I thought the purpose for Trade Lists is for "Trading"?

Probably the main reason I joined DG recently, especially as a subscriber, is because of it's seed and plant trading feature. Well I've made some successful and enjoyable trades already but the more I explore other member's trade lists, the more I see lists which have items which are not available for trade (a "have" which is not a "have")! I've seen trade lists which seem to have more "haves" not available for trade than are available. Why should there be any items in these trade lists that are not available? Are some members just using the trade lists as a way of compiling their personal seed and plant lists... even if the items are not available for trade? On top of that, there are members who have huge lists of wants and little or nothing to trade! Can someone tell me the reasoning behind this, and why it's accepted? Thanks, just trying to figure things out here.

This message was edited Dec 5, 2009 4:56 PM

I think some people are probably just confused and don't understand that they can disable things when they're not really available. I think a lot of people arrange trades in some of the forums too, so it's possible if you trade something away based on a conversation in a forum, it might slip your mind to go back to your tradelist and mark it as not available. Or some people probably are reading quickly as they look at Plant Files entries, and they see the "add this to your have list" and "add to your want list" and don't notice that it's for trading--so they may be looking at the "have" list as a way to keep track of things they have in their garden (I know it says right there that it's about trading, but you'd be surprised what people can overlook when they're reading quickly!)

As far as people who have more wants than haves...why would that be a problem? People who don't have a lot of things to trade may not have as much luck finding others who are willing to trade with them, but there are some people who are willing to trade for postage. And as time goes on, chances are they'll get more things on their "have" list and will find more trading opportunities. There are a lot of newer gardeners around here, and it's not surprising if you're just getting started that you would want a lot of things but not have very many things in exchange.

Thanks ecrane, you cleared some of the probabilities of why some people have items in their tradelist which are not available, but I also see a lot of "not for trade" and similar comments under the item when there is a disable feature they can use instead.

My comment about people having more "wants" then "haves" was meant for those with huge discrepencies, like 100's or more "wants" and 1 or 2, or even 0 "haves". In my short time as a member of DG I've seen so much clutter in this well intended and important feature. And, as I said, it is a big reason for my joining.

I could totally see someone having tons and tons of plants on their want list--between people posting pics of things in the forums and running across things in Plant Files that you fall in love with and must have it would be easy to accumulate a huge want list much faster than you accumulate things that are available for trade. I can understand the frustration with things on "have" lists that people don't actually have, but I don't see how having a tiny "have" list and a huge "want" list would bother other people...someone who's looking to do a trade will quickly look at that person's 2 or 3 "have" items, realize there's nothing they want, and move on. And if someone does happen to want one of the couple things they have, then it seems like it would make for a very easy trade--if they've got a huge "want" list then there's a good chance you'd have something they wanted.

I am one of the guilty ones. When I first found DG I spent a lot of time in Plant Files (still do), and I was adding everything I saw to my "want" list!

I had way more on my "want" list than on my "have" list and eventually realized it looked one sided so I just deleted both lists because I don't have the time to do a lot of trading anymore.

I've had a few folks see photo's I've posted either on threads or in Plant Files, and they've sent d-mail to see if I have extra's for trade or postage.

Rather than relying on trade lists, which people do tend to use in all sorts of ways (and many people don't use at all), try posting what you're looking for & what you have (or a link to your "haves" list) on the plant trading & seed trading forums.

I must be missing something here. I am not looking to start a shouting match or fuel an ongoing one. I do not have a trade list, although I have checked the trade lists and thought about doing it. My DG friends and I exchange plants, seeds and services among ourselves. I do not have a large garden. I have considered setting up a trade list. I imagine mine would have more wants than haves, if I ever do.

However, I don't see how that would be a problem. A trade is a meeting of the minds between two parties: I'll trade you this for that. When party A wants to trade echinacea seeds (for example) with party B in exchange for lotus seeds, what does it matter if B only has 3 or 4 varieties of seeds to trade and A has 250 varieties? They agree to trade something they both want and the great river of trade flows freely.

I fail to see a problem here. If your counterpart has nothing interesting to trade for, there is no meeting of the minds. The trade is dead before it begins. Move on and good luck to you both.

Respectfully submitted.
Sylvain.

I have been a member of the garden for almost 2 years now. I also used to be frustrated with those that listed plants on their have list, only to find it marked not for trade. But I have to say I do understand why maybe people do it. I did not create a trade list until a couple of months ago. People I chat with and trade plants with regularly would complain to me because I did not have a want list. They wanted to surprise me with plants. Isn't that nice?! So. I created a want list. Very easy to do. Then I created a have list. I was adding plants I had, then going back to disable those I did not have enough to trade. The thought was when I got enough I would enable the listing. Wow! Started getting dmails for trading before I was even finished with my list. But as things went along I began experiencing people wanting to give me plants I already had. So I decided to enable all my plants and mark not for trade those that weren't big enough yet. I realized, how can people know I already have it if I don't show them? And maybe they don't have something specific on my want list, but they might have something I collect but a different variety. Say elephant ears. They might have one I don't have and its not on my want list. Doesn't hurt to ask. But if you look at my have list and see I am mostly into tropicals you'll know I probably don't want to trade for daisies. And if you are looking for a specific plant in plant files and click to find the list of people who either want it or have it, you will see the notation "not for trade" there. That way you don't waste your time and energy looking there. That's fair.

The only thing I have to complain about is the LARGE number of people who list on the trade list but don't even have the common decency to reply to a dmail. A "No thank you, I don't want to trade at this time" doesn't take that much time to type.

My two cents worth...I keep things enable even when I'm out because these are plants I grow and will at some point have more seeds of so I want them on there so someone looking for them and with patience to wait on a new crop to set up a trade at a later date. I am trying to do journels of my personal seed stash and plant material in case I come across someone looking for something not listed on my trade page then I can direct them to the appropriate journel.

I'm guilty of surfing PF and on-line nursery pages and adding more and more to my wishlist.

Peggy

Personally I like it when someone has a large wish list. It increases the chance that I might have something on it. And I don't mind someone has listed a plant, but shows they are out for now. It tells me that this person is actively trading that plant and I might have a chance at it in the future. And honestly, I keep a file of the dmails people never answered. I will not trade with them in the future. I would appreciate the courtesy someone showed me to at least answer and tell me they didn't want to trade than the rudeness of someone who did not respond at all. Makes me wonder why they listed at all. I answer every dmail.

bubba1,

I'm with you on the not replying to Dmails.

there have only been a handful of people [and i should probably keep the Dmails as a reminder]
that have never replied to me. sometimes it's just a question about a seed or plant.
I too answer every Dmail.. common courtesy.

I try to keep my have & wants up to date. Some i do disable, but some I will add a comment about being out of said seed and when i may have more.

I have to say though... i love the trade lists... and the Tracker. I can always refer back to see what i got from whom.

With regard to Dmails... It's also OK to give a *bump* if you haven't heard back... I try to answer every Dmail, but sometimes I read it and think, oh I might have some of that seed left, let me check... and then I forget to mark the Dmail as "unread," and I get distracted, and the request falls off my radar.

A followup "did you get a chance to look for these seeds?" is always fine with me. I try to respond even if it's with "not sure, have to check, please nudge me next week if you haven't heard back," but sometimes I have to jump up from the computer and the response just doesn't happen.

Just saying that sometimes it's more a question of distraction than deliberate rudeness. :-)

Oh Jill... we all know how busy you are... Little Bit and all. ;-)

LOL Just wanted to point out that other busy people might also not manage to respond to Dmails on occasion, and not just because they're being rude.

I know some folks just hate to say "no," so they don't respond, but I'm with the people posting above - I'd much prefer to get a quick "no thanks" so I know to look elsewhere.

That could be the case with a few. But honestly, I sent dmails out to at least 20 people that didn't respond. That's quite a large number. And to see them posting on forums when you are waiting for a reply only makes it seem ruder.

I agree. I know this has come up for discussion before, and I think the general consensus was to nudge once (that is, send a followup Dmail to say please let me know if you're not interested in trading) and then write it off as a "no."

It made me feel like they thought I was harrassing them or something and that's why they wouldn't answer. Which of course poses the question of why they made a trade list people could see. And some of them I discovered I had dmailed before and they didn't answer me then either. So I did right them off. I just figure I will find the plant elsewhere. But I do like trading. Its always a delightful surprise when I open the box. And there are some people who have been soooo nice! One comes to mind who sent me so much more than I was expecting. Such nice people here too.

>>who sent me so much more than I was expecting. Such nice people here too.

I've come across this too.

Isn't it wonderful? I have received some very nice plants. Some I would never have expected I would like but once it got growing I really warmed up to them. I am going to try to send extras when I can. I'm just always afraid they will be mad 'cause it was a plant they didn't want. I know. I worry too much.

bubba1, just know that no one will be mad if you send them an extra plant or two. If it's something they don't wish to have you've still given them an extra gift they can possibly trade for something else they may want. It's all good:)