Good day guys, I am a new member and I wanted to ask how you first started trading to build feedback. Would like a "locals for locals" be a good way to start? I know most BA members are looking for specific beers, however I find it difficult to conduct any trades since I am limited on the distro area and I only have Texas Beers along with whatever I can pick up when I go to Austin to Jester King or whatever is at my nearest Specs...any help would be appreciated.
First thing to do would be to build your wants and gots lists up. I see you have some on your gots list already. A locals for locals trade happens all the time and would be a good start. You also need to be prepared to ship first as you have no feedback or reputation built yet. Knowing what styles of beer you like is always helpful as well.
Thanks for the info man. I haven't really toyed around with building up my wants and gots. I figured a locals for locals would be the easiest way to start trying new beers. I'll be sure to update my profile with more info.
And I understand that I would have to ship first, which I would be perfectly fine with since I know that I have 0 history or feedback.
Are you looking for any locals, in particular? Like from a certain state or region, it might help to narrow your focus a bit
Not necessarily. I'm mainly just trying to build up a good rating, so that I can build into bigger trades. IPAs, stouts, porters, hefes, pale ales, belgians, I enjoy them all. I'm not looking for any rare brews that require a lot of searching or $$...I'm merely trying to join into the trading game with fellow beer drinkers for now and then do bigger trades for the rare stuff!
"Local for Local" is a great way to start. Hell, I still prefer it over trading for specific bottles. The ticker in me loves getting a box full of beers I would never come across otherwise. I like to specify a dollar or ounce amount for the box and leave picking the beers up to my trade partner. Pick a region or brewery you want to try and throw up a $4$ ISO.
Thanks @pnelting! I plan to do that and build up some trades. I'm like you, I'm open to trying new beers that I would otherwise not ever get my hands on so new beers are always a plus! Cheers!
When possible get those delicious Jester King limited release beers both to drink & to trade. Peruse ISO:FT threads featuring beers you have to trade & beers you're interested in acquiring. You want to develop an idea of what you should reasonably expect to give up for beers you want to try & what you can reasonable expect in exchange for those beers you have to trade.
Second the idea of locals for locals. that is how I got into trading, and the first 3 or 4 trades I did was mostly shelf locals until I felt more comfortable going for bigger stuff. It is a great way to build up your reputation, and get some experience dealing with shipping and all the details of trading.
Welcome to the wonderful, terrible, awesome, torturous, fun, horrible world of trading! Locals for locals is always a fun trade to make. Educate yourself a little on what you might want to try, and definitely be prepared to have a list of what you have to offer. My advice to you is not to commit to trading anything until you have it in your possession. There's nothing worse than a trade going south because someone promised beers they assumed they could get but were sold out when they went to pick them up. Good luck and have fun!
I started off the same way with local shelf for local shelf. I actually posted a question in the new member forum and someone messaged me about trading. I have done two such trades and both went great, in both cases we just agreed on a dollar amount to spend. It was like Christmas morning opening the box seeing what the other person had sent. The one thing I found is even though I went over the agreed dollar amount the other person did more so. Once the weather cools down I plan on trying again for a local for local.
I'm fairly new here also and looking into starting up with some trading soon, and this was exactly my thought as well. Local shelf for local shelf - $4$. My intention is to even do it blind with what's coming to me ... just offering up types I like and having someone blindly send me some stuff I can't get in the NW. I think that's a fun way to do it to try new things you typically can't get in your region, especially when just starting out with trading.
Jester King beers are certainly good for generating trades! I'd tell you that I want some, and would do a trade for MI beers, but I think my FedEx budget is spent... :/
Locals for locals is a great way to start. You should be able to get plenty with some non limited JK stuff
Start with locals for locals, build relationships with people through that. There are many members on here that I've met from doing simple trades that I now talk to all the time. We send boxes back and forth without notice, muling for each other, trustees, etc.
