Hello everyone. Today I'm going to talk to you a bit about trading. Trading
is great, and is one of the best parts of Pokémon TCG, but causes a lot of
grief through trading away your favorite cards, ripping people off, and
being ripped off.

One of the best ways to get what you want is through what I call
cross-trading. Let's say you need a Blastoise to complete your raindance.
You talk to your friend who has an extra Blastoise, but he won't trade for
anything you have, he wants, lets say a Venusaur. Now, another of your
friends has a Venusaur that he'll trade for one of your cards. Get the
Veusaur and trade for "toise. This is kinda risky sometimes but is
invaluable.

Now I'm gonna talk about ripping people off. This is a bad thing, guys.
However, sometimes you can get a good deal from it. what to do? Well, if
someone wants a card of yours, ask what you want for it. Be reasonable. Be
flexible, possibly adding in an extra non-holo  or something. "5 uncommons
of your choice" works wonders. However, if someone agrees to a bad deal,
TELL them, "This deal is probably a little better for me than for you" and
give them a chance to back out. If they still agree, then trade, and if they
don't, forget it or add in some extra cards to the equation.

But what if someone is trying to rip YOU off? Well, they can't really force
you to trade. And what is being "ripped off," really? Well, one rule is 2
non holos equals an OK holo. A good holo like (well this on'es not good, but
he's worth a lot) like Charizard should be worth 3 or 4. Promos are usually
worth 1 holo, although you can often get them for a non-holo. But if someone
wants to rip you off, you have two options. You can say yes or no. If it's
outrageous, say no and close the subject. But if it's not TOO bad, like a
bunch of uncommons for a non-holo or a non-holo for a holo, think about it.
If you trade with this kid a lot or if you've ripped him off a couple times,
sometimes it's better to say yes. Say, "I know I'm being ripped off, but OK"
or something and they will remember it.

Now, getting what you want is not always easy. It's OK so pass up a good
deal if you have to trade away something special, like the Chansey your aunt
got you or the dragonair who was in your first pack. I usually buy a few
packs when that happens and then either I get what I want, what they want,
or some cross-trading material. But try and get what you want. It's a real
shame if a revolutionary deck idea is passed up because of insufficient
(sp?) materials and is later used by SOMEONE ELSE. *shudder*

OK, there's my first $0.02 on that subject.

-Dr. Andonuts
saturns_go_boing@hotmail.com
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