Its been awhile since I have really covered trading in depth, so I think its time to cover it one more time. Because there are so many new users as of late, I wanted to run down some of the more difficult parts of trading to understand. It is an art, and I want new users to understand that this is just my opinion, and it will likely take a lot of finesse to really get what you want.

Avoiding Terrible Offers

When you are new, its very difficult to trade for the really valuable inserts, and that’s okay. You can still play the game and have fun without a sig or any inserts. The trick is to trade for more cards until eventually you either pull a good card from a pack or you can find someone willing to to overpay for something they need. If you dont have the firepower to make an offer, wait. Making terrible offers will just get you ignored and you will lose the chance at ever trading again with that user. You are going to be at the bottom of the totem pole for a while, but that doesnt mean you should try to jump from the ground floor to the penthouse overnight. BUILD UP.

Card Counts

For lack of a better explanation, card counts drive the game. When the card is flipped over, its the number in parentheses to show how many copies are in circulation. The lower the count, usually the more valuable it is. A “Rare” level card with a low card count can easily trump a “Super Rare” card with a high count. The lower the card count, the more demand there will be, so be careful in offering your cards against low count inserts.

Inserts vs Base

There are two types of cards in the game, and both serve a big purpose. Base cards are the ones with the colored borders, and some can be quite valuable – especially those pitchers that can score hundreds per game. Inserts are the cards that are more for collecting reasons, and dont look anything like the base cards. They can vary from set to set, and some can be some of the most valuable cards in the game. Inserts rarely if ever score more than a white common card, so there is no gameplay reason to collect them if you are only looking to score points. The rarer the insert the more valuable the card, unless they are a sig. In all likelihood there are not many users willing to trade base cards for inserts, but you might get lucky. Do not offer a bunch of commons for a rare insert card, as that is a recipe for disaster.

Collectors vs Gamers

This is where things can get complicated. There are players who are on Bunt solely for the collection element of the game, and only care about having one of as many cards as possible. There is also a contingent of players who only care about scoring points, and need multiple copies of the gold cards to ensure they can be in the top of the rankings. When looking at their sheet, it can be subtle, but dont expect someone to give up a card just because they have more than one copy. Equal value is king.

Starting Pitchers

Thanks to a generally unbalanced scoring system, Starting Pitchers are a point machine in most cases. Cards like Hernandez, Kershaw, Kluber and Wainwright Golds can trade like rare inserts, which makes them impossible to trade for unless you are willing to give up a ton. Card counts may be in the thousands, but when everyone is looking for nine copies, they become exceedingly rare.

Need Does Not Mean Want

Just because someone doesnt have the card doesnt mean they WANT the card. Secondarily, just because they have a card, doesnt mean they wouldnt like another copy. I personally think a lot of good trades are wasted because someone only offers cards the other person doesnt have.

Trading for Sigs

There is one type of insert that rules them all. Sigs are the insert that everyone wants, and I will warn you against offering for them unless you have something of extreme value in your collection. People guard and hoard their sigs like there is a famine coming, and that makes them basically unattainable for newer users. That’s fine, after a long enough time you will save up enough to eventually get one if you are patient. Patience is the key, and without it, you will only ruin your reputation.

Multiple Trade Offers

If you send someone a trade and they decline without a counter, dont offer again. Just dont. It will just get you ignored.

Notes and 1:1 Trading

I always advise against putting notes in your trades. Its only going to annoy the other person. If they decline, so be it, your note wouldnt have changed that. Dont put in notes begging for them to accept, or for them to counter. It will work against you. Leave the trade blank. If they have a card you want and you dont think you have something they will want, send a same card trade with a note instead. Ask them nicely to take a look at your collection and see what you have. They may respond, they may not. Dont worry about it either way.

Countering

On a normal load time, countering can take up to 2-3 minutes depending on your card score. Thats why people dont counter anymore. It literally just takes too long. Make a good offer on the first try and maybe you will get lucky. Walk away if they decline.

Overpaying

If you are making the offer, expect to overpay. Because people with nicer collections are far in the minority these days, they can sit back and wait for the people to come to them. Also, they know because demand is high, that they can wait for a good offer. That means you will likely need to overpay on each offer. Just a heads up.

THE GOLDEN RULE

If you truly want people to accept your trade follow the golden rule of Bunt Trading:

DONT MAKE OFFERS YOU WOULDNT ACCEPT IF YOU WERE ON THE OTHER END.

Pretty simple words to live by.

If you are looking for more advice on trading, send me a message, leave a comment or check the blog archives. I have written extensively on successful trading in Bunt.