Being a good trader is greatly related to all the usual good business practice.
Being honest
Doing what you say you’ll do
Having character and integrity
Creating win-win situations
Being nice
Here are some good practices specifically tailored to trading/bartering.
Don’t wait until right before meeting to trade to tell all the issues with your product. Get it out early. Chances are the people are so stoked about the trade that they won’t care about a little fixing anyways. If they do care, then it just saves time and energy to be open and honest. Don’t try to swindle.
Let people know where they stand on the trade. You may have a ranking of trades you’d like to make for one of your items. I’ve found that bad news is better than no news. And in this case it doesn’t have to be bad news. Just let them know that you have something you want more, but that you’d still like to trade with them if that one falls through. Give them a deadline, like tomorrow by 7pm you’ll make a decision. They may have a back up plan as well, so it’s only courteous to let them know. The worse is when others take their time to let you know, and you pass on a fairly good trade. So be the courteous one when possible. I greatly appreciate it when I can make an informed trade, and I understand that my trade may not be on the top of their list. I want the trade to be good for them as well. Don’t worry, another one will come along if missed.
Be open about your crazy addiction to trading. Don’t be ashamed. If you’re too quiet or timid, they may think your stuff is stolen.
I like to follow up with the people after the trade to see how they like it. At first you think you may have swindled them because you value things differently than they do. But I was surprised about how happy people were with the stuff I traded them. It’s good to know that they are happy with the trade. Sometimes they are hesitant to ask how your new stuff is because they may think they swindled you. Let them know how happy you are, too.
Sometimes trading is for big boys. Things don’t always work out as planned. People back out of trades at the last minute. You get something that has more problems than they explained. It sucks, but it happens. Just be ready for it. Do your due diligence. Try not to act out of emotion and let want blind common sense. And leave negative feedback to warn future traders.
