Lots of people are going to be opening a lot of packs these next few days, all with the purpose of obtaining the new base cards. With a hot new sig also on the market, there are just as many people out there hunting for it as well. Here are my methods for tracking down cards you might need.

WRITING A GOOD HOOK

The fan feed is a difficult place to understand unless you have been around a while. The trick to getting people to bite is just as difficult when you are the one posting. To write a good hook, I would do one of the following:

• List one or two VERY specific card(s) you are looking to get rid of
• Tell people what you are looking to trade for
• Tell people you are looking to trade anything
• Use at least some of the emojis to make your post stand out

I would not do:

• Create a giant have/want list
• Just write the word “trades”
• Say you are new
• Say you are going to rate high regardless (invites people looking to boost their ratings despite bad trades)
• Say you always counter
• Say you are accepting all good trades
• Say you only want starting pitchers

Here is a good example of a hook I would use:

***************************
Have Ventura sig – looking to trade
for inserts and other new cards

Simple, yet effective. You will get more bites this way.

MAKING OFFERS ON CARDS YOU WANT

Take note, if you are the one making the offer, you will likely have to overpay regardless of the card you want. Its just the way it works. I always throw in cards that make it look like I am overpaying, when in reality, the cards I am offering contain only the card I am planning to give up combined with 5-6 junk cards that are silver and gold.

People are wowed sometimes by quantity if the cards are silver and gold, even more so if they are inserts. A lot of junk inserts exist, and they can make your trade look more attractive despite not having any real value. Keep an eye out for deals you can pick up these cheap cards, because they will come in handy.

As everyone is familiar, hitters are relatively worthless this season, but big names can be nice added value when throwing cards in a trade to make it look better. Similarly, if you need one bit of advice its this:

JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE DOESNT HAVE A CARD, DOESNT MEAN THEY WANT THAT CARD TO ADD TO THEIR COLLECTION.

Dont take the fact that someone doesnt have a card as an invitation that they will overpay to get it. Just saying, as it happens all the time to me. As more gamer than collector, I dont need a complete set – just cards I play. Im not going to trade cards I play for cards I need, especially if they are non-playable.