Cashing Out

I realize this book is about trading, but sometimes you have to cash out of a trade chain. Sometimes you need money for bills, sometimes you have taken the chain as far as you can and need to start over, and sometimes you just can’t get a good enough trade or are stuck with an obscure item. That’s okay, and sometimes cashing out is the goal. When you cash out, you get to see in real money how much progress you really made, and it can be super satisfying. If you remember from the introduction I started with an old Nintendo, and over a few weeks and several trades, I worked up to a car that I got almost four thousand dollars out of. Not too shabby. Chances are you couldn’t have done that with your regular job.

As mentioned in the previous section, sometimes cashing out is the best option when placing your goods on a niche site that caters to a large population of people outside of realistic travel range. Cashing out is still a form of barter, and you can take that cash or a portion of it to buy items to start over with and work your way back up.

In the past, I have started a trade chain with a certain amount of cash and, after a few trades, sold the item to get my initial investment back out of the deal. I used the leftover cash to bargain for a good deal on my next item to trade with. Generally, when cashing out, I try to get the person to come all the way to me or within 30 miles at most. This keeps me from getting too invested in the deal and prevents me from trying to make the deal at any cost, as I have time invested in it and need the money.