I Made A Trade!

I used to make a ton of trades when I first started my blog a few years back.  I would throw out a card on Twitter or a Facebook group and ten to fifteen minutes later I would have something simple ironed out with the other collector.  I would drop the cards in the mail and a few days later would have a nice bubble mailer to open.  It was always a great feeling to rip open the mail, scan the cards, and post them here on my blog.  There was a little drama every once in awhile, but it was a great inexpensive way to move unwanted cards and pick up some adds for the collection.  

Where did the trades go?  I am not entirely sure, but I have kind of gotten away from the practice over the past year or two.  I cannot point to one specific incident that made me push away from the practice, but I think the fact that I actually have a local card shop that is worthwhile has been a factor, along with the fact that the Facebook groups have exploded.  Most of the groups started out with a circle of collectors and they were all generally known.  You knew who to avoid and who was cool to deal with.  Now?   Maybe I have been away to long.  

Last week I ventured back out into that world looking to unload a few of the cards I picked up in my Topps Update box.  Some of the offers were decent.  A Sepia Taveras parallel, a gold Zobrist refractor, and a handful of low end Rays autographs for a Jeter jersey card could be doable to name one of several which were worthy of some thought and consideration.  Others just made me cry.  A 2007 SPx Juan Salas autograph with a throw card of a 1999 Just Minors Adam Kennedy autograph for a Julio Teheran Strata Autograph, or a Jared Sandberg autographed baseball for both the Jeter jersey, Teheran autograph, and a Joe Morgan World Series Trophy Card.  Ridiculous.  

So, the point of my post was not to dump on all trades and tell people that the world of baseball cards is filled with terrible trade offers.  First, I had someone offer me the price of a completed auction listing on Ebay for the Jeter card.  Only the card was not listed on Ebay, so I paid no fees.  Good and good.  I also ran into an old trade acquaintance who had no interest in trading or buying anything I pulled out of my Topps Trade box, but did trade me a few other cards I was interested in adding to my collection.  

Here are my newest four autographs: