- Mon Jun 01, 2020 5:50 pm
#355659
Also, if it is of any help, here's a nice letter somebody sent me asking to trade.
Good morning. ( Hi could work too, but always love a salutation)
Congrats on a dozen new babies. I hope I'm not being too bold, but are you considering trading or selling any? (straightforward request of want)
This early in the year I don't have much to trade, some D. Intermedia or D. Binata var. Multifida right now. Later I'm hoping for some B. Liniflora, D. Filiformis, D. Intermedia "Cuba", or, much later, some gemmae. So, unless you're willing to trade but perhaps wait for me to grow something up, maybe buying might be better at the moment.
(What the trader had up for trade)
However, if you're not interested in parting with any, thanks for your time in reading this. (Salutation, and a nice ending, not required, but very polite)
It's OK for a trade to deviate from what you had offered, in my opinion, so long as both parties benefit. I also always toss pullings/cuttings in to a trade just to brighten another person's day and offer them some new species (and It's so fun to exchange cuttings, this can even be done by SASE.)
Trades should be fair. This trade above ended in me receiving a larger Pinguicula (not a strike) and a little cash to help pay shipping.
For this, I'm sending them a few D. Adelae roots, a stolon of U. Reniformis, and a Cephalotus plant. I put the reniformis, since the cephalotus is a tiny bit small.
At the end, I always put a 'to confirm message', with both parties' lists to give. In this situation, it would look something like this, but the tradee did this instead of me.
Sample:
I get: Pinguicula baby and Shipping Money
I give: D. Adelae root, U. Reniformis 'f. courte' stolon, C. Follicularis.
Once everything rolls through, you're done. Remember, no request is ever absurd, but some could be rude (trading ventratas for veitchiis etc). If you don't have many nice species, sometimes I put together pulling boxes, a standard assortment I offer for trade. Nothing wrong with that.
And remember to be polite and accomodating to the trader and tradee.