actual amounts?

 

I just wish it was as simple I have good beer that you like do you have good beer I would like if so lets trade. Who cares if my beer is $3 is more than your beer or vice versa hook somebody up and most likely you will gain a trading partner for future trades.

 

Agreed.. if you're than bent out of shape for a 3$ difference then you probably shouldn't be buying and trading beer anyway. This obviously doesn't apply to once brewed/limited beers though.

 

Per chance, was this person from my home state?

 

Because some people over pay. I know where there is half a case of BCBS sitting in Chicago. It is marked up to $40 a 4 pack... It only trades at $27ish a 4 pack because that is what most people paid.
When we are talking about a few bucks no-one rational cares, but if I wanted $40 of special release beer for my 4 pack of BCBS most people would think I was nuts because I paid 50% more than normal.

Again, we disagree on what $4$ means. To me it means "what it usually costs / what most people pay for it". To you it is specific to the person, it is "what did they pay". Neither is wrong, we just have different understanding.

 

Maybe, I know it wasn't Vermont. So he was probably adding trading or traveling cost. But was unfair on my end of the trade.

 

How do you know those are the actual amounts though? Request people to show their receipts? Yeah I know be trustworthy but I've seen enough chicanery on the trading forum that it would not surprise me one bit if some people inflate their "price paid" so they can squeeze out extra value. Zombie Dust mentioned above is a good example where I bet some of this happens. People pick up at the brewery for $10 and say they paid 16-18 for it. I think the $4$ value for ZD should always be $10 (unless the brewery raises the price of course) and I'm someone local who is more likely to trade ZD than to trade for it. $1-2 difference I probably wouldn't sweat but something like 6-8 on the ZD example is a bit different. The vast majority of traders are honest but there is a subset of traders who treat it like a game unfortunately.

 

Gotcha. I was offered something similar, but the initial offer started with (2) Heady, perhaps as a "hometown discount." Needless to say, we couldn't work anything out as the offer stopped at (2) cans.

 

Honestly, if you don't trust the price they say, don't trade with them at all.

 

It is with a large majority of traders.
I've taken the bad end of $4$ before based on the beer that I wanted & it was close $ wise.
I've been on the good end also & usually I recognize that & throw in better extras than I would normally

 

I think you'll see in most completed trades is that market value supersedes personal costs/expense. Certainly there are beers that command more value based on scarcity.