This Needs to be Discussed.

[duckblind]

i think the whole issue here is (as i mentioned before) the same kind of scalper mindset as is happening in pokemon cards right now.

popping in again to say i'm into doll collecting and there are similar problems there. people will flip mass-produced lines that are popular in the community and try to charge ridiculous amounts for them because they know someone could get desperate enough to overpay. some even bot limited edition orders online, which is harder to fix. but for the former, you have a pretty good chance of finding the exact same doll for next to nothing at the thrift store, which is probably where the flippers get them too, because their scarcity is artificial and they're only worth what the resellers are charging when those listings sell. so the general rule of thumb is to not buy from them to bring the value down to a more normal place. i don't know how much this can be applied to cs but i think like someone else said there are always people who are going to want to maximize the value of something, and even if that something is created equal they will still find some way to market theirs as rarer. we as 'consumers' just have to stay aware and informed

[winx]

Speaking as CS user winx and not CS moderator winx.

While I understand the frustration around inflated values and gatekeeping, I don’t think forming a separate collector group is the best solution. It risks creating more division in the community and potentially excluding users based on subjective standards. I'm also not sure how membership would even be decided—how do you quantify who is “fair” enough to join? What happens if someone overvalues a pet once—are they out?

In my experience, I’ve been able to swap even the rarer outcomes without much issue, especially by checking the online user list and being open to flexible trades. Building individual connections and using existing resources might be more productive than forming a group that could be seen as judgmental or exclusive—whether or not that’s the intent. Fostering fairness should be about leading by example, not drawing lines between “good” and “bad” collectors.

If the goal is to encourage fairer trading, there are already meaningful ways to help shift the culture: regularly update the VR+ successful trades thread to keep value data accurate, avoid buying pets you personally feel are overpriced, and be mindful not to overprice your own pets in return. Those small actions can set a community-wide standard without needing to divide or label people.

[strawberry_dolly]

^ i think this is the point i wanted to make before, but wasn't phrasing correctly, because i agree - whilst i'm sure lots of this is done with good intentions, it also sometimes comes across like it's wrongfully attributing 'malice' to certain traders, and that does present the problem of subjectivity regarding the 'right' kind of trader.
i don't think it is wrong or demand pushing to view a more sought after monthly pet as a vuc-r. yes, it may not turn out rare, but just because someone doesn't want to litter swap it for other litter outcomes that usually end up omgsc-vc, i think people are making *that* behaviour out to be 'bad', when to me it feels like completely normal trading?
maybe i'm misinterpreting, things like this do tend to make me feel overwhelming guilt even when that's not people's intention, so i apologise if i'm reading it wrong. but just because some traders are happy to litter swap, doesn't mean all traders are. i get the 'clean slate' of unknown rarities, but we do now know that those 'rarer' outcomes could be even just vuc. would you take a trade asking for a vuc pet in exchange for an omgsc? probably not. would you call someone 'demand pushing' for refusing that trade? also no. just because the rarity is currently unknown doesn't mean we can't make a reasonable guess.
i agree, it is a problem when people are asking for old rares for those outcomes, but like has been mentioned, you can combat that by just not trading with those people. the more people trade reasonably and don't give in to overpay, the better things will get.
for new players, that vuc pet could be a way to trade up to previous years that they weren't online for, or to swap for a missed event pet with a higher rarity tag. again, if you're fine litter swapping, great! but personally i *would* feel like i'd lost out or been cheated if i traded a vuc for an omgsc, that is objectively not a fair trade? this is *not* trying to make profit off of rarer outcomes, it's using them as intended - to give newbies better fodder than just a bunch of vc and belows, so they can trade them up to older years. i wouldn't have gotten nearly as far with my collection without rarer event outcomes that i could trade up!
i guess my big concern with these swap groups is that whilst i'm sure many players do have good intentions to just do litter swaps, it only works if everyone is okay with it going both ways. it seems like people want to be able to litter swap their (probable) vc and belows for other peoples (probable) vuc and aboves, but not necessarily the other way around. how do you balance that? if one user 'got' 10 rarer outcomes out of the group and gave none in return, is that not also someone profitting? how do you decide if people genuinely want to trade that way without it becoming exclusionary?
i understand the good intentions behind it, and i'm not saying it's an inherently bad idea, it just feels hard to execute and, to me, a little cruel to newbies, if you're telling them "hey, that rarer outcome you got? you're a bad person if you use it to 'profit' and trade up to pets you want'. (i know nobody is explicitely saying this, but that is how some of it is feeling at this point - i feel genuinely guilty reading through some of these comments and thinking back to times i withheld trading a rarer outcome because i didn't want to just litter swap it. that may be a 'me' reaction though)

[winx]

thank you everyone for the input

i should say that my intention here isnt to discriminate against players, or make anyone feel guilty for how they choose to trade with others. this was simply meant to open up the floor for discussion. while i am aware of the amount of possibilities for issues down the line, we truly wont know what will happen unless its tried. i would gladly take responsibility for a failed attempt

i fail to see how this could devolve into discrimination: as someone that has been discriminated against for many reasons, i am not actively attempting to put down people that follow this ‘business model’ instead, i am offering up a space for people that want to stay away from the ‘business model’ to swap with people that are in the same boat.

this isnt out of hatred, its out of a desire for convenience and community. the current cs community already has this divide between those reseller types and those that are trying to collect or help others collect. i personally dont see an issue with a trade thread that simply doesnt allow C$ offers to be made in the forum, or something of the sort.

again, this was just to discuss, not to incite hatred or discriminate, or tell people that theyre not trading ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. i think people should be able to trade in a way that benefits them and whoever theyre trading with, without the worry of being ripped off or scammed or taken advantage of. this idea is still very much in the works, considering i havent even opened a club topic yet, but the amount of interest im seeing so far proves to me that it would be a decent idea, even if its just short term

making a separate post to continue clarifying: i havent even made up my mind on how to potentially run the forum thread. however, i can tell you for a FACT that i wouldnt DARE shame anyone for how they trade, or try to enforce trades between members. i have no idea where that came in, as i have been nothing but civil about this

i would also like to add that i never had issues with people trading pets for pets: its the c$ that gets me. the websites only currency is paid, and i think there should be a clearer option for non-c$ trades

[winx]

-snip-

Thanks for the clarification — I do appreciate your intent here, and I don’t think anyone is suggesting you’re trying to shame people. That said, I want to gently point out that I didn’t accuse you of discrimination — I was questioning the practicality and effectiveness of a club like this, not the morality of its existence. It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one.

As for what a club could realistically offer: it could be a helpful way to connect like-minded users who prioritize pet-for-pet swaps or prefer to avoid C$-based trading. That kind of networking might make it easier for people to find trade partners with similar values. But it’s important to note that the club itself couldn’t host actual trade ads or swap offers — that would be considered off-topic, since we already have existing threads for that. Any real trade advertisements would still need to happen in the monthly swap threads, the VR+ swap thread, C$ buy/sell thread, personal trade threads, etc.

If the issue is more about how those threads currently operate (like wanting to limit or discourage C$ offers), that might be better suited for a suggestion thread specifically meant to discuss rule or structure changes. Otherwise, the club would function more as a discussion space or interest group — not a tool for organizing trades under a different standard.

I understand the frustration with how trading has shifted lately, and I agree that encouraging more balanced, pet-for-pet swaps is a worthy goal. But unless there are clear, enforceable standards — which can quickly become murky or controversial — a club like this risks creating more confusion than cohesion. How would “fairness” be defined? What happens when someone in the club makes a trade that others don’t agree with? Without real guidelines, that could lead to the very division the idea hopes to avoid.

In short, I think we all want a healthier trading culture. I just believe we’re more likely to get there by modeling fair, open behavior and using the tools we already have — not by creating new spaces that could unintentionally exclude or complicate things further.

[strawberry_dolly]

apologies! i promise i didnt mean to make out that anyone was *actively* shaming people, just that i was starting to feel that way, because it seems like the expectation here from many people is unfair? again that is a personal perspective.
the fact is, most people already use the monthly swap thread to do litter swaps with monthly pets. so the distinction with this club, at least to me (correct me if im misunderstanding!) is people want the same, but for the rarer outcomes that people tend not to want to litter swap. this feels like a small and unnecessary distinction given that, if you look hard, you can find people willing to do that already, but also given that these would be, objectively speaking, unfair trades.
i just then worry about how that would be implemented that functionally differs from just posting on the swaps thread. youre saying the group is to advertise no-c$ trades, and a lot of people have mentioned just wanting to casually litter swap regardless of predicted value. but you couldnt force people to swap their rarer outcomes for litter swaps, obviously. but how do you stop people using a group like this to obtain rarer outcomes through just litter swaps, knowing this is something people in the group are okay with, and then either flipping for profit or never contributing their own rarer outcomes to help someone else out? given that getting a vuc in exchange for a vc, even if the rarities arent out yet, is objectively, undeniably, a "profit"?

[bubblegumjello]

i see your guys points above, and imo this club idea really falls in that grey area. in that case, just make a cs collector discord. its voluntary and people aren’t missing anything by not joining, really. people who want to do pure litter swaps could, and those who don’t won’t join lol. since its offsite you don’t have to worry about off topic and repetitive-ness. only con is its a bit inconvenient but oh well lol
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i also didn’t read this whole thread so sorry if i got things wrong/mixed up

[The Muse]

just want to thank everyone for their input. unfortuantely since the creation of this thread i have fallen far too ill to start and run anything of this caliber on my own. at the moment, i wont be moving forward with any sort of group or club

someone else is more than welcome to start their own, and ill gladly support, but i simply cant do it on my own at the moment

thanks again everyone. change will come

[Unbeknownsk]

I just paid 10 c$ for the starry balloon just to finish the cs birthday collection so I think thats fair . Cuz i want to complete collection + I'm lazy to wait so I'll use the hype rn to overpay and get it early.

[*Hollystar*]

This is not new to the change in odds. This has been happening since I joined 11 years ago. It just might be more obvious now but people have been doing this forever. Whether it's a rarer outcome or just a more popular one it happens and yes it's frustrating but it's one of those things I don't think will ever change.