Important Trade Announcement – Introducing Charity Trades

I’ve been thinking for a while about a good way to put the “Community” back into “Community Gum.”  Back when this blog started, there were grandiose ideas about what this venture would eventually become, and maybe some of that will still come true, but the farthest we ever really got was to hold some group breaks here and there and do random contests.

In the spirit of sharing, all of these players are sharing the card

Group breaks are fun, but a bit time consuming, but I might do that again here and there.  The contests are less likely just because those can get weirdly messy out of nowhere. That hasn’t happened to me personally, but I’ve heard enough stories to make me not want to press my luck.  No whammies for me.

Well, I think I found the right thing to do.  In the past, I’ve wanted to do some sort of monthly charity thing where I pick a charity, make a donation and invite others to do the same if they’re so inclined.  That’s morphed into today’s announcement.

I don’t like showing this guy, but since his actions are driving other charity, I thought it was appropriate

I want to make things a little more interactive, so allow me to introduce Charity Trades!  Now, this does not mean that I’m giving my cards away to you for free.  No, instead each month I’m going to pick a different charity, and of course everyone is invited to also give themselves, but the trades will do that work for them.  In an effort to facilitate more trades, and encourage me to be more proactive in initiating trades, I am going to donate money to that month’s charity based on the number of cards I get that month.

Zo seems like a good community type guy

The amount I give per card may change over time, but for now I’m thinking that each new card that I get is worth $3 to that charity.  Now, I’m not going to add $3 to the total for each and every card, just ones that are brand new to my collection that I need.  So, if you send me five copies of the same card, it’s still $3.  But if you send me five cards I need for my player collections, GPK sets, or Big League master set quests, or whatever else is on my want lists, then that’s $15.  Whether you send a base card, insert, relic, auto, parallel, whatever, they each add the same $3 to the total if I didn’t have them before.  Another condition I’m going to add is that I’ll ask that if I haven’t traded with you before, that you send your side first.

Three more players on the back, hopefully all doing their part

I’ll post the charity of the month at the top of my want list and trade bait pages. The more you trade, the more I give. For the most part, that is.  I do have my own financial limitations, and so I’m going to cap this at a $500 maximum per month.  I’m also thinking that I’ll give $100 minimum if it’s a light incoming month.  After the donation is made, I’ll be sure to post some sort of screen grab of the donation receipt whenever possible.

So, hold me to this the best you can and if you have favorite charities, I’m certainly open to suggestions.  Let’s see what kind of benchmark we can set by the end of 2019!