Let's Talk Strategy!

Do you have a method for collecting sets? Do you make strategic trades? What are some of your strategies when trading?

I’ll start- I frequently trade with Ocoto (the bot trader) when I have a bunch of dups I want to unload. As long as it’s an even trade, I’m able to get some of the common/filler cards that I’m looking for quickly.

Can’t wait to find out what you guys do to finish your collections!

I’ve never heard of Ocoto, but just looking it up, it looks like it’s a bot; I didn’t realise that non-newbies could trade with them! This is exciting, thank you!! :smiley:

I keep a written list of all of my prints in a special book, so that I can keep track of which ones I’m currently trading for/currently offering, etc. I then prioritize 2-3 sets, which I focus on collecting with my Free Packs until they’ve finished; I make daily trades with NeonBot to get Commons from a 4th set; and I then have standing deals with a couple of people I know off-line where we help each other out, even if it means really uneven trades–so I don’t think I’ve ever opened a pack of Radiolaria Index, for example–I’ve gotten all of that from trades :smile:

Back when I first started, I used to make a point of keeping a list of everybody whom I’d traded with, and then I would write up lists of everything they needed, and everything I needed, and then compare them with what we had, in order to maximise the number of prints I could get in the fewest number of trades just using those people, as I’d had experience with them & could expect a prompt reply & maybe a friendly message (I’d also prioritize people who responded to me in writing as well when I was new, because it made me smile). Nowadays I trade so often with so many people that I don’t really do that anymore–I really wish that there was a “Friends” system in place, to make it easier!

In the meantime, I now tend to go through each set, and click on the highest-rarity print I need from it which I have a duplicate of matching rarity for. I then make notes (in a million open tabs) of all the people who have a duplicate of that particular print, have at least an A- trader’s rating, and have as many or fewer prints than I do in that set. Then I draft out offers to everybody, and then compare/contrast all the possible offers I’ve got lined up, and send off the best one!

…I usually spend about 2 hours or so every night NeonMobbing, from midnight until 2am. Insomnia ain’t fun…

(Of course, I also then generally try to give away as many Common/Uncommon duplicates as I’ve got from sets which I’ve completed, as I figure it’s something nice to do for people. I shall have to check out Ocoto though, so see how it works! :wink: )

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Before I ever offer a trade I look at the user’s profile. I look to see if they have any trade notes, if they have traded anything recently, what sets they are collecting and their sets as a whole, so I don’t offer something they aren’t even collecting. If it is a common, uncommon or rare of an available set, I sometime will do just a simple even rarity trade. It’s when you hit the very and extremely rares that make it tricky. Sometimes I throw in a print or two extra to (hopefully) make it worth their while.

Also really mind the print count. An XR with a 100 print count will be much harder to trade for than one with 2,000.

Basically the higher the rarity and the lower the print count means you will have to offer more to make it worth their while - and this isn’t even considering if the set is sold out. Looking over their profile will give you an idea of what you can really offer that a person might tempt them to accept your trade.

You just have to give it a shot, and be ready no’s or for counters that may make you cringe.

I’m interested in what others think too, especially those that have been around closer to the start of neonmob.

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Oh wow, those are awesome ways to build sets! I’m relatively new to neonmob and am always looking for ways to add to my sets and purge my dups.

Great tip with documenting good traders and friends, @Ainsel! And I have been starting to pay attention to print count more closely @silvermelowldy to make better trade offers.

I’m also interested to hear about what some of the older members do as strategy!

waits patiently :wink:

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@LynValerie: Well back in the good old days, we traded by hand, exchanging floppy disks with our requests, then loading them up on computers to see if acceptable or not. If not, we mailed a self addressed envelope and the floppy disk to the trader, if we couldn’t meet up again, and got our prints back. It’s so easy these days to trade with anyone, through that newfangled interwebs they keep talking about. :slight_smile:

While I may not be old (in the age or neonmob sense), I have collected some in my time. What I usually do is have 3 max series I collect, and get the daily free packs for those, and have one series that I focus on trading for (was biotop, but I’ve gotten so close to finished I’ve been holding off on that one, now Walter’s Experiments). I just go to whichever of the rarity gem views which I am the closest to completing, and open up trades with strangers (A’s and up) to get them. Then wait 2 days, and rinse and repeat.

In the start, I followed people who I had traded with, and every once in a while set up some trades with them, though since that feature left us I’ve just been bookmarking pages and trying to remember logos for everyone. I can’t wait for the new friends system, I’ll be glad to have that back.

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as others have said, it’s pretty good to focus at some collections to use your free packs on. I preferably use it on those with as limited as possible collection instead of trying to collect from the big ones. Makes it easier to get low-count artworks which can be traded for many high-count or other low-count artworks. Also, it makes it easier to get duplicates which can be traded inside the collection or for other collections.

I also prioritize card-count more then rarity. so if some tries to trade me with either 1 or more cards that has together a higher count-card then mine then I usually deny or counter-trade.

Ex: For my one card with 1000 count someone offers two cards with 1500 count each.

1500+1500=3000.
3000-1000=2000 more cards out there.
I dont find this a trade worth taking so I usually counter it to try to equal it out.

Upgrade strategy
Name by: NordicTurtle

It’s a simple, but effective strategy to trade prints in a collection by upgrading the rarity of two prints to trade it to one higher rarity prints.

1 common + 1 common -> 1 Uncommon.
1 uncommon + 1 uncommon -> 1 rare
1 rare + 1 rare -> 1 Very rare
1 very rare + 1 very rare -> 1 extremely rare

This is a nice way to get rid of the duplicates and obtain higher-rarity prints by offering a deal that both benefits the one giving 2 lesser-rarity prints by gaining a new better rarity print and the one with the 1 upper-rarity card by getting 2 prints and having the better deal with print-count-
It also gives you a better chance to get the trade accepted because it benefits both sides, instead of being equel or just benefiting yourself, which could increase the chance of getting the offer declines and needing to spend more time sending offers.

A way to fix the logic is to first average the total print number for each side, then consider that as the total number for each print in an offer (averaging and considering separated to each side, of course). Then, since there may be unequal numbers of prints offered on each side, divide each side by the number of prints offered to get the total value of the offer.

Example:
I offer 1000, 1000, 1000 for 600.
Average each side:
(1000+1000+1000)/3 = 1000
600/1 = 600
Then account for the differing number of prints on each side:
1000 (average number) / 3 = 333.333…
600 (average number) / 1 = 600

So, 3 prints averaging in at 1000 prints total is worth more than one print at 600, considering that if those 1000 prints were combined into one (much in the same manner as Intinsive’s 2 rares for 1 very rare method), they would be worth more than the single 600. The way that you were getting confused was centered around the total number of prints: if I had 10 prints each of which had 50 prints total, there would be a total 500 possible prints, yet that does not make it more valuable than 1 print totaling at 100. This is clearly seen when you think that just one of those prints on its own is 50, which is more valuable than 100, so having more of a rarer thing increases rarity, instead of decreasing it.

Sorry to go on a rant, I realize that kearaadara already explained some of this, I just wanted to provide some math behind it. (I was thinking of correcting you anyways, but I thought against it).
Happy trading!

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I don’t think this really makes sense, tbh.

Look:

Let’s say someone offers you 3 prints of 500 rarity for one print of 1000 rarity.

3 x 500 = 1500
1500 - 1000 = 500

So going by your logic, you would decline since the overall card count is larger, but the thing is, 1-on-1, you get a good deal, and with three cards, you get a huge bargain! :smile:

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The strategy stated is much more about print count rather then amount of prints being offered.
If there is just some hundred prints difference, then it really doesnt matter much.
But when a guy offers three 5000 prints for mine one 1000 print, you can obviously see that it comes down to quality VS quantity.

So in this case, this is against the strategy, because you value quantity more then quality.
Some people appreciate having more prints, but that isn’t the road I reccomend taking, and thats why I didnt make the strategy involving that.

I’m not saying I value quantity over quality. I’m saying your logic is flawed in the sense that you assume there cannot be both quantity and quality.

You assume that they cannot co-exist. You think that either there is quantity or there is quality, not both. This is not the case.

In my example, no, I am not valuing quantity. I am pointing out that using your method, sometimes 500 prints are viewed as “of lower quality” than 1000 prints. Of course, that’s wrong. It’s rarer and therefore more sought after.

In the end, I’m not saying anything about personal opinion or trading strategy. I’m just saying that if you think about it, you’ll realise that most of the time, by going by your method, a lot of advantageous trades will seem not to be profitable.

PS: I think you misunderstand my earlier post. Read carefully. I said 500, not 5000.

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I really appreciate hearing all of the different strategies and ways collectors value prints. There’s no one right way to participate!

Simply look at the cards involved in the trade.
If one has a higher rarity+ less prints, you are already getting a good deal
If it has less rarity yet less prints then to ME it is a good deal.
If it has less rarity and less prints decline.
If they are giving you almost the same prints but they have more prints, check to see if you need the cards. If not, decline, if yea accept.
Easy to me.

I’ve used this logic to trade with someone, and got turned down multiple times. Sigh… I messaged them what I meant and they just ignored it. Are people never read the messages on trade box?

This works better with trading in the same series. Like 2 commons from The Anime Sux Kids for an uncommon print from that same series. Maybe they didn’t collect what you were offering ? I noticed the majority of people tend to accept only prints from series they collect. I ask people what they are looking for if I feel like I can’t tell what they are collecting from just glancing at their collection. I also ask if they care for print count and pack odds. The majority respond. Some ignore my messages and just keep offering or countering. Lately a lot of people leave the trade to expire, which is annoying. Yeah…

I have a question for people with The Orphanage dupes. How valuable are the prints now that the series is sold out? What prints are you more inclined to accept ? This is the first time I have many prints from a sold out series and I’m not sure just how valuable they are :neutral_face: I feel like the print count, especially for the common uncommon and rare prints, makes them not that valuable ?

There’s super valuable for the owner and meh for the seeker. I’ve seen people get edgy at me for declining a 1-for-1 trade on a Sold Out series in exchange for a series where free packs are still available. I myself haven’t figured this out, so as a general rule of thumb, I stay in intra-series trades for such occasions.

Yea I ask them those too but meh no answer.
And wow a sold out series. Isn’t The Orphanage series out just recently? I guess it’s valuable if the seekers willing to trade more…

Are sold out series can be buy with credits?

I’ve yet to have people go off on me. I feel like I should be bracing myself for that.

@gopiffle If you look on the series page, near the creator and other stamps you can see the release date.
The Orphanage came out in 2013.

It depends - All sets are available for free and for credits when they’re first released. Then the free packs run out, making the set only available for credits. And then, eventually, the credit packs sell out and the set is no longer available except through trades with other users.