I am probably going to screw this up but here goes...

I get e-mail all the time from members who say simply "I have some of the chips you need, check my site".

OK, I concede that many of you have chips I need since I have a rather small collection and my goals are rather high. The real question is whether or not I have any chips that YOU want for a trade. Many of the "chip wanted" pages that I've seen contain very few (sometimes only one or two) chips.

Further, the sites that contain prices are usually asking full book value (if not more). I'm not rdock1 and that probably ain't gonna happen unless I'm trying to make a fill. Since I know that I can always simply buy it at full book, I'd rather take my chances that I can get it for a lot less on ebay.

The sites that don't contain prices usually say "make me an offer". OK fine, I'll offer you trade or face value. Hey, that's an offer. I don't know what you expect to get for the chip. If you say "I'll take book", well that's no help. Book values can contain a wide range and there is a world of difference in $25-$50. Guess which one I want to pay?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I expected the more experienced club members to help out by being more clear about what they wanted.

If you simply send me a scan of chips I might need, then I'm lost and I honestly don't know how to respond. My typical response is: "those are nice, what do you want for them?" and the typical answer is "make me an offer" and/or I never hear from you again.

Is it just me?