Introduction to Trading and Trading Ratios

Hello everyone!

After receiving some comments from some trade partners regarding how they are confused about the trading ratios, i would like to start a thread about tips and tricks of trading.

I am calling for everyone's support to make updated footnotes regarding the ever changing dynamics of Hayday economics.

What is a ratio?

A ratio basically explains how many items i am offering for every item i will be getting from you.

A one to one ratio means i will offer one item for each item i get from you. "My ten nails for your ten screws" is a trade offer at 1:1 ratio. Generally used when conducting a trade between two items of same type.

If someone says "mine : yours" it means they will be offering the first quantity before the divident for each item you will sell them or the other way around.

Example:
3 saws : 1 sem
They are offering 3 saws for every silo expansion item you are selling.
1 sem : 2 lem
They are expecting to get 2 land expansion materials in return of each silo item they sell.
Ratios are generally presented in the mine : yours format, not yours : mine format.

Try to be as clear as possible when writing down your ratios. If needed give some examples to support your ratio. A clear and understandable offer will attract more customers. I would definitely pick the offer of someone who seems to know what they are doing.

Coins: Do they have anything to do with the ratio?

Not really. The negotiation for coins are done separately. If someone needs the items urgently they might offer to sell for one coin and buy at maximum price. Make sure you negotiate pricing as well. High level players might sell at one coin to attract low level players. You can also simply sell your expansion items for a few diamond rings for example, to make profit over sales of a rare item.
Also, most players trade at default to make things easier. If you are selling at 2:1 ratio, it means you sell two items per one you get, and you will sell twice as much as your trade partner. If you had bought those items on DD for maximum price you will end up losing coins.

Aw Madeleine you are my hero haha. Thank you for this thought out post. I'm sure a lot of forumers (including me) will find this very helpful. 5/5 stars :o

Please note that HD market is very prone to change, and although my ratios are here to give an idea to the absolute beginners, you may find what's best for you with trial and error. If you have no replies despite multiple trade as your offer could be too high. Or if you have too many people replying may be your offer is too low.

What's hot?
Latest trends in trading

Trading the same kind is always easy. Bems for bems and sems for sems get most replies. I always offer 1:1 for same type of expansion items because it is most fair. Sometimes there are conspiracy theories about getting less planks. That's not the case, unless there is an official announcement by Nick or other SC stuff. (There was once an axe drop rate problem and SC had fixed that) Each player gets different amounts of each expansion item but the total number in the pool more or less stays the same. Oh, of course there is a possibility that most forum members here might have a scarcity of planks but elsewhere someone will have an abundance of them. In my opinion 3 duct tapes or bolts for 2 planks gets most replies whereas 2:1 could be a bit unfair. Still, I have had conducted many 1:1 trades for bolt/duct tape for plank trades as well.
( Of course if you want to conduct things faster you can offer two for every one item you get. Such trades are finished much faster than any. But those who offer their 10 nails for 20 screws might see their ad lingering on the trading thread for a long time.)

Bems and Sems: Generally the ratio is 1 bem for every 2 sem you get because a big barn is the coolest thing you can establish on Hayday. :) Plus expanding your silo more than your barn can be hard since you need to store more SEMs in a rather small barn. It is a bit hard to sell SEMs for BEMs but not impossible.

Lems: Young players who love designing their farm love getting lems, and if you are a high level player who doesn't need them any more then you two are the perfect match. The ratio varies from 1:1 to 1:4, even 1:5. Well i generally sell two lems for one sem or bem. Most people offer 1:4 for lem/bem trades tho. And i get many people texting me on kik so i think that's a fine ratio. One problem could be some young players might not have coins so even if you sell at default you are losing coins because you are selling twice as much. (Considering you buy some of them at maximum price) We had a map crisis but since sc had fixed that maps are back to the trade market and i could say the ratios are pretty similar to lems.

Tems: Well, how to put this. I wish you all good luck, those offering tems for barn materials but their beauty has faded away long ago. Now that i see hand drills sadly standing on stalls for hours. Because the gift shop was introduced most recently, stone blocks and hammers can still sell, may be for saws or metal bars though. Or silo items, may be. Surely it is a bit hard to trade them for bems. The days are over when people were offering multiple bems for each tem. But, you could always try your chances, i have seen some people offering 6 to 10 hammers for a plank. Such low ratios might work but again for a good outcome you need many tems and face the risk of losing coins if you trade at default.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kristen145

Aw Madeleine you are my hero haha. Thank you for this thought out post. I'm sure a lot of forumers (including me) will find this very helpful. 5/5 stars :o

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I hope you get it now :D

I think it can be reasonable to offer a ratio even on a BEM for BEM trade, if you need the items and have a surplus. They aren't trying to "trick" you. They're just charging what the market will bear. Maybe they need tapes as much as I need planks, but with the current shortage, someone will give them 2:3 or 1:2, so they'll get their tapes, but I won't get my planks if I hold out for 1:1. If I really need to expand, it's worth it to me to offer a ratio.

I'll also add that Android players may need to offer more generous ratios, just to get people to trade. A lot of traders don't want to mess with Facebook or neighborhoods, unless there's an incentive.

Nice thread. Just to give an idea, I'll post a trade I pulled lately.
I traded:
54 brown sugar
126 white sugar
29 syrup
75 cream
60 butter
58 cheese
61 goat cheese
21 soups
39 jams
10 candles
10 soy sauces for a total of 238 SEMs.

I think it was a little short comparing to my expensive ratios, but hey a trade containing almost 800 items is always open to a bargain. :)

I trade LEMs for SEMs and BEMs somewhere between 2:1, 5:2 & 4:1, 5:1.
For saws/axes I traded 5:1 to 8:1.
I don't offer a ratio less than 1 for BEM to BEM or SEM to SEM.
I usually try to be fair if the counter party is unexperienced in trading. No reason to rip them off because of their lack of experience. :)

And I suggest the lower level people producing lots of cheese and syrup to trade for LEMs. I have opened all of my fishing and farm area by trading dairy and sugar products for LEMs in my late 20s. High level players love to get rid of their LEMs for sweet things. :)
You'll have a full inbox if you offer 50 Cheese for 15 of each LEMs.

Trading during events

Everyone has their own way of playing Hayday and making a decision to participate in an event or not is no exception.

If you are ambitiously looking for expansion items, events might be a good opportunity for you!

High level players who want to make it to the global leaderboard or help out friends with event items might come out with really good offers in the trading thread.

During the past muffin and sewing machine events, items were negotiated up to 2 muffins per screw/bolt and if you think you might skip global prizes for expansion items such an offer might work for you.. And the size of your silo or barn!

Great guide, Madeleine. I wasn't expecting it tbh ;). I had to figure this stuff out the hard way (sort of felt like my first experience at the black jack table amidst a group of experts) but you really did a great job putting it all down simply & succinctly. Well done!

Hi Madeleine,
I have read some threading offer stating "offer me a ratio". The stuff they offered and the stuff they asked were not in the same category (BEM to BEM or SEM to SEM, etc). So how do we respond, what ratio, not sure how trading market fluctuate the ratio? Thanks!

IME, if they say "offer me a ratio," they mean they don't know what a good ratio is, either.

Often, this means they are open to bargaining.

Personally, I would recommend against saying "Offer me a ratio." Many people are hesitant to respond. They want to know specifics. What items, how many, what ratio, and whether you are using FB, GC, or NH. The more details you offer, the more likely you are to get response.