I agree with Greg taking the position that newcommers to the hobby are not as a rule going to be aggressivly participating in auctions. They would rather trade or buy at very low prices (Near face value. I consider myself a relative newcommer. I have been in the hobby only 1.5 years, however, I am kind of an oldtimer with the electronic chipping, because thats how I have been doing most of my chipping from day one. I would still rather trade than buy, and there still is so much that I don't have that I can still make about 15 trades a week! More than enough to satisfy my chip craving. I do sell chips on ebay, but they are usually common $1 chips that I have extras of. They usually bring about $2-$2.50 each. With every new customer I sell, I send them a list of at least 50 chips that I will trade them for multiples of chips from their area or sell them for $2 each. I also give them a $5 per order discount if they promise to give the CC&GTCC at try.

I realize that as my collection matures I will probably need to buy chips. I would consider purchasing chips that I don't have from a particular interest I have (Deadwood), but will not pay prices that I feel are too high. This is also advice I give to newcommers "Don't try to aquire every chip by next month!" Enjoy this "newbie time". It is the period of time where you can meet new people and establish great trading relationships, and the politics of the hobby are not of much importance to you! Most newbies can handle making a bad trade, but many less will accept getting taken while purchasing a more expensive chip. One comment I hear consistantly, is that "This looks like a very expensive hobby". I tell them that you don't have to be wealthy to have great fun in this hobby, I am living proof! The thing that I am most proud of when reading the feedback left by my ebay customers are the ones that go way beyond "Good Transaction" or "Acuratly described Merchandise". The ones that make me feel good are the ones that say "Very helpfull" or "went out of his way to assist me" and things like that. Many newcommers if made to feel welcome could become very good CC&GTCC Members. They need to be helped and encouraged. I remember very vividly the people that made trades with me when I first started that couldn't have been good trades for them, but they were helping me out. At the time I remember thinking "I'm really getting the best of these guy's on this one!", but looking back I realize "These guys knew exactly what they were doing", and I appreciate the great start they gave me. Sorry for the rambling everyone. I tend to be more of a "lurker" than a contributer, after reading this "manuscript" you can all be thankfull for that!

Steve Brock