Has the BO community ever attempted trade nights? - By State (or part of a State)

[Tonic3]

Hey everybody,

This may have been attempted before, but I've been on these boards for a long time and I don't recall any discussions.

I was thinking it would be fun to organize local meet-ups/trade nights for fellow collectors to get together and trade. I know we all have local card shows, but this would serve a different purpose. Card shows are all about selling/flipping (for the most part), but if the trade nights were strictly trading I think it would be much more enjoyable and less about making a quick buck.

I live in Western Michigan so I've always thought it would be fun to just organize a trade night. The location could be somewhere centrally located for all of those interested. I understand with Covid that right now it's a little tricky, but I believe the idea has merit. We could have one mega thread where each state posts the night/location, or each state could have their own thread with different areas of the state organizing local meet-ups.

Do you think anyone on here would have any interest in doing something like this?

It just seems with prices/interest so high right now that this could be a fun way to trade/obtain new cards without having to spending thousands.

Thoughts?

[Pigo]

Great idea. I live in England so am probs not going to make it, but would love to read about how these turned out if they got off the ground.

[chuckerrrr]

Great post. I have thought about this many times. Im in Central Texas and would love it if somehow we could arrange a trade night.


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[Tonic3]

I guess we would need some input from the BO admins to see if a "Sticky" thread could be created. However, based on only 2 responses I'm not sure there would be enough interest. It might take a few weeks to garner enough interest in a specific state/area, but once you had a core group of trade night members then I think it would grow into something really fun.

[Tonic3]

I’ll just bump this one more time to see if it gets any traction. I suspect it won’t which is a shame. I think we need more trade nights, and ideas for more fair value for fair value approaches.

Hopefully this gains popularity at some point. Fingers crossed

[hauntedcomputer]

I would love one in NC, but I am fine with buy/sell/trade instead of trade only

[Kquinn]

This would be cool. I’ve noticed other posters in San Jose/Bay Area. Blowout has and displays location, so it might not be too much effort to organize people by area.

[ClipsandVols]

The biggest problem I see with it is there aren't a ton of East TNers on BO which would make it difficult for my area. I think this would be awesome if the local hobby shop would do something similar though...we'd just replace one BO with another type of BO.

[Tonic3]

It may be more difficult in some areas if there aren't enough members locally, but I think it's a way to truly build a collecting "community". We reference the BO community on here all the time, but we often don't treat one another as if we've met and know the person.

I understand the desire of some to want it to be Buy/Sell as well as Trade, but I just think that would encourage the flippers/sellers to swoop in and try to find steals/deals to try to make a quick dollar. Keeping it purely trade (and trade whatever you want) encourages fair evaluation of value for both parties involved. It reduces the atmosphere of "how can I make money" and brings it back towards collecting. Even if you show up and don't make a single trade at least you can talk with other collectors, find out what they like, and then bring something next time that you think might interest them.

It's not meant to be a Card Show atmosphere where the dealers need to "make their money to cover the table cost" and buyers need to "buy at a price so they can still make a little something".

Everybody is on an equal footing. You get to meet fellow collectors in a no pressure atmosphere and it's about collecting rather than the allmighty dollar :)!

[ClipsandVols]

It may be more difficult in some areas if there aren't enough members locally, but I think it's a way to truly build a collecting "community". We reference the BO community on here all the time, but we often don't treat one another as if we've met and know the person.

I understand the desire of some to want it to be Buy/Sell as well as Trade, but I just think that would encourage the flippers/sellers to swoop in and try to find steals/deals to try to make a quick dollar. Keeping it purely trade (and trade whatever you want) encourages fair evaluation of value for both parties involved. It reduces the atmosphere of "how can I make money" and brings it back towards collecting. Even if you show up and don't make a single trade at least you can talk with other collectors, find out what they like, and then bring something next time that you think might interest them.

It's not meant to be a Card Show atmosphere where the dealers need to "make their money to cover the table cost" and buyers need to "buy at a price so they can still make a little something".

Everybody is on an equal footing. You get to meet fellow collectors in a no pressure atmosphere and it's about collecting rather than the almighty dollar :)!

Those are great points. I think it would be difficult to keep the "buying" aspect out of it with the way the hobby (i.e. "market") is. Trades are so hard to pull off now because it's so hard to find people who actually collect what they like.

I think a great option would be to make an alternate trade night at the National one year for BO members and not really advertise it outside of BO. Not that Ryan (CardCollector2) didn't do a fantastic job with his, but if I were to attend National, I'd want to pretty much only meet up with guys from BO... lol.

[volblorx8634]

This is a great idea that I would be absolutely on board with. I'm sure as many of mentioned it is easier in certain areas than other. Thankfully I'm in southern California, and I think there are a lot of us here.

Just would be a great way to participate in the hobby with each other in a different way, check out each other's cards, help with each others needs, and check out others' collections. Happy to help if there's anything I can do to help set it up.

[hearseguy]

I like this idea

[SirVolan]

I’m in western Michigan as well. I’d be interested!