This raises a bit of a dilemma for me, as I occasionally criticize people like trade-guru Jon Medina who put a lot of effort into gaining value on their trades. I consider many of the strategies used in such trades to be unethical and bad for the game. Of course, Medina considers himself to be an ethical trader who makes an effort not to rip people off, so there's clearly a range of perspectives here.
After putting a bit of thought into it, I came to the following conclusion: For people like Medina, the bottom line is for both people to walk away from the trade happy. If both parties are satisfied, the deal is ethical. My standards are a bit higher. Let me illustrate with a story, embellished from a true story:
A casual player returns to Magic after many years and starts getting back into the game. He puts together an EDH deck and brings it down to the local cardshop. One of the regulars notices a Wasteland in the guy's deck and figures he can pick it up for cheap. "I'll trade you this Strip Mine for it," he offers, "The mine is strictly better, but I can use that Wasteland in an legacy deck." They make the trade and both walk away happy - the newbie has gotten a better card for his deck and the regular has made some easy money.
A week later, the player goes up front to see if he can get another Wasteland, and discovers that they are worth $25 to the Strip Mine's $2. He feels betrayed and ripped off by the people who claimed to help him out and decides not to trade any more. A while later, he stops showing up at the card shop at all.
For me, getting people satisfied with the deal at hand isn't enough for the trade to be ethical: People need to know the value of their cards. Yes, that value is subjective and largely "made up" by the happenstance of the market, but it is real value nonetheless. I'll happily walk away with a $25 card for a stack of 20 bulk rares, but only if I've been open and honest about the value of the cards involved.
Value doesn't necessarily equal dollar amount, though for some it does. If your hypothetically buddy wasn't so sensitive he would be able to inform the rest of the community of such a lop sided trade making it difficult for someone to shark for this kind of value, or simply remember to check with his buddies next time, EDH casuals don't really show up and loiter by themselves.
ReplyDeleteTrading up is essentially my means to be able to play competitive magic. Making sure I profit is important, but so is keeping my local community happy. Much like a small business, one angry customer can quickly turn into ten, making other players my most valuable resource. This hypothetical shark doesn't believe in such ethics and will eventually suck the tree dry of all his sap, leaving him with nothing but a few quick bucks and a player base that will want nothing to do with him.