I love trading. Its literally the lifeblood of the fun factor of this game, as it feeds into every aspect of doing well. Trading can either make you a stronger competitor or a top collector, and if you avoid it, you will not reach full potential. It is also an art form, and the nuance is so tremendous that it almost isnt nuance. Because Huddle is such a community based program, knowing the background of things is akin to posting content on a site like Reddit. You have to follow the unwritten rules to avoid the hammer of the experienced users.

Although I have talked about this a lot on the site, and its posted in my newbie guide up top, its worth posting again just in case. Who knows, even the vets might be able to pick up a few tips.

Navigating the Fan Feed

For a new user, the feed must be DAUNTING to understand. It is not only a constant scrolling monster of text and emoticons, but it is full of vocab that takes a while to pick up. Despite all that, it is also important to make sense of it. Sending trades from the main card sheet instead of the feed can get you in hot water if not done correctly, so this is the easiest way to trade. It can also be the most frustrating, as many personalities can clash instantly.

I still stand by the best way to build your collection is to post on the feed and let the offers come to you. The offering party usually has to overpay, and it will help to make sure you dont offend anyone by making a horrendous offer. This takes time, and it also takes patience, as the offers that come can be notoriously bad. On the other hand, if you have a good card that people want, it can function like an auction atmosphere.

A word of caution, if you are new, and your collection score and trader feedback show that you are new, people can try to take advantage of that. It is essential to read up on the news feed to ensure you arent missing on the chases, and it is that much more important to see any trends that might be developing.

Also keep in the forefront of your mind the concept I mentioned above. If you are making the offer, you will have to overpay. Its rare to find a deal where the person taking the offer will accept a fair trade for both parties. Its not a great system, but that is the way it is. This also implies that you have to start from the bottom and work your way up. Dont go and try to chase down the top cards in the game – start by trying to build your collection to compete in the weekly chase. That will give you more coins, which will allow you to buy more packs. With more packs come more cards, and more nice inserts. Its not a good idea to land yourself on ignore list after ignore list because you want to get a Luck sig by trading some gold base. Its just not going to happen that way, im sorry. You will only hurt your reputation.

Crafting a Fan Feed Post

This is where marketing really comes into play, and why most users get frustrated so quickly. If you cant appeal to the masses, you will hurt your chances of getting more offers.

First, dont be super specific, as it will turn away traders who just want to trade whatever they have for whatever you have. Good offers will be missed if you say “WANT THIS, HAVE THIS.” If the person doesnt meet those qualifications, they wont offer. You want offers.

Second, dont be so vague that people will be turned off. I see people just post “Trades” as their one word entry. I will not trade with these people. None of them. If you cant figure out a way to make me want to spend the few minutes to download your cards, Im moving on.

Its almost better just to say, “Looking to build my collection – come check out what I have and lets make a deal!” rather than going completely off the wall. Funny entries also work, as I almost will give a look just to see what’s up.

Making Offers

I have a few pet peeves, and I assume that these are different for everyone. Its imperative to recognize your audience as well. Gamers will have different needs than Collectors. Newbies trading with huge collection users will likely not match up well.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Just because someone NEEDS a card, doesnt mean they WANT that card. Also, just because someone has 10 dupes, does not make it open season.

Sending a note with your trade can be a plus or a huge minus depending on what you say. If you are friendly, well spoken, and appreciative, sure go ahead and send a note. If you are going to send a text to your BFF duing class, and beg for acceptance, save yourself the trouble. Act the part. People who beg for cards automatically end up on my ignore list. Just say thank you for the consideration.

Now, here is the main part of this. Boost cards are currently dominating the trade market. Blue and Purple boosts are expensive to obtain and hard to let go. If you dont have equal footing, I would suggest against making the offers until you can manage to improve your collection. Other cards like Sigs and cards that give big payouts in coins are also very difficult to come by and expensive to obtain. Keep that in mind before making an offer.

The golden rule of making offers is as such:

If you wouldnt accept the trade yourself, dont make the offer.

Why would you expect me to accept your trade if you wouldnt accept it if someone offered it to you. Equal value may be a fleeting ghost of a concept, but make your best guess. If you need help, ask.

Understanding Collection Scores

I have always been skeptical at first, but Collection score is a great indicator of potential for trades if you are working with a more general fan feed post. Try to find people with similar status so that you can potentially avoid running into someone who needs nothing that you have to offer.

People with collection scores over 80 either have a ton of inserts, or a ton of boosts, which means that they might only need a very specific card that you likely dont have if your score is 50. That’s not always the case, but like I said, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up. If you DO have that card they need, try not to over extend yourself and make an offer they will hate. You might even want to send a same card trade with a message and let them tell you what they might be willing to do.

What Defines Value in a Card?

There are a few factors that we all look at in some combination. I would make sure to take inventory of all of them as soon as you are ready to start trading with people. It will only help you to avoid issues.

• Card Count – how many copies of the card are available? New cards with low card counts are valuable, but consider the number that will EVENTUALLY be available. Each release has an article in the news feed. Huddle does not release a card without explanation.
• Coin Reward – the higher the reward that is active for the card, the higher the value. Again, check the news feed.
• Card Type – Sigs are valuable because of what they are. Other cards in sets may be similarly valuable depending on many factors. Other cards like Boosts are valuable because of their point scoring potential.
• Point Boost – the higher the boost over common, the more value. A 5x boost is going to be exponentially more valuable than a base gold.
• Player – More popular players like Manning and Brady will have value because of who they are.
• Player Position – QBs, WR and RB, are the most valuable position because of how many points those positions score.
• Game – Teams in the current Thursday and Monday games are automatically more valuable than ones that are not.

Overall, its going to be almost impossible to achieve a perfect trading experience. I will say, the more quickly you can recognize trends and value, the more of an advantage you will have. Right now, we are already more than halfway into the season, which means you are well behind. That doesnt mean you cant compete. Its fun regardless of your collection, and please let me know if you need help understanding.