I am a bit of a lowballer how should I go about starting trades?

[prinefan]

To me a good trade has no real defined "winner". It should benefit both sides. A lowballer will get ignored. Also I hate when a potential trade partner asks what I want for a player. The person initiating a trade should address the partner's needs and send a legit offer. Don't ask me to do your work putting an offer together. Really annoying. All this has been referenced earlier in this thread too.

[Ruggenater]

To me a good trade has no real defined "winner". It should benefit both sides. A lowballer will get ignored. Also I hate when a potential trade partner asks what I want for a player. The person initiating a trade should address the partner's needs and send a legit offer. Don't ask me to do your work putting an offer together. Really annoying. All this has been referenced earlier in this thread too.

Sometimes what I think your needs are differ from what you think your needs are, so it's helpful to get that perspective first. I usually start the offer addressing what I believe to be the other team's needs, but I don't necessarily have a problem with someone asking what I want for a player. Your response in that situation doesn't have to be "I'd want Player X and Pick Y"; it could just be something like "I'm looking for help at WR and would consider draft picks as part of the deal as well."

[murphysxm]

There's nothing wrong with an initial lowball offer, as long as you know that you're going to improve the offer afterwards.

I disagree with this statement. If I get an offer that is stupid low, you will not get a counter or a comment from me. If you aren't serious enough to come to me with a valid offer, I won't waste my time.

[bucsrule]

This is easy.

Instead of saying "I want Kamara, I want Kamara, I want Kamara" and blanketing the Kamara owner with offers that don't help him, approach trades a different way.

Say "I'm thin at RB but have an excess of WRs to spare, who could use a WR more than their RBs"? Then scan and maybe it's not the Kamara owner but it's the Dalvin Cook owner.

Then send a mutual beneficial offer to them. If it's a little bit of a lowball, that's ok, but I would say something like:

"I'm looking at your roster & see that you need receivers. Here's Tyreek Hill for Dalvin Cook. I recognize that Cook has a higher ADP right now, so let me know what it would take to balance this out".

Approach your offers like that and you will 100% be non-offensive and either you'll come to agreement or the other owner will politely refuse but keep you on speed dial for future trades.

That's how I like to get things done.

Easily the best way to go about it IMO.

Low ball offers usually get declined or get lower ball offers as a counter. Before making the offer get in a conversation with the other owner about the possible trade to see what works. Naturally you want to update Trade Bait so all league owners are up to snuff with what you need and what you have to offer in return.

[hockeyBjj]

I know myself and I often send offers that are too low and my goal is not for that trade to be accepted but instead to show interest in the other owners player. How can I improve at starting trade discussions. I have started messaging owners on a specific player and asking what kind of return they want back or which players on my team interest them. How can I improve my intro offers?
Thanks guys

Ask yourself if someone offered that trade to you would you accept it. If the answer is no, don't send it. Low ball offers don't get conversations going. They tell the owner that you are not serious about trading.

This. Initial offer does show interest in player, but they also show what ballpark the owner is willing to pay for said player

If I get a low ball, I reject and move on. If I get something that's close, or where the value is there but doesn't match my team needs and direction, then I'm intrigued and will see what can be done to make it work

[btv802]

I dislike lowball offers, but if I get them I also sometimes think, "maybe this is how he actually values this type of asset and perhaps I can leverage this information". Always worth considering before you just get mad about it.

[IR1]

I usually start with an offer slightly in my favor but not "low ball", this gives him room to counter. Try to match team needs so both sides benefit. usually works but sometimes they don't see a need I see and of course can have different player evaluation.

[JJRules]

We have a perpetual lowballer who also says he's just trying to open negotiations, and it's really annoying. It gives off the impression that a) he's trying to rip me off, and b) we value players completely differently. Also, his initial offers don't take my roster into account. It wastes my time so I usually don't even bother to decline, instead letting the trade sit there until it expires.

Ideally you will look at a prospective trade partner's roster and assess their weaknesses. Then offer a trade that actually addresses said weakness without being lopsidedly in your favor.

[btv802]

I find one of the ways I waste most time in negotiations is allowing my trade partner to have the sense that there is a lot of wiggle room. Guys are always going to try and ask for more even if you are bringing a fair offer to the table. So my general style is to be aware of my trade partners preferences/tendencies, to not dick around with my first offer, to come fairly strong right away and let my trade partner know that this is my intention. If it's not close for them it probably means we aren't going to bridge the gap.

[Reljac]

When I get offers that are too far off my value of the player, I just auto-decline, to me it says something about how you value the player you are trying to get. If someone doesn't want to lead with a fair offer and instead drops me a message to negotiate I am more than happy to discuss.

[thebeast]

There's nothing wrong with an initial lowball offer, as long as you know that you're going to improve the offer afterwards.

I disagree with this statement. If I get an offer that is stupid low, you will not get a counter or a comment from me. If you aren't serious enough to come to me with a valid offer, I won't waste my time.

That’s the other side of this coin and no response even to offers you consider bad is a quick way to get people to stop sending you offer so. Everyone evacuees players differently, why take offense? Make a counter offer, explain that you don’t like or value the offered players equally to your player. Getting offended is really silly if you think about it and assures that you won’t end up making a deal.

[jordanzs]

This is easy.

Instead of saying "I want Kamara, I want Kamara, I want Kamara" and blanketing the Kamara owner with offers that don't help him, approach trades a different way.

Say "I'm thin at RB but have an excess of WRs to spare, who could use a WR more than their RBs"? Then scan and maybe it's not the Kamara owner but it's the Dalvin Cook owner.

Then send a mutual beneficial offer to them. If it's a little bit of a lowball, that's ok, but I would say something like:

"I'm looking at your roster & see that you need receivers. Here's Tyreek Hill for Dalvin Cook. I recognize that Cook has a higher ADP right now, so let me know what it would take to balance this out".

Approach your offers like that and you will 100% be non-offensive and either you'll come to agreement or the other owner will politely refuse but keep you on speed dial for future trades.

That's how I like to get things done.

Easily the best way to go about it IMO.

Low ball offers usually get declined or get lower ball offers as a counter. Before making the offer get in a conversation with the other owner about the possible trade to see what works. Naturally you want to update Trade Bait so all league owners are up to snuff with what you need and what you have to offer in return.

What I also like about his method is that sometimes when you say to the other owner "what would it take to balance out this trade?", he might scan your roster and be extra-high on one of your guys that you wouldn't have thought to throw in there. Like maybe he comes back & says "Throw in Kelvin Benjamin and a round 2 for round 3 swap and then it's a done deal".

If an owner sends me a "lower ball" offer but politely asks if there's anything to bridge the gap, I'm happy to scan their roster to see if there is. Maybe the gap can't get bridged because I would want more than he would want to offer. Then it's all good, we shake virtual hands and move on.

[Weeman]

When I get a lowball offer I assume the owner doesn't value my time enough to make a solid offer. I think WIIFM What's in it for me? A position of need, more future potential, a win-now piece, do I get the best-asset, do I sell low here or high.

I use to always follow-up with trade offers. To find out they wanted to pinny pinch for the player. Now I just make a mental note at a later date a few weeks possibly to follow-up with what I think is a fair offer. If they still want the player they will know how I value them.

If your mentality of trades is that you have to win them then you will never get any trades done. I guarantee people will disagree with me. But I could care less. Don't be afraid to lose a trade now if it helps your team in the future. Don't be afraid to give up a solid rookie pick for a win-now player. Just be honest with the assessment of your team and how it stacks up and I promise trading will become very easy. Try to do trades that benefit both people, never be afraid to trade with the champ or the chump. The goal is to make your team better, it may piss people off if you help the champ. Block out the noise and enjoy dynasty football because it's very unique and special for the people that get it.

[Reljac]

That’s the other side of this coin and no response even to offers you consider bad is a quick way to get people to stop sending you offer so. Everyone evacuees players differently, why take offense?

I don't take offense, but if someone offers me Jeremy Maclin for JuJu Smith-McCallister, I assume he's REALLY low on McCallister or really high on Maclin as far as value, so it's not worth my time. Likewise, offering a pile of mediocre players for a star, tells me you want to trade quantity for quality... and I don't play that game.


The initial trade offer is a signal... if you don't have time to think that through, why should I invest my time in thinking through a counter offer? if it's just to drop me a message that you'd like to trade, there are message boards for that and also phones

[thebeast]

That’s the other side of this coin and no response even to offers you consider bad is a quick way to get people to stop sending you offer so. Everyone evacuees players differently, why take offense?

I don't take offense, but if someone offers me Jeremy Maclin for JuJu Smith-McCallister, I assume he's REALLY low on McCallister or really high on Maclin as far as value, so it's not worth my time. Likewise, offering a pile of mediocre players for a star, tells me you want to trade quantity for quality... and I don't play that game.


The initial trade offer is a signal... if you don't have time to think that through, why should I invest my time in thinking through a counter offer? if it's just to drop me a message that you'd like to trade, there are message boards for that and also phones

I get it, I have just found it helpful to always response with a note like, ‘Thanks for the offer! You’re much higher on Maclin than I am, who doesn’t really fit what I am trying to do with my team. I really like Juju and it would take quite a bit to pry him from me, probably at least a few firsts. I took a look at your team and for a straight up swap I would probably be looking for Mixon as a return, which probably wouldn’t work for you. ‘

This accomplishes a few things, first you establish no interest in Maclin, second you start to teach the other owner how you value Juju, third you let him know a player on his team that you are interested in, and lastly you begin to build a trading relationship. Just because his values are off today doesn’t mean they always will be and you never know when his values end up in a way you perceive to be in your favor.