Tips for Newbies from a Newbie

Hi there,

Hope the mods don't mind if I put this in here, but I have found over the last week since I've joined the trading post that there are quite a few people who will jump all over fresh meat in a most unscrupulous manner and felt that there may be something good that could come from my experiences if at least someone learned from them.

I'll edit this post when I learn something new, but here's what I've got so far

[list943a23beca][b943a23beca]When agreeing to a trade, always ask to see what offers your trading partner has available.[/b943a23beca] There are times when the person you are trading with are either unaware or choose not to let you know that they only have offers where you have to shell out $40 up front and will openly offer trades with you when you have free/s&h only offers available. That is clearly not an even trade![/listu943a23beca]
[list943a23beca][b943a23beca]Be weary of anyone asking you to complete an offer for immediate credit who then offers to complete one for immediate credit once you turn green.[/b943a23beca] An unfortunate side effect of the TR system, which in general is helpful, is that people that have a higher TR rating get to wait for you to go green first. Although I'm sure there are people out there that make this offer and then reciprocate immediately, I personally have been burned (user name here pending credit showing up eventually or not).[/listu943a23beca]
[list943a23beca][b943a23beca]TR should be a guide, not a strict gauge of character.[/b943a23beca] Use common sense here. If a person is pming or iming you and trying to rush you or is overall a jackass, you may want to tread carefully.[/listu943a23beca]
[list943a23beca][b943a23beca]Always ask for user name and insist on that person to initiate a trade through the system.[/b943a23beca] Again, not foolproof, but it does provide a little coverage. Never assume that someone iming you with a username from the board is that person until you receive a trade request through the system.[/listu943a23beca]
[list943a23beca][b943a23beca]You have more power than you think. Use it wisely.[/b943a23beca] Yes it's cliche, but if you're truly a newbie and you haven't signed up for too many sites, you're got a lot of cards in your hand. There are ALWAYS more people looking for that last referral than there are people who haven't signed up for a site yet. My advice would be to put your floater out there and see what comes in. Your first impulse will probably be, "Hey I can get 5 referrals in an hour! This is awesome!" The reality is that it can be a slow process and you need to be patient.[/listu943a23beca]

Sorry it's so long winded, but like I said, it's easy to get lost in here and I'm just trying to help out.

--Rich

very insighful...especially for a noob D

Good show very good advice

I likes it, I'd offer this suggestion.

"Don't pay with paypal if you have to go first." Everyone loses money this way. If you are a newb, use your trades before you open your wallet. You should be able to do about 20 trades easily before you start running low on offers. By then your TR will be high enough that if you want to pay for trades you can.

another one.

"Keep track of everything!" You can not be too meticulous. Keep track of who you traded with, what offer you did, how long the offer took to go green, how long you have to try out the product before you get charged for it... anything else you can think of. Some people use excel, some people use word or notepad, some people use the notes section of this site.

also

"Read the TOC for every trial you sign up for" Just do this.

i like it, very good "guide" if you can call it that, +1 karma for that mother )

If you don't mind, I'm going to compile this and sticky it in the trading forum. Thanks for writing - it's very accurate and useful and is frankly something we've been lacking all these months.

I don't mind at all, hopefully people will find it useful. Quite frankly, I'm flattered. Thanks to all for your positive comments! D