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RULES!! | |
Well, there's always got to be rules; so here's mine!
First and foremost: I WILL NOT SELL ANY BOOTS! PERIOD!! So, please don't ask me! This is a fan site. I TRADE discs for the fun of it because I enjoy the music. Trading is not for profit! Hell, some overseas trades have COST me money!! We both will enjoy it and are getting some music out of it just by sharing! Easy enough! I'll break a few things down for you.
QUALITY
I do my best to make sure that each show is what it says. I try to verify by listening for a band member or announcer to say the city. I'm at the mercy of what I get from people so I guess you are too. I have no control over snaps or crackles either. If it's there; I got it that way. All cd's are an "as is" proposition. If you don't like them when you listen I'm sorry, but that's what I have too.
RATINGS
I rate each show from 1 to 5, 1 being crap and 5 being the best. I will also add a "+" or "-" to further elaborate. Here's a guidline:
3 through 5's are all worth it. I'd say get a 1 or 2 just to pad your lists because I don't see why people even circulate them.
MEDIA
Everyone has a favorite or a rule of thumb so here's mine: I'd like to get Sony, TDK or Fuji; the ones made in Japan. I've read some stuff saying the Japanese made cd-rs are better. Lately I've been using whatever namebrand I can get at hicktown Wal-Mart that are made in Japan. It's either Maxell or Memorex, depending on which one they have that week. I do NOT want no-namers or off brands PLEASE!
MAILING
I generally send it first class but sometimes will use media mail depenging on the cost difference. On bigger trades I advise (and use) the delivery confirmation stickers; they can make life easier.
JEWEL CASES
Don't bother. It's just cheaper and easier to send the discs together in a padded envelope. If there is enough; you can always use a spindle.
ARTWORK/SETLISTS
Not enough time in the day! I don't even do the artwork for my discs so there's no way to do it for you. As for setlists; well, if the boot is on VHBoots.com then there you go. As for Dream Theater; I don't have most of them myself. Most of my shows I just listen to them and write it down. I don't have it on the PC yet. I will hopefully one day have links to the setlists for each show, but like I said; not enough time in the day.
What if you have nothing to offer me?
Well, here's the ole 2for1 deal. (The other option is Burn & Postage, but I NEVER do that!) If you have no shows to offer me but want some of mine or you are just starting out; then 2for1 is the way to go. You will pick whatever shows you want and add up the disc amount. Then, you send me twice as many. I will burn what you want and send those back. The other half is my part of the trade. We both end up with the same amount of discs; mine will just be blank. I find it's easier to just send spindles of up to 50. I have no problem burning up to 25. If you want fewer that's fine too but too small of an amount is not going to be worth it for you. On the shows that I get archived as FLAC or SHN, one show will count as how many discs it would take to burn it off. I know you can burn more than one FLAC or SHN on a disc (or DVD-r) but that's the fair way.
TIMEFRAME
Well, sometimes life just sucks. I'll try my best to get them done as fast as I can but with a 45 to 55 hour a week job, a wife, and two kids (one is 10 and one is 3) sometimes I can't even do any burning in a day. Also, 2for1's will take a tad longer unless they are smaller trades. Again; I'll be as fast as I can (I've had no compaints yet).
Last, but not least; BURNING
I burn all my cd's in DiscAtOnce mode. I make a copy to my hard-drive and burn from that. I would expect the same. Now, some of my shows are TrackAtOnce (with the dreaded 2 second gaps) or are MP3 sourced. I've carefully gone through my list and rated each show. The source is listed. If you pick a show that is TAO or MP3 it's now your bad, not mine. I'm currently attempting to get rid of all these, so I'm throwing out all shows that are MP-3 or have gaps, but I'm going through them tour by tour. If I missed one on my list and it says it's not I'll replace it with another show. If I haven't updated that tour yet and you pick a show that happens to be that way, it's on you. If yours are that way, I DO NOT WANT THEM!!!! Sorry to be that way, but too many traders are getting really, really crappy about this stuff so I'm gonna go along with them. We all should strive for the best source and best quality, hence my switching to FLAC or SHN sources.
I think I'm done rambling now. I have succesfully traded too many times to count and I have never had a bad trade ever; so it works! I also suggest you join the vhtrading message board. It's a good group of guys and we rate each other. Join there and get what you need!!! Happy trading!!!
Click on me to mail me!