Is there anything you think someone should know before getting into bootleg trading? Any major do's or don'ts?
Oh, for sure.
DO:
Make a list of what you have on a document, text file, spreadsheet, website, Encora, or elsewhere. Sending screenshots of your file folders is a definite sign of a new trader, and is just hard to search.
Put down specific cast members, dates, and locations. Again, describing a bootleg as “Be More Chill OBC” or the like is a big newbie flag, plus can be very confusing if there are multiple bootlegs of that cast/show.
Send your list and as much information in your first email. There’s nothing more redundant than sending a one-sentence email going, “Hi do u wanna trade”.
List file formats, especially for videos. Traders definitely want to know if they’re getting VOBs, MP4s, etc.
Research the trader you are contacting - what they have a lot of and what they lack is really helpful for determining how interested they might be in your list. Don’t be like the person who said, “Hi I want your Phantom video and I can trade you a cast recording of 42nd Street” despite me having absolutely nothing of that show.
Look around in places where traders congregate. Musical Exchange, Yahoo boards, Discord, Encora, these are all good places to find traders, talk to them, see what’s out there.
Tell traders if you cannot use certain, common file-sharing sites, like MEGA or MediaFire, and if possible, try to find out why you can’t and workarounds for that.
Download your stuff and back it up, if possible, or at least keep it in a separate hard drive or re-upload it elsewhere, and log in regularly to check that nothing’s been taken down.
Learn to Google shows, bootlegs, and trader sites, so you can search for things on your own.
Be aware of general trader etiquette. Read their rules. Send your links first if you initiated. Make sure each side is getting an equal number of items from one another. Refrain from emailing if they say they are closed or only open for wants, and you don’t have any of theirs.
Build friendships and trading partnerships with each other! After a while you’ll find people who share the same interests in shows. Take some time to be generous and send them something you found that they didn’t, and they will do the same for you.
Be polite and understanding!
DON’T:
Lie about what items you have.
Continuously demand gifts from every trader you encounter.
Post full bootlegs publicly to YouTube.
Tag actors in bootlegs of themselves.
Use YouTube links or downloads from YouTube for trading.
Sell, gift, or trade things before their NFT date.
Send multiple emails to a trader in one day. Traders have lives too. Especially don’t send multiple emails in one hour.
Create a sockpuppet email just to ask for something that a trader refused to give you under a different email.
Throw a tantrum because a trader did not give something to you and threaten to report them to authorities.
