How do YOU propose a trade? (1 Viewer)

[jmack0311]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts and opinions were on proposing a trade. Do you like to just send out a proposal and hope he accepts, or counters with a fair offer? Or do you send a message to the owner expressing interest in a particular player, and get his thoughts on yours, maybe via the league message board or e-mail?

Are there benefits to either one?

 

[TheFanatic]

Depends on who the owner is. In my local leagues I am much more inclined to start a conversation. In Hyper Active 1, I tend to just send offers. But to the few guys I know better than others I will do some dialogue first....

 

[GregR_2]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts and opinions were on proposing a trade. Do you like to just send out a proposal and hope he accepts, or counters with a fair offer? Or do you send a message to the owner expressing interest in a particular player, and get his thoughts on yours, maybe via the league message board or e-mail?Are there benefits to either one?

I generally do the latter, though I'd never do it via the message board. Always private email. Only way I'd use the message board would be if I want to notify everyone I'm shopping a player.More than a few times, other teams have made an initial offer to me that was better than I would have ever thought I could realistically get, so I'd never have thought to even ask for that much. There is a definite advantage to not making the first offer in that regard.I do try to frame the trade though to give them something to work with. That I'm looking for this position, willing to give that one, name a couple of players on my team that I'm more willing to trade than others, etc.

 

[jmack0311]

I'm kind of in the same position in my league. My friend is the commish but I only know about half the guys. For instance, some otther owner may be very high on one of his guys, and then when I make an offer for him he thinks I'm lowballing him and it becomes more difficult to trade with that owner again. This actually happened last year to me.

 

[Banger]

I do it a few ways...I'll send out offers through the site occassionally but more often (after the first few weeks generally) I'll send out some feeler emails..."looking to do anything?" "I'm looking for a wr, interested in dealing any of your guys?", "looks like your banged up at wr, interested in any of my guys?" for teams weak/strong in certain positions. I like to throw out positional inquiries because if you ask about a certain player sometimes an owners radar goes up. So if you can keep it generic you may get the guy to offer up the player your looking for and get him cheaper than if you asked for that specific player. It will also show the owners pecking order in how they feel about certain players if you probe a bit.

Generally, I'll target certain players I'd like to get and have certain guys that I'll be looking to move. I'll ask if a particular team is interested in one of my players and kind of take it from there. I think a dialogue is always good because you can get a feel for how a feels about a certain player, if he loves him (and I'm wasting my time) or is taking a wait and see approach. If it's the later you can keep it in the back of your mind and monitor the situation and then may have a chance to pounce if they run into a string of bad games, injuries, bye week problems, etc.. If you just send out and offer through the site, they reject it and you get no feed back or information on what they really feel about a player.

Often times what starts out as a meaningless dialogue early in the season will end up resulting in a trade later in the season.

 

[jmack0311]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts and opinions were on proposing a trade. Do you like to just send out a proposal and hope he accepts, or counters with a fair offer? Or do you send a message to the owner expressing interest in a particular player, and get his thoughts on yours, maybe via the league message board or e-mail?Are there benefits to either one?

I generally do the latter, though I'd never do it via the message board. Always private email. Only way I'd use the message board would be if I want to notify everyone I'm shopping a player.More than a few times, other teams have made an initial offer to me that was better than I would have ever thought I could realistically get, so I'd never have thought to even ask for that much. There is a definite advantage to not making the first offer in that regard.I do try to frame the trade though to give them something to work with. That I'm looking for this position, willing to give that one, name a couple of players on my team that I'm more willing to trade than others, etc.

No, I don't mean using the public message board! CBS allows you to post messages to only one owner.But I agree with hoping the other guy does make the first offer if there has been no dialogue. Get him to show his cards first.

 

[jmack0311]

I do it a few ways...I'll send out offers through the site occassionally but more often (after the first few weeks generally) I'll send out some feeler emails..."looking to do anything?" "I'm looking for a wr, interested in dealing any of your guys?", "looks like your banged up at wr, interested in any of my guys?" for teams weak/strong in certain positions. I like to throw out positional inquiries because if you ask about a certain player sometimes an owners radar goes up. So if you can keep it generic you may get the guy to offer up the player your looking for and get him cheaper than if you asked for that specific player. It will also show the owners pecking order in how they feel about certain players if you probe a bit.

Generally, I'll target certain players I'd like to get and have certain guys that I'll be looking to move. I'll ask if a particular team is interested in one of my players and kind of take it from there. I think a dialogue is always good because you can get a feel for how a feels about a certain player, if he loves him (and I'm wasting my time) or is taking a wait and see approach. If it's the later you can keep it in the back of your mind and monitor the situation and then may have a chance to pounce if they run into a string of bad games, injuries, bye week problems, etc.. If you just send out and offer through the site, they reject it and you get no feed back or information on what they really feel about a player.

Often times what starts out as a meaningless dialogue early in the season will end up resulting in a trade later in the season.

 

[MCguidance]

The one trade I pulled off last week was a guy who really needed RBs. So I said, "It seems as if you need RBs, and have some depth at TE, how about a trade for your Winslow for my Heap and Kevin Smith." He bit. I try and point out their strengths so they buy into it and are at least inclined to answer me. Honey works better than vinegar.

 

[jmack0311]

One advantage to starting a dialogue first is that you don't have to leave your proposal hanging out there for a few days. No anxiety at work over whether or not he accepted, and no risk that some breaking news may pop up about a player involved in the proposal. It's so much easier when a trade is agreed upon before it's even proposed.

I feel sorry for the owners who may have been trying to buy Colston low this week. I'm sure there were a few who left a proposal out there only to find the other owner accepted and now they have a gimp on their roster for 6 weeks.

 

[Banger]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts and opinions were on proposing a trade. Do you like to just send out a proposal and hope he accepts, or counters with a fair offer? Or do you send a message to the owner expressing interest in a particular player, and get his thoughts on yours, maybe via the league message board or e-mail?Are there benefits to either one?

I generally do the latter, though I'd never do it via the message board. Always private email. Only way I'd use the message board would be if I want to notify everyone I'm shopping a player.More than a few times, other teams have made an initial offer to me that was better than I would have ever thought I could realistically get, so I'd never have thought to even ask for that much. There is a definite advantage to not making the first offer in that regard.I do try to frame the trade though to give them something to work with. That I'm looking for this position, willing to give that one, name a couple of players on my team that I'm more willing to trade than others, etc.

No, I don't mean using the public message board! CBS allows you to post messages to only one owner.But I agree with hoping the other guy does make the first offer if there has been no dialogue. Get him to show his cards first.

Most owners in my league employ the same strategy and I don't mind offering the 1st trade at all. The only time I have a problem with it is if someone is asking me about one of my guys. If you are interested in my players, you make me the offer, if they don't the conversation generally ends there or I throw out a very lopsided offer. When dealing, I have a value in my mind that I'm willing to give up and won't go beyond that. If I get the player I want I really don't care if I overpaid a bit. Often times I'll give up what seems to be a little more value when I target one specific player but since I'm dealing with the same guys year in and year out I like that the owners think that I'm a fair partner to deal with. There are certain guys (probably in every league) that offer bad offers and once in a while an owner will bite on it but if they get burned they tend to have long memories and may have a difficult time getting things done with that owner as well as others....

 

[Zoomanji]

If I know the guy, I'll call or e-mail him first to gauge interest. Ocaasionally I'll just send an offer with a note asking if there is any interest.

This website has some good trading info here

 

[Banger]

The one trade I pulled off last week was a guy who really needed RBs. So I said, "It seems as if you need RBs, and have some depth at TE, how about a trade for your Winslow for my Heap and Kevin Smith." He bit. I try and point out their strengths so they buy into it and are at least inclined to answer me. Honey works better than vinegar.

so you McGuide them through the trade?

 

[the rover]

Phone call is the way to go. You can fish to see what they want and gauge their value of different players without having to propose anything. Way easier to just call and talk about your teams, maybe mention that you might want to trade for an upgrade at a particular position, and just see where it goes.

 

[Hoss_Cartwright]

I'm a little different than some when it comes to trades. I don't believe in the theory there must be some haggling involved. I try to nail the trade on the first proposal rather than offer a lowball offer in hopes of a counter offer, or just for the sake of creating dialog. I in turn don't like to receive offers that way either. Now I have accidentally insulted some owners with offers, but for the most part I want to make it happen right away. What that does is leave the other owner feeling good about dealing with me. It definitely makes future trading easier. I'm not saying I always make my best offer with the first offer, but I try to. Key word is try to, so whether I offer more depends on how much I want a player. Once in a blue moon I will give more, but for the most part I won't, because of trying to submit my best offer initially. Now I may offer a different deal, but that's different than offering more. Some would argue this type of dealing can cause you to not receive as much as you could have by using the haggling process. I would argue that what you gain by the initial low ball offer, followed by some haggling, then reaching an agreement, is far less than what you gain in how other owners perceive you as a trading partner, resulting in future deals.

 

[DoubleG]

I have rarely been able to pull off a trade without speaking to the person on the phone (or in person). There are limitations to email - you can't hear hesitation, jest, doubt, etc. I find that often it is much easier to gauge value/interest over the phone than through email. Often, I have found that a phone call has sealed the deal on a trade that, after an initial email, I thought would never happen.

The most important aspect of a trade, imho, is to find a need on the other guys team and address it with your strength. "I noticed Colston is out and you might be needing WR help for a few weeks...well I happen to have a couple of solid WR2s who could do a good job, and I'm looking for help at RB..."

 

[[icon]]

I'm a little different than some when it comes to trades. I don't believe in the theory there must be some haggling involved. I try to nail the trade on the first proposal rather than offer a lowball offer in hopes of a counter offer, or just for the sake of creating dialog. I in turn don't like to receive offers that way either.

Same Here. In a office money league (10T PPR) I have a glut of RB and through injuries have run a bit short on talent. I managed to catch a somewhat less knowledgeable owner off guard regarding Brandon Marshall (who was on his bench obviously).

It was a perfect storm as he has SJax and Portis and is panicking over their slow starts already.... and he is quite deep at WR including a guy or two who have overperformed this week. I noticed this and threw out an email stating:

Looking like your RBs might end up having some trouble this year in some shaky offenses. On the other hand your WRs look pretty flush with talent. I happen to have a surplus of RBs but could use a WR. I aim interested in Brandon Marshall (who is coming off disciplinary suspension this week).

Edge (who I'm offering you) is a pretty solid back with a history of solid production. He's not going to set the world on fire with 200 yard 3TD weeks like LT but he's a guy who's going to get 20 carries a game and go for 80-100 Yards plus a touchdown every other week.

Look at the rankings you'll find this is actually a pretty fair trade. Let me know what you think.

He accepted and the trade is now going through. I'm quite happy about the deal as I feel like I got the better end of the deal without completely screwing the guy.

 

[MCguidance]

The one trade I pulled off last week was a guy who really needed RBs. So I said, "It seems as if you need RBs, and have some depth at TE, how about a trade for your Winslow for my Heap and Kevin Smith." He bit. I try and point out their strengths so they buy into it and are at least inclined to answer me. Honey works better than vinegar.

so you McGuide them through the trade?

Ha, you know it.But I don't send out trade offers at first - esp. official offers through MFL, Yahoo, etc. The reason being is that if you had an offer out for Colston a week ago, forgot about it, and now the other guy accepts, you're screwed. I mention this in the league rules - it's the offering owners responsibility to remember (I mentioned it was better to negotiate via unofficial then use the hosting site only when it's been finalized. Sorry to hijack, back to my Colston point here - I just sent out an email asking, "Hey, I saw Colston was hurt for 4-6, any interest in unloading him?" Don't really need him, but I would be willing to give up my WR3 (Roddy White) and a Slaton-type for him. Well see how he responds. I know you're all waiting anxiously!

 

[LionsFan78]

Both. Depends on the owner. Ones I know and get along with, I'll strike up a conversation via PM or email and go from there.

Others I play with have the mentality that they must win every trade in a landslide, and are unwilling to discuss anything. They simply reply to everything with "I don't know, send me offers though". Which is fine...those guys I just send an offer and go from there, usually with no comments.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

some good stuff in here...

I generally target another owners weaknesses and us my depth to help him....key usually being my depth....not my base starters (for the most part)...all the while I usually have one specific player on his roster that I am targeting even though I may not say that originally....I usually only trade to make my starting lineup better....not usually to aquire depth or bye week coverage, etc.....I usually start the dialouge with something that will definatley improve his team....if he sees that from the get go then he will usually stay with you....at some point in the season I usually make the commitment to unload my depth to solidify a solid starting lineup heading into the playoffs.....this leaves me vulnerable to injuries, etc, but it is the chance I usually take.....having depth does not do you a whole lot of good late in the season....I would rather have a solid can't miss lineup heading into the playoffs then mid level players with good depth....I will give up a solid player and some mid level guys for the other guys stud and his trash if it makes my starting line up better...in most of my deals I end up even telling the guy, "plus I'll take whatever trash you want to give me"....he knows he gave me a stud, but he got some good guys in return and unloaded his trash........usually come out looking okay here

 

[stevegamer]

I like to send an offer with a note. It works wll im mylocal leagues where I know people - and I make sure my first offer is fair. You always want them to be willing to deal with you.

 

[coolnerd]

I like to send an offer with a note. It works wll im mylocal leagues where I know people - and I make sure my first offer is fair. You always want them to be willing to deal with you.

This is my preference. I like get to the yes, no or we have something to talk about as quickly as possible and a solid offer with a sentence or two quickly gets me to that. If you are sending an explanation longer than that, you are selling (versus explaining) and probably selling something that does not smell very good. On haggling, I understand that this is how many players like to work, but I still wish to get to hard offers w/o going through an entire roster. If you bring up a player, have a plan as how that player fits into an offer instead of asking me and then getting frustrated when my answer is something in my favor.