I cant remember the number of times I’ve tried to trade with people only to be handed a shoe box full of commons to look through. Now while I can see the attraction in bringing everything you have to trade, because someone might want it right? This is only going to put experienced players off trading with you. If you are new and have 10 copies of a common then the chances are so does everyone else, especially the more experienced players.

A quick pointer is never to put commons or uncommons (unless they’re worth a few $/£) in your folder and the same goes for old junk rares that nobody wants anymore at home.

I would also highly recommend buying a Trade Folder or two. These usually don’t cost a great deal and more than make up for the amount they cost. I prefer the ones with a fixed number of pages over the ones where you add pages because they are less cluttered and heavy. Having a well organised system of folders draws peoples attention to the cards that you want them to see and smooth’s over the whole process.

I also recommend researching various trade ideas and techniques. The ability to figure out which cards will drop or soar in price will make your future trades considerably easier and ensure that you don’t trade gold for dirt. There are various other trade articles on the site, which should help anyone seeking to improve their trade game!

The system I use is:

 Only cards that are for trade can be in my trade folders.

 I have a three tier folder system organised by standard cards, medium value and high value.

 Try to organise by colour as much as possible.

 I don’t double the cards up, 1 slot for 1 card.

Trade only

It can be frustrating to trade with people who have an entire folder of cards not for trade, which will put people off from trading with you in the future. Keeping our never trade cards in folders only slows down the process and makes it more awkward when people get fixated on trying to get these cards from you.

Organising by colour

This lets me remember what I have easier as well as helping people find specific cards they may want quicker. Its not a biggie but I find anything to make the process as simple as possible will lead to better trading experiences for both parties.

1 card, 1 slot

This shows what you have very clearly but also makes it much harder for people to steal your cards or damage them. Many people are quick to pull cards out of folders without asking, regardless of how expensive the cards are or how little they have to trade. Cards unfortunately are not indestructible and do get damaged, lowering their value. Also while 99% of players are upstanding and honest there is always the potential that someone could take out your 4 Sarkhan Vol to see how many you have then accidentally on purpose drop one into their pocket while you aren’t looking to only put 3 back. This can be very hard to see if you have too many cards stuffed into a buckling folder.

The Tier System

I have 3 folders. One full of low value and standard cards, one with higher value, older cards and one with all of the most expensive cards I own (this last one will not apply to beginners or medium level traders). The kind of cards I would have in my second folder are Thoughtseizes, Goblin Guides, Snapcaster Mage etc. the third folder is just for stuff that almost never gets traded; dual lands or expensive legacy staples and foils for example.

By keeping my trades separate I can decide what I would like to trade for what, if I am doing a trade with someone I can see their cards and if they want anything of mine we can trade. If they have a card I’m very interested in, I will show them the second folder. The reason this works to get good trades is because most people are happy to make up a few £ or $ value with throw ins if there is nothing else in the folder. By keeping my higher value cards in a more selective folder it basically ensures I get a lot more ‘throw ins’ or trades ‘up’ than I would if I had all my value in at the start. It also means that I don’t have to waste time if people don’t have anything I am after because they don’t try to trade their bulk into my modern staples.

So now that I have convinced you that turning your stack of rares into a nicely organised set of folders will payoff with more easy and profitable get out there and enjoy some trading.