are there any?
LeeAnne's thread about feeling bad made me think about this. we all have some sort of unwritten expectations or even codes that we put into play whenever we trade, or buy/sell for that matter. it's a different kind of thing than going down to the nursery and picking up your choice of what's in front of you and making the decision of worth. i've bought some things on the internet that really made me scream when i got them and discovered how small and unestablished they were.
but i've never been unhappy with a trade here.
when trading, 2 people try their best to come up with something they both think is equitable. but how is that worth determined. do you say to yourself - " this would cost $$$ at suchandsuch" or do you measure how plentiful it is for you? i suspect these are 2 very different values at times? i try to do a little of both when i trade. i try to make sure i'm sending at least something close to the size of the plant i first got before i split it up. in general i know how much i paid for that and try to estimate how much the other person's item would be worth. that's my initial step in trying to be fair.
and then after that things often just seem to take on a life of their own. "would you like some of ....", "do you have....", "i've also got....", "could you throw in....", etc. sometimes it gets a bit confusing there. and i then go to my next value judgement - how much of it do i have? what's it worth to me? there are plenty of plants i offer for trade that have no monetary value to me whatsoever. i either got them as gifts, or they grow so easily and rampantly that i would compost a lot if i didn't give some away either in trade or as gifts for local friends and neighbors. what i don't have a real grasp on is how the other person has valued their trade items from that standpoint. or how they are judging the value of mine. i always assume no one would offer something they would miss if they gave it away.
at that point the whole concept of monetary value starts to fly out the door. what has a certain 'market value' to me might have an entirely different value to someone else. those of us who have lots of certain plants tend to devalue them i think. while someone who doesn't have them, may overvalue them - certainly in comparison to our estimation. because for them to go run down to the nursery and get those plants would cost them a lot more.
so i'm asking all the traders here to join in discussion about what criteria they use to trade, to judge a trade after it's done and to feel happy about the whole thing. i think from looking at the feedback everyone gets that we must be doing a pretty darn good job in general. i think we all tend to treat each other more like neighbors than as customers. even many of the 'pros' here seem to have a whole different concept of the value of their plants if they're going to a fellow forum member. why? and sometimes there seems to be more satisfaction in being the one to give a bit more than expected, than in getting more than you gave. kind of weird considering that trading as a historical event has normally been about getting the better end of the deal.
and how does the cost of shipping play in? some people know the shipping rates better than others and can send alot of plant for very little by packaging it correctly. is the trade unbalanced because one person spent $10 on shipping and the other $4.95? what about the limitations of shipping? sure, i've got huge plants i could send out, but it would cost more for me to ship than than it would to order a smaller start and grow it yourself.
it also might be nice to hear from a few folks who haven't traded much or have been afraid to trade because they feel like they don't have much to offer. we were all there at some point. i think you'd be surprised how open many people are to less exotic, but still attractive plants. and you might be surprised by what is common in your area is hard to find on the other side of the country.
probably best we don't mention any names if discussing any trades that weren't all together up to expectations, but why not if we're saying how great they were!!
at any rate, i'm just raising the questions here. i hope we can have a good and educational discussion about this that will help all of us learn to make trading more fun - which is really what it's all about for me i guess.