[Christopher B Lellis]

If I have an item and I want to trade it for another item and someone is also interested, how exactly do we do this?

Is it just as simple as sending him or her the item and hope I don't get ripped off when he or she is supposed to send me his or her item?
Is there something more to it, some more assurance or is that it?

[Mikko Kuusirati]

Doesn't hurt to look at their past transactions and whether there have been any complaints, of course.

But yeah, that's pretty much it. This is a small and kind of select community, though, so it's not so big a risk - ripping people off is a great way to get instantly banned from the forums (I should hope) - certainly less so than on any mass market site like eBay.

FWIW, trading money for items works the exact same, you send them the money and hope they'll send you the item in return, and I've never been burned on that here.

[Craig Peters]

The one time I did it, it was basically was as you described: I hoped that the other person had kept his word, and he hoped I had done the same. We both shipped the items with tracking numbers and exchanged them, but it could easily have been the case the one of us shipped the item while the other did not and made excuses.

So, this is a good question. You could mention in the "For Trade" thread that you and the other person have agreed to trade, and mention what you have agreed to trade, and any other terms of your agreement. The only problem with this is that only you can post in your own thread in the "For Sale" forum, so it will be difficult to tell whether the other person really agreed to the trade or not. Alternatively, you might consider putting the agreement in the "Off Topic" forum, where each of you posts to indicate agreement to the terms. At least then you have more recourse because there is a public record of the agreement. Even still though, there is no guarantee of good faith.

[Craig Peters]

[J.D. Crawford]

I've never had a problem but shy away from people who appear out of no-where to sell / trade a sword. If I don't know the seller I go back and check their record of sales. And its good to exchange tracking numbers so there's no nonsense about 'it's in the mail'. That works both ways. I've had cases where I mailed something that took a long time, and the buyers got antsy, but I was able to provide a tracking number to assure them that it's on the way (and so they can check it themselves rather than pestering the seller). This is particularly important in customs cases, where things tend to get hung up at the border for unpredictable durations.

[Christopher B Lellis]

Ok, thanks for the replies and the advice. I'll take my chances with it.