Subject: The Yugioh trade market and getting the best from Trades.-Camex

Hey, this is my first post on Pojo and I’d like to talk about a aspect 
of the game that isn’t always appreciated, the Trade Market if you will.

In the stores and online people are always telling you what your cards and 
other people’s cards are worth. But few speak of the emotional bond that 
you can get with a card that took you 6 months to find. I happen to have 
one such card, my PSV Jinzo. I know what you’re thinking, “uh, wow its 
just a Jinzo, its so easy to get one of those”. Well, I agree, now it may 
be easier to get one, but before the second tin set was released, it was 
quite difficult. I knew Jinzo was a card that would fit in my deck and I 
needed one to get my deck closer to its efficiency. Then it happened. I 
finally pulled one out of a pack. I could trust myself that this was a Mint 
condition card. I immediately established a bond with this particular card 
because at the time I was having a VERY bad day and this cleared it all up 
for me. Why is this story about Jinzo important? It’s because people feel 
different about different cards.

  Whenever a potential trade comes along I always let the person see what I 
have first. I then politely ask them, “what do you need?” or “what 
are you looking for?” The person more often than not will tell you 
exactly what they want. Now you have established what someone wants and you 
know that if they really want it, they may give you a bit more for it. Now 
you may be thinking that this is “ripping someone off” but when you 
think about it, they just told me that they need it so what do I know? For 
all I know, this could be the last card they need to complete their desired 
deck.

Now certain cards have higher “trade value” than maybe actual dollar 
value and this is due to a few things. For example, if you were at the only 
store in your neighborhood that just released Dark Crisis, then any card 
you get will be totally new. People love to trade for cards that they have 
never seen before and you can make sure to take advantage of this.

But how do you get what you want? Well, first off it takes A LOT of 
patience. Just because someone has the card you need doesn’t mean that 
it’s a good idea to give up a insensible amount of things to get it. You 
have to remember that its not the ONLY copy of that card in the world. 
Sometimes you may need to totally pass up a deal because you would lose too 
much and that’s ok. As long as you do know what you want and are willing 
to work and wait to get it, you will inevitably get it. The best example I 
can give of patience working off is my experience with Morphing Jar.

                 Morphing Jar is ridiculously rare and seeing one is not a 
everyday occurrence. I REALY want one in my deck but had to pass up several 
times where I could have gotten it because they wanted more than I could 
sensibly give. Now my patience was rewarded as Morphing Jar was re-released 
in Tournament Pack 4 as a Super Rare. Now if I see one, I could get a 
better deal for it. Its all a matter of patience.

Please send me, Camex your questions and comments to 
<mailto:camex85@aol.com>camex85@aol.com and I will respond promptly to any 
constructive e-mails I receive.