Bartertown.com

I'm truly not trying to start a flame war here, but are people still trading on this site like before? Maybe I've had a run of just bad luck or uninteresting requests, but it doesn't seem like as much action is going on around here lately. Has the scene dried up? Am I reading too much into it?

Define "like before" ?

I do more buying and selling on here than trading, but I still find many things that I want, so that makes Bartertown Relevant to me.

--Robert

I guess it's all relative on what you have and what you want. you'll probably have better luck trading 40k for Warmachine rather than Seven year wars army for some Relic Knights.

Selling can also be though when you don't want to lose what you paid for. With the pletora of online store offering various discount on models often with free shipping, you need to price your models with that in mind.

Steampunk wrote:I'm truly not trying to start a flame war here, but are people still trading on this site like before? Maybe I've had a run of just bad luck or uninteresting requests, but it doesn't seem like as much action is going on around here lately. Has the scene dried up? Am I reading too much into it?

I don't see anything flame-worthy there.

Your question is kind of ambiguous. The answer is both, a Yes and a No.
We're seeing MORE deals done here every year. As our member base increases, so does the amount of transactions. We ARE seeing a higher proportion of people ONLY looking to sell, as opposed to trade.
When I first started BTown, I don't think I ever saw an ad looking to sell items. I only remember ever seeing straight trades. As time went on, people started adding cash in as something they'd accept, then it because the only acceptable item for some.
We're still seeing more TRADES than ever but, proportionally, there are more people only looking to sell than before.

If you're not having any luck, I'd call that an anomaly. A lot gets done here.
I don't get a lot of trades myself, either. That's mostly because there just aren't a lot of people who have what I want. My needs are pretty specialized at the moment.

No flame intended here, either... maybe it's you? Are you asking too much for your items? Offering too little for theirs? Are your "Wants" and/or "Haves" obscure or unpopular items? All of these things make a difference.

Eric

Another thing to consider...
'
In my years here I have seen that very few people on Bartertown care about "pro-painted" or even "well painted." Most of the time they regard that as a negative because it means they need to strip whatever they get from you because it's not the way they wanted it to look, or just that they don't want anyone else's paintjobs in their collection.

So....

If you want to move painted models on Bartertown, oftentimes know that your perceived value of the paintjob is probably directly opposed to the perceived value of the buyer/trader. In my personal experience, painted stuff moves better on Ebay.

--Robert

It always seems to be feast or famine for myself. I can go months without seeing anyone interested in my trades or be interested in their stuff. Then BAM I ended up with two massive trades of around 600 each. I agree with MM on his lack of trades, no one has what I want and occasionally they do....

oh boy! Here's hoping it's a feast time and not a famine time for me to pop back in

MadMadeline wrote:oh boy! Here's hoping it's a feast time and not a famine time for me to pop back in

What do you mean by "pop back in?"

Eric

Steampunk wrote:I'm truly not trying to start a flame war here, but are people still trading on this site like before? Maybe I've had a run of just bad luck or uninteresting requests, but it doesn't seem like as much action is going on around here lately. Has the scene dried up? Am I reading too much into it?

I don't trade models for models, beyond the very rare exception. I do trade my cash-money for other people's figs and whatnot in an ongoing and regular fashion. I have not seen a "dip" in my transaction rate, though as the gaming market changes, different things get offered.

Yeah, I'm not seeing a dip.

If you're BUYING, you shouldn't see a dip - unless people just aren't offering what you want. I see a huge increase in the # of people looking for money or ONLY looking for money.
As has been said, subjectivity is a big part of it.

Eric