After trading extensively for a period of two years, Ive acquire alot of trade experience which enables me to confidently say that there is a right way to design your trade binder and then there is the wrong way.
First of all, imagine the scenario where a player puts all of his valuable trades in one binder and only looking for certain cards in exchange.
His trading partner opens the binder and the first thing that catches his eyes are those valuables..and he'd spend quite some time discussing the possibility of trading for those cards to find out that his efforts are futile. The guy with the nice binder are only looking for one or two cards or looking for an overwhelmingly good deal for them...
thats a huge waste of time. Its pretty much disrespect for anyone who look through your binder only to find that your collection is there to "show off" rather for business.
Its alright to love your cards and revel in your collection, but please make a separate binder for the cards you truely wish to trade and one binder as your "collection" to impress.
I guess everyone have their different way to organize but this is how I organize and I think its the most efficient for trading.
primary Binder - 3 sections.
Front - Medium value, highly tradables, sorted by color
Middle - Low value, highly trables, sorted by color
End - uncommon/commons, highly tradable, sorted by color
Separate binder for "junk rares"
Separate binder for highly valuables
If you have your own unique way of organizing that works out well, please share. But overall, i think effiency of organization is what we should be shooting for. Its not only respectful to your trade partner, but it also saves youself and others quite a bit of time. And we all know that motto, more time = more trades = you getting more of what you want
I do mine by block. Within each block they are sorted by color and then in alphabetical order. Like a card shop. If people can find what they are looking for then you will get more trades done.
I also do a first two pages that contain highly sought cards that are over and above my playset or I know that I am not going to run. That's my money page. They are sorted in a similar way.
When a set first comes out that will be the first section right after the money page. Partially this is because people are mainly interested in the new set and partially it is because I haven't had time to reorganize the whole block.
Also, I keep a second binder that is not my trade binder. That's where I keep my collection including signed cards, cards of special interest to me, sideboard type cards, and playset leftovers of cards I am running 2x or 3x in my decks.
There are many ways to organize your binder, but there is no reason to keep loads of untradeable cards in your binder. I can see if people have a few that are sectioned off that they say, "I just traded for that tonight" or "Actually, a friend of mine asked me to reserve that" but there is no reason to keep untradeable cards in your trade binder. It just frustrates people
I have mine by color, then alphabetically. I don't really have enough of any specific set to sort by set, but I'll give it a try.
I find keeping the Type II seperate helps speed things up. If nothing else maybe keep a page or two of the newest set as that's what people are normally after.
If I traded with someone who had them by color and alphabetically I'd be cool with that for sure. It seems most people stay organized in some form or another.
There are many ways to organize your binder, but there is no reason to keep loads of untradeable cards in your binder. I can see if people have a few that are sectioned off that they say, "I just traded for that tonight" or "Actually, a friend of mine asked me to reserve that" but there is no reason to keep untradeable cards in your trade binder. It just frustrates people
You are very right. Keeping untradeable cards in the binder causes frustration. I have experienced it a lot of times and sometimes it's so severe that others can easily notice it.
get instant loans...:laugh:
I keep all my rares, sorted by colour. I also keep about a playset of each tournament playable common/uncommon in the back, which saves alot of people right before tournaments, and always helps me get some good cards. However, I've only been playing since Time Spiral, so the rares aren't that extensive.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Power 9 Pro - A Magic Company by Magic players for Magic Players. Come check out the Dragon's Egg, the latest in deck storage technology.
Completely random. Replacing junk rares with better ones when they come along, adding the junk rares to my "brick". Yeah, people hate looking through my file, but this is usually solved by them asking "Do you have X?".
I travel by bike, so I stick to one binder and leave commons/junk rares at home. I'm very satisfied with my system: front section is all tradeables, sorted by colour, with the most valuable at the front of each colour. Back section is cards that are often in decks of mine, so I'll only trade them if I'm given a really good deal, or for something I'm really looking for. This back section is a mix of valuable and cheap cards, but I play with them, so I want them on hand.
Agreed with a lot of the responses here. My current trade binder is organized by demand and block. I only ever put in high demand rares and uncommons and maybe 1-2 chaff rare pages to help pad trades.
I mentioned this in a different thread, but what I used to do (and will continue to do) is make a print-out list of my 'wants' categorized by priority. I stuck that right in the front of the binder.
It was essential in letting me complete sets cheaply and quickly. It also lets people know up front if they even have anything I want.
One other poster also suggested keeping spare copies to pass around, you never know who might have spares or extras sitting in a box somewhere.
The way I've designed my binder is to put all the worthy, trade-valued, staple stuff up front (which, I admit, is all available for trades provided I get fair value). After that, I sort the Standard rares by block (most recent to oldest, so currently M10, Alara Reborn, Conflux, Shards of Alara) and in numerical order (soWUBRGorder), and the rest is jank. (Hey, there are people who enjoy getting jank.)
I do not disagree with the idea of making multiple binders (one good, several meh), but I find it to be a bit of a hassle (my preference is a binder that doesn't come with built-in sleeves, like Ultra-Pro products). Nonetheless, to each his own.
In terms of "Sorry, not trading that," some have legitimate reasons. I can honestly say I've denied moving a rare because I totally forgot I was selling it on Salvation or holding it for a friend. Just don't make it a habit, as I do agree that it becomes annoying over time if you just keep saying "holding onto" or "decked."
I use one big binder organised by colour (WUBRG Land Gold Artefact), with the more playable cards up front to grab attention. Cards like Elspeth, Maelstrom Pulse, et cetera, I'm very unlikely to move, but there's always that one deal that's too good to pass up. That is why I keep them in my trade binder -- just incase I get that deal (and this guarantees I don't misplace them, which I'm notorious for).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH UUU Azami, Lady of Scrolls RRR Diaochan, Artful Beauty UR(U/R) Tibor, Lumia, & Melek (WIP)
I don't have any hard numbers on this, but I'm targeted more often than a black guy driving a beat-up sedan with a broken tail-light and no license plate, and Cy's well aware of that.
Everything I have is theoretically for trade; it's just a matter of getting me to come off it. I collect dragons. I will trade my dragons, but I warn people that the trade is going to be in my favor if they so choose to try and get one of my collection pieces.
I have a separate binder for my dragons, and the rest are organized by color. I have boxes full of lesser rares, stuff that's good but not jank, and then there's a jank rare box.
And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
Quote from Yukora »
This is Deraxas we're talking about.
Remember, the girl that just killed an aspect of herself before literally consuming her?
Yeah, I don't see her handling a pissing match in any way other than a duel.
Quote from RedDwarfian »
Yes mistress...
Quote from About epic-level D&D »
There are only so many epic, psuedonatural barbarian/blackguard half-dragon akutenshai vampire balor paragons they can throw at you, right?
Quote from Concerning breeding habits of humans in fantasy games »
I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
I set my binder up by color. It just looks nicer except my first binder page is all my liliana vess cards....w00t up to 18 4 of them are foil and 1 someone did a custom art for me
I have two binders, one is a 4-card page and the other is a 9-card page.
In the 9-card pages I put T2 singles that are sought after, and in the 4-card pages I put playsets of T2 in the back and all legacy stuff in the front.
After attending the M10 pre-release and such, I noticed some people organize their trade binders in such horrific ways - everything mixed together, singles spread over the entire binder (say 4 BoP separated by 10 pages each).
I personally organize by format ... I have a Constructed binder and a Extended/Legacy/Vintage Binder. Within the binders it's organized by color, then organized by block, and I make sure to keep single together so if people want 4x they can see they can grab 4x.
Does anyone recommend a different way of organizing? I was thinking of organizing by set first, then by color...
White rares, blue rares, black rares, red rares, green rares, artifact rares, multicolor rares. In that order. Then after that I do my uncommons the same way. Commons just sit in a box that I only bring occasionally. If I have multiples of a card, I keep them all in the same slot in the page.
I keep mostly Standard in mine because that's what I play.
I also have a few pages in the back of random stuff. I have a page of unicorns, for example.
I just do it by color, multiples of cards all together obviously. I don't organize by rarity or anything, I just keep everything playable in there (even stuff like Counterspells, REBs, Gorilla Shaman, etc).
Some might say putting things in your binder helter-skelter makes people browse longer, thus increasing the chances something will appeal to them. Making it all organized and straightforward means the other guy can just flip to the pages with what he wants, and not see the other things which might help boost a trade.
i've got one binder with rares that are standard legal broken up by color, then a divider and rares/uncommons that are worth more than 2 dollars, also broken up by color, then all the foils (by rarity/color) which no one has ever bothered to even look at.
then theres the big binder full of junk rares that aren't standard legal, broken up by color
I do mine by color, then by rarity (Rares from higher value uncommons), keeping the more valuable rares in a seperate binder.
I get easily annoyed by people who offer me up a trade binder, only to say "btb, half the binder is not fore trade." Although I may be more reluctant for certain cards, I never put a card in a binder and offer said binder unless I'm willing to trade it.
Forlorn Egoist
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing Legacy
Deadguy Ale
Dragon Stompy
Enchantress EDH Rubinia Soulsinger Casual
Fluctuator
Sneak Attack Currently Building
Show and Tell
I get easily annoyed by people who offer me up a trade binder, only to say "btb, half the binder is not fore trade." Although I may be more reluctant for certain cards, I never put a card in a binder and offer said binder unless I'm willing to trade it.
Agreed. I have a page or two of my best stuff but it's all for trade - even for junk rares I'm looking for. The only thing is it's got to be a fair trade. You want my nantuko shade for junk rares? I want 25+ junk rares thank you
try to keep playsets in one slot other then that its pretty random. some day ill orgonize it but color but the problem is i have such turn over.
i think the only thing i have in order is my extra dual lands.
I have 2 binders and a small box (plastic box that fits like 400-500 singles):
-Binder A has untradables (really tradeable but has to be a great offer), cards I'm collecting for a new deck, and high chase rares.
-Binder B has mid-low rares and chase uncommons/commons.
-Box has junk uncommons/commons that are decent for wacky/casual stuff (i.e. Branchwood Armor/Soul Warden-like stuff)
I always show Binder B first, if not enough, I go with Binder A WITH a warning that the contents are untradables (really tradeable but has to be a great offer), cards I'm collecting for a new deck, and high chase rares.
The box I carry because sometimes people look for casual/fun stuff.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier & Magus of the Sheep from Scuttlemutt Productions for the cool signature and avatar.
I've got only one Magic Binder. In the past, this was because I only owned one. Now, it's because it's one of those massive ones that can easily hold 100 or 150 sheets of 9 pocket pages.
I start out with rare lands, then artifacts, then WUBRG, then multicolored. I leave a decent space of blank pages, then I put my 'collection'. Currently, the collection is full pages of prerelease cards dating back to Lorwyn block, then my Chippy pages (GOD I love his art!), then my pages of Dash Hopes and Vectis Agents (for laughs!), and waaaaaay in the back are my token cards and my foils. I also keep playsets of highly used commons and uncommons, for friends at tournaments. I'd have a seperate 'show off' binder, but I think they're detached enough from my trades that people won't mind.
First of all, imagine the scenario where a player puts all of his valuable trades in one binder and only looking for certain cards in exchange.
His trading partner opens the binder and the first thing that catches his eyes are those valuables..and he'd spend quite some time discussing the possibility of trading for those cards to find out that his efforts are futile. The guy with the nice binder are only looking for one or two cards or looking for an overwhelmingly good deal for them...
thats a huge waste of time. Its pretty much disrespect for anyone who look through your binder only to find that your collection is there to "show off" rather for business.
Its alright to love your cards and revel in your collection, but please make a separate binder for the cards you truely wish to trade and one binder as your "collection" to impress.
I guess everyone have their different way to organize but this is how I organize and I think its the most efficient for trading.
primary Binder - 3 sections.
Front - Medium value, highly tradables, sorted by color
Middle - Low value, highly trables, sorted by color
End - uncommon/commons, highly tradable, sorted by color
Separate binder for "junk rares"
Separate binder for highly valuables
If you have your own unique way of organizing that works out well, please share. But overall, i think effiency of organization is what we should be shooting for. Its not only respectful to your trade partner, but it also saves youself and others quite a bit of time. And we all know that motto, more time = more trades = you getting more of what you want
Trade Thread
I also do a first two pages that contain highly sought cards that are over and above my playset or I know that I am not going to run. That's my money page. They are sorted in a similar way.
When a set first comes out that will be the first section right after the money page. Partially this is because people are mainly interested in the new set and partially it is because I haven't had time to reorganize the whole block.
Also, I keep a second binder that is not my trade binder. That's where I keep my collection including signed cards, cards of special interest to me, sideboard type cards, and playset leftovers of cards I am running 2x or 3x in my decks.
There are many ways to organize your binder, but there is no reason to keep loads of untradeable cards in your binder. I can see if people have a few that are sectioned off that they say, "I just traded for that tonight" or "Actually, a friend of mine asked me to reserve that" but there is no reason to keep untradeable cards in your trade binder. It just frustrates people
I find keeping the Type II seperate helps speed things up. If nothing else maybe keep a page or two of the newest set as that's what people are normally after.
If I traded with someone who had them by color and alphabetically I'd be cool with that for sure. It seems most people stay organized in some form or another.
You are very right. Keeping untradeable cards in the binder causes frustration. I have experienced it a lot of times and sometimes it's so severe that others can easily notice it.
get instant loans...:laugh:
I mentioned this in a different thread, but what I used to do (and will continue to do) is make a print-out list of my 'wants' categorized by priority. I stuck that right in the front of the binder.
It was essential in letting me complete sets cheaply and quickly. It also lets people know up front if they even have anything I want.
One other poster also suggested keeping spare copies to pass around, you never know who might have spares or extras sitting in a box somewhere.
I do not disagree with the idea of making multiple binders (one good, several meh), but I find it to be a bit of a hassle (my preference is a binder that doesn't come with built-in sleeves, like Ultra-Pro products). Nonetheless, to each his own.
In terms of "Sorry, not trading that," some have legitimate reasons. I can honestly say I've denied moving a rare because I totally forgot I was selling it on Salvation or holding it for a friend. Just don't make it a habit, as I do agree that it becomes annoying over time if you just keep saying "holding onto" or "decked."
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
UUU Azami, Lady of Scrolls
RRR Diaochan, Artful Beauty
UR(U/R) Tibor, Lumia, & Melek (WIP)
Mafia Stats
I have a separate binder for my dragons, and the rest are organized by color. I have boxes full of lesser rares, stuff that's good but not jank, and then there's a jank rare box.
Good uncommons go in with the lesser rares.
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
Official Matron Mother of Clan Planar Chaos
Awesome Avatar and signature by DarkNightCavalier
Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
Legacy/Vintage: Sneak Attack!, Reanimator, SuiBlack, Painter's Grindstone
Standard:Mono-Black midrange, BW Vamp-Blade
Extended: Mono-Black Vampires, Faeries
EDH: Jhoira, Glissa (In progress), Kaervec the Merciless.
Liliana Vess Collection count: 91 and 8 Liliana of the Veil
In the 9-card pages I put T2 singles that are sought after, and in the 4-card pages I put playsets of T2 in the back and all legacy stuff in the front.
After attending the M10 pre-release and such, I noticed some people organize their trade binders in such horrific ways - everything mixed together, singles spread over the entire binder (say 4 BoP separated by 10 pages each).
I personally organize by format ... I have a Constructed binder and a Extended/Legacy/Vintage Binder. Within the binders it's organized by color, then organized by block, and I make sure to keep single together so if people want 4x they can see they can grab 4x.
Does anyone recommend a different way of organizing? I was thinking of organizing by set first, then by color...
Any thoughts?
I keep mostly Standard in mine because that's what I play.
I also have a few pages in the back of random stuff. I have a page of unicorns, for example.
Trade Thread
Modern
RWGBurnGWR
GUInfectUG
GRTronRG
UWGifts TronWU
URBGrixis DelverBRU
RGWZooWGR
Legacy
BUWTinFinsWUB
UROmniTellRU
BURTESRUB
GElves!G
GBPSIBG
RGBelcherGR
UBRGWDredgeWGRBU
UBAffinityBU
RBurnR
Vintage
UBGDoomsdayGBU
0Martello Shops0
GElves!G
UBTPSBU
UBelcherU
0Dredge0
then theres the big binder full of junk rares that aren't standard legal, broken up by color
I get easily annoyed by people who offer me up a trade binder, only to say "btb, half the binder is not fore trade." Although I may be more reluctant for certain cards, I never put a card in a binder and offer said binder unless I'm willing to trade it.
Forlorn Egoist
Legacy
Deadguy Ale
Dragon Stompy
Enchantress
EDH
Rubinia Soulsinger
Casual
Fluctuator
Sneak Attack
Currently Building
Show and Tell
Agreed. I have a page or two of my best stuff but it's all for trade - even for junk rares I'm looking for. The only thing is it's got to be a fair trade. You want my nantuko shade for junk rares? I want 25+ junk rares thank you
i think the only thing i have in order is my extra dual lands.
-Binder A has untradables (really tradeable but has to be a great offer), cards I'm collecting for a new deck, and high chase rares.
-Binder B has mid-low rares and chase uncommons/commons.
-Box has junk uncommons/commons that are decent for wacky/casual stuff (i.e. Branchwood Armor/Soul Warden-like stuff)
I always show Binder B first, if not enough, I go with Binder A WITH a warning that the contents are untradables (really tradeable but has to be a great offer), cards I'm collecting for a new deck, and high chase rares.
The box I carry because sometimes people look for casual/fun stuff.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier & Magus of the Sheep from Scuttlemutt Productions for the cool signature and avatar.
-Playing-
I got Soul, but I'm not a Soldier...oh wait [Mono White Soldiers]
I start out with rare lands, then artifacts, then WUBRG, then multicolored. I leave a decent space of blank pages, then I put my 'collection'. Currently, the collection is full pages of prerelease cards dating back to Lorwyn block, then my Chippy pages (GOD I love his art!), then my pages of Dash Hopes and Vectis Agents (for laughs!), and waaaaaay in the back are my token cards and my foils. I also keep playsets of highly used commons and uncommons, for friends at tournaments. I'd have a seperate 'show off' binder, but I think they're detached enough from my trades that people won't mind.
The latest Comprehensive Rules are also good, and can be found here.