Does anyone still do trades?

[flapflap]

Just something I've been wondering lately. In the early days of my pony collecting, there was a lot of trading going on; mostly on here and on the MLPTP. Now I see hardly any trading in the forums, so I was curious as to whether there simply aren't nearly as many people trading as there used to be, or if they've all gone somewhere else that I don't know about.
I know there are some facebook groups where people buy and sell, and also on instagram, but trading not so much. Or what am I missing?

I have a ton of dirty ponies I still need to clean, but after that I'd personally much rather trade them for ones on my wishlist than go through the hassle of getting them sold.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

shipping is sooooo expensive!

[goddessofpeep]

When it comes to outgoing ponies, I almost exclusively trade.  I’ve done some massive trades over the years.  I still vastly prefer trading over selling, and most of my best stuff is “trade only”.  I’ve only really sold at pony meets, and even there, I prefer to trade when possible.  However, due to the pandemic, I don’t go to the post office at all(and the local postal carriers aren’t trustworthy to pick up things). I live in a very high risk household, and if I bring the ‘rona home, it’s likely a death sentence for my husband.  We’ve been living like mole people for two years. Everything is on hold now, and it sucks.

I do think the ease of Paypal and other online payment systems plus the risk and work involved with trades that you don’t get with online purchases have made trading less attractive to a lot of people. It is a much bigger hassle than just sending someone money.  There’s a lot of back and forth negotiating, picture taking/description writing, checking references, shipping out, tracking packages, and just a lot of extra work.  Plus there are no buyer protections if you end up scammed, and you have to hope the post office doesn’t screw up for two packages instead of one.  However, it has allowed me to get some very expensive things by just shopping in my closet. I also need to get some stuff out of my trade closet. It’s overflowing.

If there is a trading community somewhere, I’d be very interested in it!  There’s not a lot of turnover on the for sale/trade pages lately.

[Baby Primrose]

I have a trade post up since selling is time consuming

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I rarely trade! I wish I could trade more often. I have a lot of older ponies that I would be happy to trade for newer stuff. I thrift and have a lot of doubles, but it is so much work to maintain that list.

I think a lot of people moved to Facebook groups, Instagram, and sales sites. I agree that the risk behind trading and the ease of selling now makes people more likely to simply sell, but with the new restrictions on selling in the US (sites needing your tax info after $600 of sales each year), if there wasn't a pandemic going on, perhaps we'd see a rise.

I wonder if many people know they can get USPS packages picked up from their door to ship out.

[Leave a Whisper]

I do

[Squirtsquirt]

Trading has evolved, and a lot of that is because of increased postage costs and the fact that right now, communication is limited worldwide.  Pandemic issues have made it very difficult to get things shipped, times are not reliable and many people are focusing more on necessities than luxuries.  I hope we can get back to the fun of trading and bringing the community back to life; however those other groups have taken so many people because they feel it's "easier" for them, despite the fact you really don't know who you are dealing with (if they are honestly collectors or resellers trying to get better prices, etc).

For me, I'm just not here as much as I'd like to be.  Work and other obligations have cut into my pony time, and I need to focus on changing that.

[mlp4me]

I'm still happy to trade. Just that a lot of what I have duplicates of are common G1's that nobody needs...

[SkyCakes]

I have in the past Im not sure if I can right at the moment.Maybe sometime in the summer.  I love to trade ive been doing this for years.

[Leave a Whisper]

I'm still happy to trade. Just that a lot of what I have duplicates of are common G1's that nobody needs...

I'm sort of in the same boat with common G3s no one wants.

[LadyAmalthea]

Same here...anything I'm willing to part with is the stuff that everyone already has.

[Barnacle_lady]

I also do trades if possible. But yeah shipping is high and unfortunately not everyone is that reliable. So I have my trading contacts since I am not on social media. Because of the pandemic meeting up to do the swap was low profile, but that will come back in the future.

[TimeDance]

Maybe it would be fun if the Arena holds a large trade-only event and everyone posts what they have for trade on one thread.

[Leave a Whisper]

I'm getting ready to do a trade this week.

[Carrehz]

I've never done a lot of trades because I don't generally have stuff to trade - I don't buy many lots, extras, etc and whatever I *do* end up with to sell, no one wants |D Plus generally anything I'd be interested in trading for is only available in the US, and it can be difficult to find people who'll trade internationally - can be tricky to coordinate, too. It usually winds up easier for me to just sell/buy. But I'm certainly not opposed to trades