{"id":88961,"date":"2019-11-11T16:10:46","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T22:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=88961"},"modified":"2019-11-11T16:12:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T22:12:13","slug":"digital-dabblings-36-trading-ratings-and-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/11\/11\/digital-dabblings-36-trading-ratings-and-you\/","title":{"rendered":"DIGITAL DABBLINGS #36 \u2013 Trading Ratings and You!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-810962110\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>A Quick Reminder<\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019m still gathering responses on my 4th year \u201cElite Performers\u201d Survey, and would love to get more input from you the readers, so please if you haven\u2019t already, take a few moments to fill it out <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSe6zH4sg4O5Pam4P1OHYkINj_iU7wP50lerGw9DvITxR3uMKg\/viewform?usp=sf_link\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Trader Ratings &#8211; Meaningful or Meaningless?<\/h3>\n<p>Since the beginning of time, er, I mean the beginning of Topps Digital Apps there has been a method to rate how good or bad a trader happens to be. It\u2019s called your trading rating and it can make or break you when it comes to being able to trade. Or can it? For some traders the rating is completely meaningless, but for others it\u2019s a big deal. I posed this question to my fellow denizens of the \u201cTopps Slam Syndicate\u201d Facebook Group (join up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/866283720170812\/\">HERE<\/a>), which is a private group numbering over 1,300 group members. I asked point blank &#8220;Does trade rating matter to you, why or why not?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mike Broughton<\/strong> the admin of the group says: \u201cIt matters to me on \u201cclose calls\u201d trades. So if you\u2019re sending me an offer that is close to what I\u2019m looking for, if you have 2 stars I am more likely to decline. If you have 5 full stars, I\u2019m more likely to accept. In general (and partially because I\u2019ve got 4.25 stars), as long as you\u2019ve got 4 stars, I assume you are a good guy who puts effort into being reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Patrick White<\/strong> states: \u201cIt matters to an extent. Some people are too picky and have too many rules when it comes to trading. I\u2019ve received offers from people in this group who have a 4+ star rating but offer me cards that I already have multiples of but when I counter with a fair offer, it gets rejected&#8230;. I\u2019ve made multiple successful trades with people who have 3 stars and below but for some reason find it harder to deal with people with higher ratings. The only time I prefer to deal with 4+ stars is when cross trading. I like the other person to have at least 500 trades with a good rating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jerryn Liesdek<\/strong>, a moderator of the group says: \u201cIt depends really. A lot of 5 star players don&#8217;t send trades but only accept and decline that way if a trade gets accepted you will automatically<br \/>\nrate them 5 stars and when they do once in a while send a trade (not every 5 star trader) it\u2019s really bad like 9 oe&#8217;s for low cc.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The way that the trader rating works is pretty simple, after every accepted trade you have the option to \u201crate\u201d your trading partner from 1 to 5 stars. If you are offered a trade and decline it you can also rate your trading partner from 1 to 5 stars. If a trade is cancelled or expires due to unavailability of a card offering, there\u2019s no rating. Each member can only rate each other member once, so it doesn\u2019t matter if you trade dozens of times with an individual, only the first rating you ever have counts. Jerryn\u2019s point above is that there are quite a few players with a perfect 5 star rating who don\u2019t make trade offers very often, but that when they do the trades are not very good. I personally haven\u2019t necessarily found that to be true. To be sure I\u2019ve gotten a few offers from highly rated players that were terrible, but I disagree with her assessment that this paradigm is prevalent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Adam Gellman<\/strong>, blogger extraordinaire, writes: \u201cTrader rating means absolutely nothing to me. All I care about is what is offered. Because I know people 1 Star every offer regardless of quality and I usually just hit a button to get the pop up off my screen, I know that the true measure of a trader is not determined by the rating. I mean, there is so much riff raff, and manipulation of that rating that can take place, I\u2019m really shocked that people take any stock of it whatsoever. If there was a more regulated rating system that you could see individual responses, challenge bogus ratings, and get real feedback on any deal, then sure. Otherwise it\u2019s as useful a game feature as collection score.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert McWilliams<\/strong> adds, (The) \u201cratings system is too flawed. Not every bad trade is rated 1 star. Not every great trade is rated 5 stars. And people that send the most trades get most ratings and once a bad trade is rated, it\u2019s hard to get rating back up. Also, n1 of us started out knowing how to make fair trades, but learned over time. Those bad trades we all made stick with us even once we learned.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2784208302\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>While I do believe the system is flawed to a point, I don\u2019t believe that it\u2019s necessarily useless and to be ignored. I also disagree with Robert\u2019s view that new traders don\u2019t know how to make fair trades. As I stated in the Facebook Post: \u201cwhen Slam started in 2016 I had already played Bunt, Huddle, Star Wars and many other Topps apps, so I was pretty familiar with what card values were going to be based on odds and such.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve Gerhard<\/strong> adds some salient points. He says, \u201cI would have to say trader rating doesn\u2019t mean that much to me for a few reasons&#8230;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Accounts are being bought and sold a lot now so the person could be a good trader that just bought a low trading star account, so it\u2019s hard to get that back up.<\/li>\n<li>I have gotten so many terrible trades for people who have 4K trades with 4 stars and just offer junk for top selling cards\/stars.<\/li>\n<li>As stated above, the trade rating system isn\u2019t the best. For example, when I first started the app I offered someone the exact trade they wanted and after they accepted they wrote a message saying something like I only deserved a 2 star not a 5 star so my rating dropped from 5 stars to around stars at that moment.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I think Steve\u2019s points are interesting, but I think the use-cases here are outliers. I don\u2019t know that many accounts that are being bought and sold and then continue to be used for trading. I would guess that the number of accounts that fit this description are very, very low. His second point though is consistent with what other players have said as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Adrian Mitchell<\/strong> says: \u201cTrader rating means something to me, but I look at the number of trades as opposed to the star rating. If I am sending an offer or receive an offer from someone who is 4 stars, but has 2,000+ trades under their belt, I know that it was likely a few sour apples and that this trader is legit. If they have low stars AND low number of trades, then I have to be more cautious.\u201d His in game name is RONJEREMY265.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chad McFarland<\/strong> chimes in saying: \u201cI don&#8217;t pay much attention to it. Although generally those on my ignore list are 3 or lower. I&#8217;m down to 4 stars mainly cos (sic) often I&#8217;ll counter a s&#8211;t trade with a s&#8211;t trade of my own&#8230;.I guess to me, the stars only matter in relation to the number of trades. If they&#8217;ve got a high number and 3 and a half plus stars, that&#8217;s good. If they&#8217;re under 3 with less than 500 trades, well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Patrick Vancil<\/strong> replies: \u201cOnly in regards to if they have a lot of trades and a very bad rating. Other then that, the people who 5 star everything or 1 star everything screw it up, then you have some guys who never send trades and have a perfect 5 for that reason but absolutely send complete garbage or expect overpays on what you send them&#8230;Then you also have what makes someone rate someone 1 way. While some might consider any 500CC for any 500CC fair, another might find it totally off because 1 is old and harder to get, or a diva, or a sig, or a better real world value. And at the end some of the best trades come from people barely at 4 stars because, hey, some people who were bad do learn and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steveo Hartman<\/strong> opines: \u201cTo A Certain Degree, Yes I Tend To Avoid Sending A Trade To Anyone Below 4 Stars, But I\u2019ve Had Some Smashing (And Successful\/Accepted) Trades From 4 Star Traders, And Sometimes Below 4 Stars. Shockingly, The Same Can Be Said In Reverse For Some 4+ Traders Have Sent Too. All In All, I Think It Helps Determine Who To Stay Away From, And Who &#x1f44d;\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-88962 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1-151x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1-151x300.jpg 151w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1-768x1529.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1-514x1024.jpg 514w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/bad-trades-1.jpg 1125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><em>Two of my more recent terrible offers. The top guy just doesn\u2019t seem to grasp that you won&#8217;t get a paywall card for free prize wheels, as this is the second similar offer in two days he\u2019s sent. One more and he goes on my ignore list. The bottom guy, clearly a noobie.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1701691475\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Fun with Math<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes I use a little formula to figure out how many 1 star ratings someone has earned themselves, because I do believe most people will rate either 1 or 5 stars and very few people rate anything in between. It\u2019s actually pretty simple algebra.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the formula:<\/p>\n<p>X + Y = Rating<br \/>\nX+ 5Y = Rating x Aggregate # of Stars<\/p>\n<p>Solve for X &amp; Y.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s take my rating for example, by the time this is published I\u2019ll have 2900 ratings, and I have an overall aggregate of 4.5 stars (It\u2019s probably higher but who can actually tell amirite?).<\/p>\n<p>X + Y = 2900<br \/>\nX + 5Y = (2900*4.5) = 13050<br \/>\nX = 2900-Y<br \/>\n(2900 &#8211; Y) + 5Y = 13050<br \/>\n4Y = 13050-2900 = 10150<br \/>\nY = 2538<br \/>\nX + 2358 = 2900<br \/>\nX = 2900-2358<br \/>\nX = 362<\/p>\n<p>So there you have it, I\u2019ve been given 2358 5 star ratings and only 362 1 star ratings. So about 12.5% of all of my trader ratings have been only 1 star. If you\u2019re looking at someone who has a lot higher score, the numbers become much more meaningful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-88963 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1-300x90.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"303\" height=\"91\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1-300x90.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1-768x230.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1-1024x307.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/rating-1.jpg 1125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\" \/><\/a><em>That fifth star looks to me like it\u2019s about 65% filled in, but who can really tell?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at a trader who has an aggregate of 4 stars and 12,140 ratings. Running the math I get 3,035 1 stars and 9,105 5 stars. Fully 25% of all of their trades have been rated 1 star. That is an awful lot of terrible trades if you ask me.<\/p>\n<p>Factor in that a LOT of people will do common for common trades just to get 5 star ratings, and that number of 1-star trades really starts to look bad. If you ask me that is. Your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n<p>So in the end does it matter what your rating is in the game? Clearly to some folks like myself, it does. To most other players though, the truth is, what you\u2019re being offered is far more important.<\/p>\n<p>So the best thing you can do in trading is offer what you\u2019d accept if you were being offered the trade. Pay attention to people\u2019s trade posts, because I can\u2019t tell you how many people still ask for singles despite the fact that every 1 of my trade posts starts with \u201cI ONLY TRADE DUPES\u201d. Don\u2019t low-ball new players. You know, be a good citizen.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think? Leave your comment below.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><em>Until next time, don\u2019t forget you can find me in game at GRENDELSEN, and I\u2019m always happy to trade or answer any questions you might have.\u00a0 Leave questions or concerns here and I\u2019ll see you next time.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>My Collecting Blog \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/budgetscd.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/budgetscd.blogspot.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1573595273182000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGDoNoDTGmyDf9Gzbf7ET3DrN_QmA\">The Budget Collector<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Daily WiLL \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/willaday.blogspot.com\/\">http:\/\/willaday.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK\u2019S ARTICLE:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/09\/18\/digital-dabblings-35-post-summerslam-blues\/\">DIGITAL DABBLINGS #35 \u2013 Post SummerSlam Blues<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-415797622\"><div id=\"pwtor-3249760846\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>A Quick Reminder I\u2019m still gathering responses on my 4th year \u201cElite Performers\u201d Survey, and would love to get more input from you the readers, so please if you haven\u2019t already, take a few moments <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/11\/11\/digital-dabblings-36-trading-ratings-and-you\/\" title=\"DIGITAL DABBLINGS #36 \u2013 Trading Ratings and You!\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4667,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-digital-dabblings","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/11\/DigitalDabblings_Grendelsen.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88961"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88966,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88961\/revisions\/88966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}