Conducting a Trade

I've looked for this and can't find it (sorry if there's one I missed) and I don't know if this is the right section for it. Im thinking about conducting a trade but don't know what the best procedures are for this. Do you ship at the same time? Im guessing you have to put your trust in them. Anyone whose done a trade please share how you did it for a noob like me.

I'm a newbie here too, but have been a party to two or three trades. I was a little leery at first, but have been very pleased with the honesty and integrity of all I have dealt with here.
The way I see it, both parties are taking a chance. Communicate through pm's and do your best to be honest, ship fast, as if it's your job, and your expected trade item is your pay. If you are a good person and follow through with your end of the deal then the worst thing that can happen is that you may end up having to deal with a resentment of someone else, and of course having to replace a piece of equipment. If you don't follow through, or misrepresent your goods then you have to deal with whatever your conscience puts you through.
It seems to me that people here are just as interested in trying out a different piece of gear as giving someone else the same opportunity and vice-versa.


Until My Luck Runs Out,

EOSNewbie

There is a bit of a hierarchy, or really just 2 levels. If you have never bought or sold anything before (esp. sold) then you are an unknown quantity and people are less likely to trust you. There is a feedback thread where people report on buy/sell/trades that they have completed. If you have a couple of good feedbacks where you have shipped an item, then most people will have no problem trusting you. If not then they might put a few more restrictions on the trade. E.g., you might have to ship first (assuming they have a good feedback record). So you would send your item, and they would wait to get it before sending out their part of the trade. If both of you are trusted sellers then cross-shipping (both shipping at the same time) is typical. If not then it's pretty much whatever the parties negotiate. If you are just selling something outright then almost always you will receive payment first, even if you are not an established seller. This is because PayPal (the usual payment mechanism) provides some protection to the buyer; you can usually create a dispute and get your money back if someone stiffs you on an item.