Trade negotiations

[RugbyD]

I don't really understand why ppl get offended by a bad offer.

Because my time is valuable and apparently your's isn't. It indicates to me that you are a) too stupid to trade with or b) not serious about trading, and therefore a waste of my time in either case.

Give me a break.

It takes 1 second to see a trade and click 'cancel' "Time is valuable" is pure crab.

You can either counter or cancel. But to be offended is just stupid.

No break for you. Not being able to trade with someone unnecessarily reduces my roster flexibility and therefore unnecessarily reduces my ability to craft a winner, which makes my time spent on the league unnecessarily less worthwhile. Reasonable people can disagree on player values, but don't throw a jackass offer out. Nobody likes talking to jackasses.

"annoyed" would be appropo to describe my reaction to a first offer. "offended/pissed off" would be fitting for offer rec'd after i sent the first rejection with a note asking them not to send anymore junk my way.

[Madison]

As to why you dont start with your best offer -- thats dumb, and is bad strategy, you either COULD be hurting yourself out of a better deal, or guarenteeing that youll never get that player at all if youre dealing with someone who EXPECTS to negotiate (as in, they KNOW thats not your best offer and expect you to improve)

I don't think anyone is suggesting making your best offer upfront, but it does seem that most people are saying to make a "fair" offer instead of a really stupid lowball offer that won't do anything but hinder your chances at a deal with the other owner.

[baseball6791]

I've found that it seems to work better if you just start with an open dialogue. I try to complement the other owner on his team and at the same time point out what I perceive to be his weaknesses. Then ask if he's interested in X, who could potentially help that particular weakness. I usually have a player in mind on his team that I'm eyeing and start the discussion at that point. If you can get the other owner to admit he's got a weakness and that player X could help his team, you're off to a good start.

i like to do this a lot too. it is a good was to asses who he values on both parties teams, and at what price. i also try to never bad mouth a player of mine who is doing badly in front of other owners (i play in a league with a close group of friends who i see often), because that tends to downgrade that players value in their opinion. it seems to be that the first thing people hear about a player, whether through ESPN, SI, internet, friends, etc. is what they base their opinion around to begin with.

[Grouperman941]

I like to use private e-mail together with or even instead of the offer system. Not always, but sometimes.

I'll send a message with the subject: Tired of Beltran yet?

or something like that and then in the e-mail explain what I meant and discuss some potential deals.

Sometimes the discussion ends up in a trade for someone totally different. Sometimes it goes nowhere.

I have noticed that most of the guys in my main league don't read the comments attached to the trade offers.

We also have a used car salesman guy who can be irritating but we have smart owners and he usually ends up getting ripped off.

I am among the leaders this year (for the first time) and owners are far more reluctant to deal than when I was middle-of-the-pack.