trade value calculators

[eraldo_coil]

Calculators should be used as a reference guide, not the be all end all for trade evaluation.

[ausmith26]

i use them for 1 reason... convincing people that my handful of quarters and dimes are a fair offer for their $2 bill. I will piece a few players together trying to consolidate them into one great player and show them what great value they are getting according to this trade site. It will never be a selling point for me to make a trade, but other people actually value them so I am able to benefit from that.

[Goddard]

i use them for 1 reason... convincing people that my handful of quarters and dimes are a fair offer for their $2 bill. I will piece a few players together trying to consolidate them into one great player and show them what great value they are getting according to this trade site. It will never be a selling point for me to make a trade, but other people actually value them so I am able to benefit from that.

This is what I was getting at. If your league mates believe in them, use it to your advantage. But if someone came to me and made an offer suggesting that it was fair because the trade calculator said so, I probably wouldn't even respond.

[BigBawseRoss]

I use a trade calc for every trade I make. The calc works better than my brain. I don't overpay for my favorite players or get less than I should for players I don't like. The calc is for people who realize that trades should be made by ADP value and not personal opinion, because I'm not necessarily any better at predicting things than the fantasy community as a whole.

HWHAT?! trades are entirely based on personal opinion and have almost nothing to do with ADP, unless the owners opinion of a player is affected by ADP. For example I cannot go to the Dez owner and say that "you should trade me him because I'm giving you a player with a higher ADP in start ups" lol they would be like "uhhhhh I don't care at all about that I don't have faith in Brandin Cooks for whatever reason and I value Dez much higher"

[psfox2010]

Calculators should be used as a reference guide, not the be all end all for trade evaluation.

This is my exact line of thinking.

[RightlegTucker]

They're helpful in getting a sense of how other people value players and a baseline from which to start, but they're not definitive in anyway. Some are better than others too, the good ones are useful. I usually run my trades through one to make sure I'm not overpaying for a player based on how I value them, along with cross referencing power rankings and browsing this forum.

[AndrewS]

They're helpful in getting a sense of how other people value players and a baseline from which to start, but they're not definitive in anyway. Some are better than others too, the good ones are useful. I usually run my trades through one to make sure I'm not overpaying for a player based on how I value them, along with cross referencing power rankings and browsing this forum.

100% agree...also, glad someone finally posted about this. I find the varying opinions fascinating. I'm learning dynasty and it is interesting how many people rely on a certain site to evaluate an offer. Someday i may have enough time and the resources to be able to form all of my own opinions on value but even then i still think i would use other resources to help. Having said that, anyone that uses only one site/tool is foolish in my opinion. That's one of the reasons i use this site...it has a great variety of people that use different tools for evaluation.

[cornhole2412]

The only time I've used a calculator early during start ups when trying to acquire a couple extra picks in the first few rounds. When the picks are nothing but numbers.

[Jmatt>Coleman]

Never used them but could be a useful tool depending on the formula they use to generate value. It's better than a list generated by another individuals subjective perceived values that people follow blindly like gospel. If it were a combination of ADP, that could be useful as it would illistrate what a majority of people are currently doing. Never used them but could have utility. IMO best way is make your own board.

[Stabsinthe]

i use them for 1 reason... convincing people that my handful of quarters and dimes are a fair offer for their $2 bill. I will piece a few players together trying to consolidate them into one great player and show them what great value they are getting according to this trade site. It will never be a selling point for me to make a trade, but other people actually value them so I am able to benefit from that.

This is what I was getting at. If your league mates believe in them, use it to your advantage. But if someone came to me and made an offer suggesting that it was fair because the trade calculator said so, I probably wouldn't even respond.

This is the only time I touch them. I'm surprised how many people here do use them, considering they're already on the amazing resource that is DLF.

[Novacane]

I use a trade calc for every trade I make. The calc works better than my brain. I don't overpay for my favorite players or get less than I should for players I don't like. The calc is for people who realize that trades should be made by ADP value and not personal opinion, because I'm not necessarily any better at predicting things than the fantasy community as a whole.

HWHAT?! trades are entirely based on personal opinion and have almost nothing to do with ADP, unless the owners opinion of a player is affected by ADP. For example I cannot go to the Dez owner and say that "you should trade me him because I'm giving you a player with a higher ADP in start ups" lol they would be like "uhhhhh I don't care at all about that I don't have faith in Brandin Cooks for whatever reason and I value Dez much higher"

His point is that you should be exploiting market value. Every dez owner is going to value him slightly differantly but at least by using ADP (and to some extent calculators), you can get a sense of how the aggregate community values a player. The Dez owner may be higher or lower than the community but ADP (and again, to some extent calculators) give you a baseline. Using your example, I would rather go to the Dez owner and say, "you are overvaluing dez based on the market" than "sell me dez because I think he sucks." At least with an ADP tool, you can say, "no worries if you don't like Cooks, what about Watkins or Allen who have similar value?"

Calculators have flaws, but they also have value. You don't really need one for a player v player swap, but when doing a two or three player swap, it can help you quickly balance the differant ADPs across both sides of the deal.

I feel like just dismissing them altogether is lazy and throws the baby out with the bathwater. The more you get into an uneven number of players on one side or future draft picks, the more speculative the calculator becomes so just weight them accordingly based on the particular deal you are evaluating. I tend to use them the most in 2 for 2 swaps with a blend of playera across differant positions. I never make a decision because a calculator says I win just like I never make a decision because one side wins a poll on twitter or this site or because the loudest part of a group says "easy accept" or "easy reject."

In any event, I decided to chime in because I find that group think can shape a situation that leads less informed owners to believe that the community is on a page together. There are probably new guys reading this thread who are now convinced that trade calculators are literally useless. In reality, plenty of good players use them as a piece of the puzzle.