Where do you Trade?

CaptMicha posted in Mystic's thread, "What brought you to DG?" that he/she (sorry not sure if male or female) enjoyed the people here, but was disappointed that there weren't more trades going on.

I've not been to the "other site" very many times at all, but the few times that I've been there, I have noticed that people who are reguarly post here, do their "have for trade" posts over there. (assuming that the user name is the same person)

Is there some reason that more people trade there than here, and what can we all do to encourage more trading here? Just as an FYI, they've had about 90 different posts in the last few days for Have for trade and want to trade... I've never tried trading there, but now wondering if I should??

I had bad experiences when I first started trading, but I imagine that would have happened where ever I started trading at...here or there. I'm just curious... where do you trade and why do you choose to trade where you trade??

The trading for us internationals pretty much died with the whole US phytosanitary certificate hullabaloo. I've had trouble with seeds not getting through etc so am now much more low key than I was and tend to look through the trading sites to see if there is something I want to try rather than advertise my wares, as it were. I probably trade more on a private basis now with people I've had trades with before.

I don't trade much anymore, although I do still have things to trade and things I'd like. I've slowed down a lot over the last two years and it just seems to take a lot of effort to put a trade together. Most of my trading now is with friends with whom I have long histories and similar plant favorites.

I don't trade much, but found trying to list my seeds for trade here is next to impossible, and a want list, forget it!! Yes, I've read the instructions, several times. It just seems very cumbersome, a lot of going back and forth between screens. I think I listed a few things, but it just doesn't seem worth the time and frustration to try make a list. Much easier on 'that other site' to just post a list.

I did notice that the trade lists were very similar to posting here, and I agree that the trade/have list here is cumbersome to deal with, and very time consuming which is why I've all but given up on filling out my journal.

Perhaps we can come up with something to make trading easier here that wouldn't be too difficult for Dave to implement.... on our home page, a box just like the "all about me" just general Have and Want boxes?

What about experiences trading? Are they similar here and there?

Yes, this is the reason I don't have anything listed to trade here, because it would take a week to have listed here what I have listed over there that took me 5 minutes to list. There has to be a better way for us to list our tradable items here. I do like being able to type in a certain plant I'm looking for and a list of everybody's name comes up that has that plant. That's a plus. I like trading large trades, and it seems it's a little harder to find folks here who can trade larger trades. The other site is set up well and it's convenient getting around there. But I have to tell you, here is where I hang out. The atmosphere alone is worth being here for. The only thing I do at the other site is trade, and I require them posting a reply to my post and sometimes references, because there's alot of bad trading going on over there. I think if there were a way of being able to post our trade lists faster I'd have everything posted here that I had available to trade. I don't have the time it's going to take to post each seed individually so to speak, instead of just typing in a whole list and then clicking a button and it's done. Don't get me wrong i'm not complaining at all. I've done quite a few trades here too, But i'm a very big trader, for the most part, I trade all year long.

kathy_ann

I don't really trade allot anymore. My yard is full. If I do trade it's right here on DG. Most of the time it's private trades and not posted. That's not to say if I see somebody post something they are looking for and I have it to share that I won't email them and tell them and work something out. But with the cost of postage now it's just cheaper for me to get the plant if I can find it. But the one good thing about DG is all the Round ups and plant swaps going on. That's the best time to trade so if you can get to one by all means do it. It will be worth it.

I would be one of the people who trade over there. Same name, Sue__WA. I would love to see the Plant Trading forum here at Dave's Garden more active, as I hang out here quite a bit.
I don't have a regular group to trade with like a lot of people do, which seems to be the trend these days. Like Kathy Ann pointed out, lots of bad trades over there still. I keep a list like most. It's always a gamble.

I guess I trade over there more because I get more responses to my posts and also people initiate trades by browsing trade lists quite often too.

I think the quality of trades and percentage of completed trades would be much higher here for sure. I am all for doing what I can to get the Plant Trading Forum rolling.

Oh and regarding the trading page here, it is easy for me to update mine regularly because I use my journal heavily. I can copy wanted plants or plants available to my trade list with a click. At the same time, I update my trade page there at the same time. Couple of clicks, it does not take me long to do.

Since January of this year I have logged in 41 trades. I don't play over at that other site, rarely go there. Matter of fact, I just got 3 boxes in today for trades, one of which was the secret trade. Went to the Tenn RU and came back with a very large haul last week. When I got back there were 3 boxes waiting for me, only one of which I actually purchased, the rest were trades.

Since this is the only garden site I belong to, getting the trade list together was new in the beginning so nothing to compare it to. I really love the Trade Tracker tho. It helps me keep track of what I'm doing, also, lets me re-contact the person I traded with for advice or just sharing pics and updates on the plants.

I must say, I haven't nosed around in other peoples trade lists unless I had a specific reason to, so this is food for thought to me. Think I'll check yalls lists. hehe

:^)))
Molly

I have to agree, although I like the looks of the trade lists here, and the flexibility of changing "how many" I have available, I don't have the time or attention span to build one. I have a fairly long list of things that could be shared but they are not posted.

I do trade over there, although the name is different since I've been banned over there repeatedly. ( I have issues keeping my mouth shut as some of you may have noticed, and Spike is a bit thin skinned) I would really love to trade here rather than over there, because I agree that the quality of the trades, and the follow through here is so much better. I never used to get burned but have repeatedly recently over there.

I'm all for more trading here, what can I do to help?

Interesting thread.....I'm watching this one...too good to miss.

I've only ended up "over there" accidently by clicking through a link without paying attn where it was going. I've been here 1 year and last summer/fall I kept up my trade list here, but between keeping my journal up to date and the garden tasks themselves I let the trade list slide. I'm so busy this season with planting (I've probably increased my plant diversity/number by 3 to 4 times what it was last season) that I'm too busy trying to make trades here to spend time working on a list.

I'm curious whether people think there are fewer people posting offers of trades here or if you think there are fewer takers of offers or both than over at "the other place".

To make it very easy and simple, you could make your own word document, copy and paste it to whomever is requesting a trade, rather than go through the hoopla of the other way.

Just keep your word doc updated, and when something pops up that you want to trade with, paste it in and say "hey! I have this, want some?"

Hmm,
I just post if I have something to trade LOL. I'm too darn "lazy" to make my list. Okay, I lied, I still havent figured it out. :P I get confused easily,LOL! That and I forget we even have trade lists! it is a neat feature though. :-)

I like to keep a trade list here to encourage new Canadian members to subscribe. I got around the task of individual entries by putting a whole list in an entry and saying to click on view. You can put anything in the fields to customize your entry.