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Hey everyone!  Thank you all so much for the overwhelming feedback for my last article about hustling, I didn't expect the kind of response it garnered at all!  Some of the feedback was good, albeit some bad, there were some that came out of the woodworks for an interview*, so, without further ado, here is the questionnaire I gave them; including my thoughts on some of the answers.
 
1. How long have you been playing Yu-Gi-Oh?

Astley: I have been playing for about 3 years

Fluttershy: Ever since the Joey / Pegasus Starter decks were in store, but I was really young then and actually decided to use strategy around the time of the first structure decks

MP1: MRD->CRV Break LODT->TSHD Break STOR->Now

T-Pain: Since around 2002 or so (or around when the TCG was introduced). What got me into it however is the Anime.

[Notice most of the people being interviewed here have been playing the game for a long time]
 
2. How long did it take you to realize how to make a profit in Yu-Gi-Oh?

Astley: It took about a year to realize that I could make profit off of people. After first of course realizing that people were profiting off of me. It's a bit daunting to go to your first locals or regionals and have everyone who asks to look at your book ask you constantly at what you value cards.

Fluttershy: It was 5ds era and I was having fun running my scrub decks - but I had no real way of making money at the time. I had the right kind of people at my locals who basically juiced themselves if I had the cards and I learned to love bringing that kind of $ in. As time passed I became less based on dueling and more based on having a strong binder

MP1: Since i started playing in MRD. My brother and I would tell people how a situational card was so broken and they would believe us...lols

T-Pain: Around September of 2011, when I found the profiting and deals thread there on Pojo.

[the thread is a real thing, but, it is not dedicated to "hustling" & "juicing".]
 
3. Do you consider profiting off of other people to be immoral? Why or Why not?

Astley: I believe the question here should be a bit more 2 dimensional. It could also be asked whether profiting off of people is unethical as well. I will go into detail on both. Immoral, no due to the nature of the idea of morals. If it is in your morality code to make a dollar off someone and be ok with it then it is fine. If morally you are broken up on the inside unless you minus yourself hard on trades then yeah. Ethically it's more of a bane on the game and the player base. There is nothing worse to the community than seeing a locals die. I have Watched locals just stop growing because everybody was trying to get over on everyone else. Also being a partner in a store for yugioh I see business walk out the door and never come back because my regulars are akin to sharks on a feeding frenzy when a new player arrives. Not to mention that different people value cards differently based on their interests in the game, collectors vs competitors.

Fluttershy: Lying to them about values - yes. Just trying to make a business - No, all businesses have to make a profit, this is just my way how.

MP1: Not at all considering i give very fair offers while still making a little bit of profit

T-Pain: I do not, because it's their job as a fellow player to be aware of prices, as well as upcoming releases to an extent. It's not my fault if they don't know what cards seem like they will be good short or long-term.

[I can relate to Astley's viewpoint, that is similiar to what my team did to the local tournies in Asheville, NC.]
 
4. Do you ever regret trades that you make?

Astley: When I first learned and comprehended trading and trading up and for profit I ran rampant with deals that would make your head spin. My books had everything and people wanted a card they were going to pay dearly for it. Often I would see a card I wanted and would downplay it as if it was inconsequential to me and devalue it so the trading party would have to throw in more value when I could have easily one-for-one traded. This eventually made it impossible for me to trade in certain stores because nobody would ever pull out there books for me

Fluttershy: When I trade cards like Maxx C and Super Chain Disappearance before their spike, all the freaking time

MP1: Of course, some trades in hindsight were bad but those are few are far between

T-Pain: I do, especially when a card I traded skyrocketed after a major event that same weekend.

[Shocker:  Nobody likes losing money]
 
5. Is there a particular 'demographic' of people that are generally better to trade with or try to turn a profit off of?

Astley: Kids. They are very easy to get whatever you want from them. They love the tv show so if it's a card in the show then you know they want it. Also, new players at a sneak peek are incredibly easy to get what you want from them. I don't even buy my own entries I just walk around and see what everyone has pulled and make lots of profit off of trades that way. The beginning of tournaments like a regionals or ycs are my biggest profiting days in history. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a guys run around with his deck list filled out asking people if they have a certain card. They will trade anything for it. At this point I have changed my strategy to just asking what people value their cards at and finding the one or two cards they value low and trading for them. When people ask my values I just give numbers a few dollars above and if they go for it I know I'm making money and if not then they can move. I never pressure trades just see what bait people are willing to take and move on if they don't go for it.

Fluttershy: I try not to juice kids because they really don't know better. If they really need a card, I let them know the values before they do a trade and if they're still ok with it, I'd be helping them.

MP1: People i've never seen before because if you go to a lot of regionals around your area you know who the regulars are. As for demographics its all about how to pick and choose. For example:
Under 15: Choose whatever, but don't take their Stardust, any type of God, any monster over 3000 ATK and no taking Dark Magicians, Elemental Hero Neos, Stardust Dragon or Utopia since every kid wants to play the main character's deck
16-25: This is where the bulk of the players are. In this area do not go for competitive cards unless they specifically undervalue which will not happen often unless he/she is a derp. This group of people is where you go for the junk cards like Birdman, Cerburrel, Crusader of Endymion, Plaguespreader, Exploder Dragon, Alector Soverign of Something. Basically all the cards above have value but don't see play so they won't give you a hard time when you negotiate with them...Now if you ask for their BLS or Leviair, they're going to give you a firm price that they won't budge on. TLDR: Don't go for competitive cards!
25+: Haven't met many of these but the few that I met paid pretty well...ie paid 45 cash for Secret unl Gaia before the reprint

T-Pain: To be brutally honest, the "younger" players are easiest to profit off of, as well as the easiest to trade with in general.

[Probably the biggest controversy is here.  People generally are divided on trading with kids, especially if it is for good cards.  I'm not taking sides on either, but, to present two bits
A. If the kid isn't going to play it anyway, then who cares if he doesn't have it?  Value is relative and if the kid thinks a Card Car D is worth a Dark Magician, then it is fair for him, and the person getting Card Car is happy as well.
B. We know the Card Car is worth something, we know that someone could give a lot for the Card Car and still get a great deal, why rip the kid off that bad?  In the eyes of the law, ignorance is no excuse, why should it apply here?]
 
6. Have you ever been 'hustled' yourself?

Astley: I used to get hustled all of the time. It's one of those things that has become the norm in this game, whenever you are starting out you will get hustled. You won't know the price of every card in your book and he book you are looking at. Learning card prices and predicting values is not something that comes naturally, you have to study it like a class in school.

Fluttershy: Yes, I learned from my mistakes and moved on, learned who to not trade with again

MP1: Sure, if you count buying packs from stores.

T-Pain: I have; I was working out a trade with a friend, where I thought I would be getting 3 of a card, but it turned out the deal was for two of them, and they valued them $20 over what the card was actually worth.

[Apparently, monkey see-monkey do is a very common denominator here.]
 
7. What is your favorite trade that you have ever made in Yugi?

Astley: I think in general my favorite trades involve making meta calls right before the ban list and dumping cards that are getting hit before they are leaked on the list

Fluttershy: Ooh, would have to be just about every experience with my favorite customer. He buys cards at high prices and has good stuff for trade. I got a case of Storm of Ragnarok, and he was building Nordics. I had a good time.

MP1: Hyper Librarian that I bought from ideal808 for 17.95 and trading it for 2 Secret Fossil dyna before the reprint and a rare chain disappearance

T-Pain: A trade where I was able to sell some wind-up stuff I had "invested" in for over one hundred dollars, while the cards themselves cost me about 25 dollars.

[When Pot of Duality was still $200 around YCS Charlotte 2011,  I traded 8 super rare Dark World Dealings and $100 for two Pot of Dualities off of a 'hustler'***)
 
8. Are you able to tell when other people are trying to hustle you? How?

Astley: Yes. Once you figure out how to get over on somebody it's really easy to see when it's being done to you

Fluttershy: Yes, just by knowing my values or when they try to create an excuse for why a card's value is going to change. For example: "Oh, Nat Beast is probably going to get reprinted in the Gold Series" or "Oh, Inzektors are going to get hit by the banlist soon"

MP1: The better his first page is the more likely he is to be a juicer. If he has rows of maxx c and rows of zenmaines...avoid this person. He knows his values. Also, if he uses a monster binder/ultra pro the person has somewhat of an idea of what he's doing.

T-Pain: I can, because they are trying to get more cards that add up to beyond the cards I'm wanting.

[All of these are fantastic examples]
 
9. What is your favorite deck of all time? Why?

Astley: Plants I just loved all of the options it had and the plays it could make

Fluttershy: Ooh, would have to be HERO. I had loads of fun with that deck for a while, it's still very playable and I just love Huge backrows. Gemini Spark is one of my favorite cards in the game. Also, just about the entire deck comes shiny. I like that.

MP1: Anti-Meta. Any type of anti-meta. I play Hero Beat, and also Counter Fairys . I like grinding my opponents down and I like the feeling of beating my opponent down with a lone TKRO and playing the protect T-King game. Its really amusing. It makes them feel bad cause 1 monster is killing them. Lols was that overboard?

T-Pain: Quickdraw Plants, because it was my first serious/compeitive deck.

[Most of these are tier 1 decks, nobody likes losing, but we can see here there isn't a specific playstyle that applies to the 'hustler' mentality, my favorites personally are the Infernity Randomizer and Cookie Jar decks]

10. If it became impossible to profit off of trading in Yu-Gi-Oh, would you still collect/play it?

Astley: Yeah I love this game you really can't quit it, just take breaks from it

Fluttershy: The only way that would be possible is if Konami made business decisions that would make it useless for a vendor to ever buy product. I would dump all my cards and play budget until the game dies.

MP1: Sure, but not to the extent I am now.

T-Pain: I would certainly still play, because I've never made huge profit off the game.

[So we can see that, even if profiting is a core value or habit in the game, there is still a love for the game itself.]

11. Is there anything you would like to add as a 'warning' against hustling or being hustled?

Astley: Be aware that it happens. In spite of how konami promotes the game it is a cash game. They could learn a lot from magic and start giving out cash pay outs so people rely more on their skills to make money a opposed to the secondary market for profit

Fluttershy: Just always know your values. Have a have and wants list, with values next to them. Make sure you don't make it so someone never wants to trade with you again, don't brag, know a good deal when you see one, know what cards are in demand at your locals, keep up with the P&SI forum, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

MP1: A. If they ask you the value on a card and they say yes too quickly, say you just remembered that your brother wants the card and you can't trade it. Then go eBay it.
B. Look for people with school binders or Legendary Collection binders. They 90% have no idea what they're doing. Also if your really into trolling like my brother, use a legendary collection binder yourself =)
C. McShake already said this but i have to emphasize that If someone values his Leviair ultra at 40 and he askes you for your T-King Secret Make sure to say its 55. And every card he askes make sure its tripled so he gets mad. HAHA TROLLED SON! (Make sure you have friends around so you don't get jumped outside)
D. If you don't see anything in a binder, don't pick something cause he pressures you...instead ask for cash
E. Only show 1 copy of a card in your book and if one of the copies is damaged show that copy first or else he'll always take the mint one.
F. For the shady people: If the person gives u full value on a damaged card, give him the sleeve. ( I personally always ask for my sleeve since i use all white sleeves in my book)
G. If you make your first page funny or amusing it makes you seem like less of a profiter since usually profiters dont make your first page funny. (McShake I will give u a link to my picture after- you can insert it here)
H. If you get to meet a Yugioh Voicer. ie Dan Green, or the Yusei guy then take 10 copies of the lowest rarity signature card and get them all signed and then stuff one in your binder. ie Dan Green DM Yusei Guy Stardust. You can value it at double the value
I. Do not say juice, profit, hustle, plus at any event. I want to be seen as a derp who doesn't know anything, not anything else.
J. My brother taught me this: Even if the deal is good enough, keep pushing. ie My friend asked a guy how much for his Duality x2 and Tking individually. The guy said 8s on Duality and 4 on Tking. Then my friend said how much for it all cash? The guy said 10 and my friend got all excited and said okay sure. But i interrupted him and said I don't know thats a bit high can you do 8? He thought about it and said sure. I got 2 dollars PC cause of that...lols hey 2 dollars for saying 1 sentence is not bad at all.

T-Pain: Be aware of people saying, "My vendor pays x for this card".

[I like how thorough MP was with their response, but all of these are key points to remember. -side note: I like Astley's idea, Starcity Games has a clamp on organized play right now in MTG for a reason.-]
 
12. Is there anything that you would like to add? Comments/ideas/thoughts?

Astley: Hustling happens and it's something that is in the game. Be aware and don't fall into the "I'm a vendor" trap. Many people will say this to justify their values and make you feel comfortable.

MP1: I don't like the word hustler or juicer. I feel like i am helping the other person just as much as I am profiting. He/She is getting $ in hand which a lot of people like for crap cards that they don't give a crap about. As long as you don't pressure the other person into selling if he wants to sell a BLS for 10 dollars its his decision. Note: If a kid says 10 dollars for his Cardcar D please give him a bunch of other cards he needs for his deck...I do not promote totally Demolishing a kid in a trade...
 
 
Thank you to everyone who submitted responses to my questionnaire and being so cooperative with the relatively short time frame given.  I hope taht this has helped readers learn some tricks to not fall for other people's tricks.  If anyone would like to discuss it further, or just want to talk about the game, feel free to contact me via social media websites:
 
facebook:  facebook.com/shakezilluh
youtube: themcshakealchemist
pojo forum: themcshakealchemis (no T)
twitter: paper_gangsta_
email: andro_sphinx@yahoo.com
 
Never stop learning
Never stop testing
Sean Handy
The McShake Alchemist
 
 
*As promised in my previous article, all of their names have been changed to protect their identities.**
**They are as trolly as I could think of while still bring appropriate.
***DWD was valued at around 8$ for a super rare at the time.