Thoughts on first come first serve trading

[Rakeling]

an interesting point was raised in another thread- there seems to be an unwritten rule on this forum that if you reply to a trade thread first, you will have the first opportunity to negotiate with the seller. i was wondering what people thought about it. it's a lovely courtesy, and seems like the right thing to do, but does it benefit anyone other than the first poster? how has this policy worked out for other people? as sellers (i.e. post writers)? as buyers (i.e. post replyers)?

my main concern is, as a seller, the accessibility of the first poster. i've had several trades drawn out far too long because the first poster went MIA for lengths of time, and held everything up. imo, if you want first come first serve as a buyer, you ought to clearly communicate your availability, and if a real time conversation can't happen quickly, you should explicitly state your trade offer so the seller has some sense if it's worth holding things up for. i held up a trade for almost a week for a first poster that turned out to be offering me something entirely different than what i expected. communication FAIL.

other people's thoughts?

[Dragonwizard]

I personally love the first poster unwritten rule and at the same time hate it. I love it cause it is the fairest thing to do. I hate it when I miss out on something that I really want cause I wasn't the first one to see the post. Overall though I do the vast majority of my trades here because of how great the people here are and the first poster thing is part of what makes this place great.

As far as a trade being held up due to the first going MIA I usually give them 24 hours after their post before I move on to the next in line, unless they stated a different time and in that case I either say yes I can wait or sorry I'm going to go with another offer.

[Ravnhawk]

I always do the first come first serve especially if we are in agreement on what we are both willing to trade. I have since put a 24 hour limit on that unless the person posts here or sends an in game message that something came up and they still want to do the trade. If I don't hear from them I simply move on down the list. I never hold something just to get the better deal and have even given away additional stuff because I want everyone to get everything LOL.

A couple of pet traders thought I was pretty foolish to give away a couple of Living Sandlings and a Ji-Kun instead of trading stones or pets for them. But I had seen several really cool people I got to know thru this forum and thru btag giving away valuable pets just because they had multiples. I figured they deserved a pat on the back and a hug for the nice thing they were doing for others. RNG has been nice to me on these raid drops, or a ridiculously low gold amount on AH. Sharing the wealth so to speak has been fun.

I am almost always on by 6 server or 3pm pst. Sometimes earlier but traffic and other things may keep me from getting on line at that time. I try and let the person I am trying to trade with know when I'll be on line.

Rake I've had the same issues you mentioned with people being the 1st person to post for a trade and then they don't show up for several days. I mostly just try and do the right thing and now try and let people know about the 24 hour limit so I know what I have to trade and what's been spoken for.

I also don't think people expect a trade to be held for more then 24 hours without some sort of communication. I could be wrong but most people here go the courteous route when trading at least in my experience and I am not by far the most serious trader here. I have had several people get rather pissy when I didn't hold a trade for more then 48 hours with no communication but those aren't the rule more like the exception. Ever since I took someone's advice and did the 24 hour trade idea, I haven't had to sit on something when I could trade with someone else. Again communication seems to be the key.

I have told people I will save something for them if they don't have close to what I am looking for in trade. I've held pets for trade until the other person was able to get the needed items because someone did that for me. It's the old what goes around comes around theory. Or the pay it forward.

Happy hunting!

[Rakeling]

thanks for the thoughtful responses

and here i was afraid i would start some sort of flame war by bringing up the topic. go warcraftpet community!
the 24 hour rule makes a ton of sense, and solves the biggest problem from the seller's perspective. that's the trouble with these unwritten rules... it's easy to miss the unwritten workarounds to the undocumented issues

[Kandace]

I may be in the minority with my opinion on this one, but I don't necessarily agree with first come, first serve. If I put something up for trading, I will trade it away to the person that is offering the best trade for me. I will take all offers into consideration and give everyone a fair chance to offer, but in the end, if I decide I like the offer that person #3 posted more than that of poster #1 , then I'll trade with #3. Just because someone reads my trading thread first, doesn't entitle them to what I have.

With that being said though, if I were to promise something to someone and something better comes along after, then I would honor my word to the person I promised the item to first.

I think anyone that is interested should be allowed to make an offer in a thread, regardless of the order they posted in. The end decision, of course is up to the seller. Just my 2 cents

[Faelar]

I think the main reason this has become an issue isn't the first come/first serve thing. There has been a number of times where a post is made and people basically line up in a queue to talk to the person.....but all of a sudden people come in the threads and start posting offers. Yes this is perfectly fine for some people but I think that is what really bothers some people. I've lost a number of trades I had worked on for a good 45 mins because people swooping in and posting like that. I've had a couple people back out of trades that were ready to be completed. I don't have a problem with a person taking a deal they'd rather have or feel like they are getting a better deal, but I feel like sometimes it just became a waste of time to talk out a deal and have something like that happen.

Sorry got a bit long winded there. I always talk to people in order and hear the deal and if it is good enough I accept it on the spot. It can take way too long to listen to 5-10 people make deals on something and can get frustrating for people waiting to hear back.

[Pocketimp]

If the offer is basically the same, I usually will do a first come, first serve but if 3 different people come up with different offers, I will go with the one that works best for me. However, like Kandace, if I promise someone I will hold something for them, I will honor that even if a better offer comes along.

[Tahsfenz]

I like to have things move. If it seems like a fair trade, then I'll go for it. I have a soft time of 24 hours, but a person that I frequent deals with, I may be willing to hold an item. Most frequents I think have a good reputation where I'm not worried of something falling through.

I like to discuss deals in game for the most part.

[Threnody]

I've never felt obligated to make a deal with the first person who replied to the thread. I think I interpret the unwritten rule a bit differently (that's the trouble with unwritten rules). To me the rule is more like "All offers being equal, the first person who replies, gets the first chance to discuss with the original poster." As far as I can tell, there's no rule that says the first person who replies, wins.

The effect of the rule that I see on this forum is that people rarely post counter-offers. As a courtesy to the first poster, I notice that other people usually just express interest, maybe add a sampling of what pets they have available, but rarely try to one-up the first poster's offer publicly. I'm sure people still make counter-offers but most probably do it in-game, keeping the forum free of wheeling-and-dealing. That's one of the things I love about this community.

As a buyer, I always follow this first come-first serve rule. If I'm not the first poster, I say I'm getting in line and leave my btag for the original poster as an option. I also understand that the seller can deal with whoever s/he wants, regardless of my place in the queue. Maybe it's a matter of timing or maybe someone else had a better offer. That's all fine with me.

As a seller, I've also reserved pets for a day or so for a first poster. When I don't get a poke in-game, I post in the forum when I think it's time to deal with someone else. There are some hot-item pets that I don't take reservations for. So far I haven't met anyone from this forum who talked crap at me for selling or trading away a pet they had interest in.

[Kagalii]

I don't see a problem with people posting to express interest or their offers to the owner of the item after one or more people posted theirs. Imo it is up to the owner to figure out who he wants to trade with. I'd go by first come first serve rule if all offers were equal. To call people out just because they express interest in the same item as you is well...not very polite to say the least. I always reserve the right to trade with whoever I want. The only exception is if I promised an item to someone BEFORE the other person expressed their interest or posted their trade offer. In that case, yes, I'll still honor the first deal.

[Raptorbait]

I agree with all of the above

[Ravnhawk]

LOts of good stuff being posted and may have me rethinking a few things. And to be honest there is nothing here I can't agree with to some extent.

Thanks!

[Livingdeath]

I like the "First Come, First Serve" rules, but I play with a modified version.

I don't feel any big commitment to this rule right off the bat because it's like calling dibs to me. Just because they're first, they aren't entitled to what I have to offer. Their offer might suck.

At the end of the day, it's really about the best deal.

What I find that works is a modified version of this rule. I usually post an offer and then check back in a day later so I give it time for people to see my trade offer. That gives multiple collectors a chance to "bid" on what I have to offer. Then I just go with the best offer. It just makes sense.

Because really, if I posted I had a Spectal Kitten up for trade and the first poster after me is offering a DMF Rabbit and next poster is offering a Dragon Kite, I'm going to go with the Dragon Kite because it's the better deal.

However if I get the same offer from multiple people, then yes, I do go with the "First Come, First Serve" rule. That's the only time the first poster benefits. Up until that point, it's anyone's game and everyone has a fair shot at the prize.

I've also had better offers come in after I made a commitment to a trade, but I always stick with the agreed upon commitment because I'm a man of my word. I have made nice friends through trading here and I don't think they'd trust me as much if I was known to back away from a done deal.

This all being said, Faelar usually is one of the first people to post an offer whenever I put something up here. I can count on him making a fair deal. I also swear the dude is wired into the trading forum.

[Faelar]

No I get that, all the first posting thing usually means is that the first person at least gets to make an offer and be heard. If in the example of the spectral kitten they offered a darkmoon rabbit then you could just decline them nicely and move to the next person. By no means are you obligated to listen to the trade or accept the trade. By at least hearing it out you are giving them a shot at it is all.

There have been a number of times I've posted my interest in a trade (the wow forums) to not hear back from someone and then at some point the trade was completed to someone else. I have no control over that I just try to treat people nicely and in order and go from there.

[Livingdeath]

See what I mean, the man is seriously wired into the forum.

To be real Fae, I think you're probably one of the nicest pet traders on these forums. You've always been really easy to work out deals with and extremely fair. To be quite honest, I would give you preferential treatment if you were bidding against someone for a pet I had just because of my prior experiences with you.

[Mushalor]

I pretty much agree with everything said so far up to and including the bit about repeat contact with traders I know and trust tend to get my interest quicker and mean I'm less likely to doubt their offers since they've proven in the past they're not trying to cheat, they're friendly, and working just as much to get me what I want as I am to get them what they want.

I don't think I would be able to keep up with this much interaction with other people (hello anxiety) without that bit of comfort--knowing I'll be treated nicely and don't have to fear getting my butt chewed up for making a mistake or for being a little slow.

I've lost count of how many pets and stones traders like Rakeling and Nymirah and a few others have already helped me out with this past week alone, for example, and the patience exhibited in this community has been astounding for the most part.

[Faelar]

See what I mean, the man is seriously wired into the forum.

To be real Fae, I think you're probably one of the nicest pet traders on these forums. You've always been really easy to work out deals with and extremely fair. To be quite honest, I would give you preferential treatment if you were bidding against someone for a pet I had just because of my prior experiences with you.

Well thank you for the kind words That is one reason I enjoy the forums, very little trolls/jerks. For the most part we are all very kind to each other with the occasional barb or comment.

And I'm not wired, I just refresh the page often enough when Im doing things to see what action is around.

[Dragonwizard]

After reading all these I have to say I agree with pretty much everything everyone has posted. Adding a bit to what I posted before though. If I get a offer for say a Deathy and Bananas for my Dragon Kite first and the second person offers a Deathy, Bananas and DM Rabbit what I would do is give the first person a chance to match the second offer. If they can't, I'm sorry but I would go with the second offer, unless of course I had already promised it to the first person.

Basiclly it's first come first serve for negotiations only not for who gets the trade in the end.

[Tahsfenz]

I don't think most people expect that they will get the pet just because they posted first, but would at least like to make their pitch first if possible. But again, if someone posts and doesn't show up for 4 days, then they forfeit that "right"

[Gokugohanpan]

I'm not a fan of the first come, first serve trading. The only case in which I think it's a good way to trade is if the person trading is looking for something specific in return, and someone offers to make that deal. Otherwise you run into people trying to take advantage of someone not knowing the value of the pet they are giving up. I ran into this problem last month with Faelar. I had a Son of Animus pet the week after ToT/Patch 5.2 came out. Several people wanted to me to contact them in game, and if I had gone with the first person who had done that (Faelar) I would have gotten 2 pandas or common tcg pets. Even though I had several people make level 1 alts on my server and whisper me far, far better deals, and ended up selling it on a very high pop server for over 100k gold.

I also find it amusing that everyone seems to think Faelar is such a great/nice person. When I told him I wasn't interested in his offer, I politely told him I wasn't interested in his offer, said I was looking for much more than that, he proceeded to troll my thread (and then afterwards delete his posts): http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/8197181878