Use Standard Trading Etiquette

Several Newbie's has asked me over the years about the accepted "Etiquette" or standard rules for trading.

There are not really any Rules per se, however there are several accepted practices that most of us tend to follow.

1) When trading try and trade face value for face value on current common chips. That means if your trading 3 $1 chips and 2 $5 chips you would expect to get the same in return. Many people, including myself frown on trading 5 $1 chips for 1 $5 chip unless it’s a $5 that we REALLY want. Usually its best to keep the number of chips as well as the denominations the same.

2) When trading obsolete chips, trade equal value for equal value. Meaning that if your trading an obsolete values at say $20, you should expect to get $20 in trade value for it whether that’s 1 chip or 5 chips.

3) Assign fair trade values to your chips. I personally like to mark all my traders with prices so when people are looking thru my traders they have some idea at what I value my chips at. The same chip can be worth very different amounts to different people as several factors come into play like how easy is the chip to replace, or what did they pay or trade for that chip.

4) Value current chips appropriately. When I am trading obsoletes for current chips or chips of uneven denominations I use the following "Value" chart to help determine a more Fair trade. $1 chip = $3, $2.50 Chip - $4.50, $5 Chip - $7.

5) The sender is responsible for making sure the chips arrive at their destination. What this means is when trading, if the person that your trading with never receives their chips, it is generally the senders responsibility to make good on the trade by either replacing the chips or even returning the chips you received in trade. You can help avoid any problems by making sure all packages of any value are sent insured or at least with delivery confirmation.

6) Make your trade offers fair. Often times I find myself giving away more than I normally would in a trade situation as I want to make sure that the other person is completely happy with the trade. The main goal in trading is that BOTH parties are happy with the outcome.

As long as both people are happy with the agreed trade you have been successful and this will lead to many more repeat trades in the future.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more Tips of the day coming tomorrow.

Happy chipping to all

Doug