Can someone please explain this whole Mule Trade thing?

[Dyshein]

I've only ever traded in d2 directly with people, what the hell are these mule trades I keep hearing about? Any help with this would be appreciated.

[MortIIs]

Sometimes people cannot be online whole the time so they create a mule with on it the items to be traded. then they send acc + pw to other person.

[MYK]

They're pretty lame. They scream, " I can't be bothered to deal with you."

That, and it's brutally easy for someone to scam you through the mule trade.

You make a new account, create a character, load that character up with the items to be traded, and then send the password/account name to the person you're trading. That person then switches out the traded goods and send back a message saying so.

[ProfessionalBerg]

Oh damn, I did not understand the question correctly.

[dabeas]

a mule trade is when a seperate account is set up w/ the items for trade. then the acct info is pmd to the other trader. they will then take your items off the acct, and place their items on the acct. then, when they are done they will send u a pm letting you know that the trade is complete. here is an example:

-joe wants to buy gregs shako for a pul
- greg agrees and want joe to set up a mule
- joe creates an acct (joetrader pass: gregshako) and creates a lvl 1 char
- joe then puts the pul on the char and, pms info to greg
- greg opens acct and drops off the pul and put the shako on the acct, then lets joe know that the trade is complete
- joe gets his shako


this is the prefered way of trading for a lot of ppl b/c they can complete the trade at their own convience insetad of having to track ppl down. it is also helpful if you are running 2 accts so that you can use one to hold the game while the other one does the muling, also you just have a friend help. their is another way (but a lot riskier), you can enter a game that you think might be open for a while drop the items, then pick them up w/ the mule, or you can make a game, perm it (takes about 5 min), log out then back in to dbl check that it has been permed and drop the item, and return w/ mule to pick up. i only do mule trades w/ ppl w/ high positive feedback or that i trust as not to get ripped off.

hope this answers your questions

[Voorhees]

They're pretty lame. They scream, " I can't be bothered to deal with you."

That, and it's brutally easy for someone to scam you through the mule trade.
.
Actually, what it screams is "I have to work/sleep/whatever and can't be on 24/7 to meet you in game at your convenience".
As said with the scamming, I'm sure most people would prefer to trade in game via the trade screen if it was as simple as logging in whenever, but hooking up with people in game can be a time consuming pain in the ***. So much so that some people are willing to risk the occasional scam to get things done. Scamming which I might add is of minimal risk in this forum generally. I'm not saying scammers don't poke their heads in here from time to time, but they generally expose themselves very quickly and are surprisingly easily avoided with a little discretion.

[zeskelnec]

This is the only way I use to trade, for convenience, because I cannot be online very often.
I have a permed trade mule (several) on a dedicated account. I change the password after each trade.
It offers the traders to do it with no rush.If you trade mule here(etf) with "known" people, meaning with a sufficient number of posts (up to you to define this number), it is win/win situation.
That's why I like this forum. I was never scammed by one of its member.

[Uncle_Mike]

Actually, what it screams is "I have to work/sleep/whatever and can't be on 24/7 to meet you in game at your convenience".

Or it is an attempt to scam :wink3:


Scamming which I might add is of minimal risk in this forum generally. I'm not saying scammers don't poke their heads in here from time to time, but they generally expose themselves very quickly and are surprisingly easily avoided with a little discretion.

The only major scams I've seen on dii.net were mule trades and I'd really not recommend mule trading unless you are trading with a respected member (still risky and respected is a subjective term) and the items in question aren't particularly expensive.

Here's the harsh version of the above :laugh:
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=619944

[Thyiad]

However, that is a standard way of trading/exchanging items in the SPTF.

[Dyshein]

Honestly, taking the time to create a new account, perm a mule, change passwords... mule trading seems a hella more time consuming than just trading in person (that takes all of what, like 1 min if that?) which kind of seems to destroy the whole point of the process. I realize alot of people cannot be on 24/7, but to me it seems to convey the sense that "I am so pro and busy I cannot be bothered to do your petty little trades". I can see if two people work completely opposite shifts or something and just cannot be on, but if you've got the time to set up a mule trade you should have more than enough time to do the trade in person. Not only that, i don't have any friends who play D2 and i usually rely on in-person trades with respected members to tranfer my items, hell I've already lost a lem and a pul trying to switch items after a mule trade =/.

[Kijya]

I do muletrades on a regular basis, only thing you have to check up on is that:

The one you are trading with can be trusted.

or

The items you are trading away really doesn't have much value, so you'll not care to much if you are scammed.



If I person can be trusted I'll still weigh the items values in, but many members I've traded with before and know of are above that requirement.

If I'm scammed of a few pgems it'll not affect me much, but the person who does it will of course loose any chance of trading with me again, which I consider their loss in most cases. Gaining 5 pgems is by no means worth loosing a possible great future trade for, and no one who cares about their reputation would scam another trader.

If you loose your reputation on the most friendly d2 forum, then where would you go? ... I'd probably end up quitting, it's these forums that keep the d2 interest alive imo.

[zeskelnec]

@Dyshein : Frankly I am surprised by your statement. I am indeed very busy (although I cast some glance to this forum now and then) and I cannot play when my wife & kid are home. In the end I can go online only 1-2 hour per week, and it is from 07:30 till 08:30 AM.
My trade account and mule has been permed since 2 years. xtransf does take me 7 minutes, yep, slower than " real trade" , and allows the trader to take things at his convenient time.
And instead of " despising the other trader" image you seem to stick on guys like me, I think trade mule is a clear proof of respect and trust of the other trader..

But may be you' re someone being 20/7 online. Profit of your life, Man, it is only a game.

[korialstraz]

I have to agree with zeskelnec. Some people just don't have time to catch someone online, and thus want to do a mule trade. Does it scream of "I'm too important for you!" ? To me it tells me "I'm not able to get on at the times you are, so I'm willing to trust you not to scam me by setting up a trade mule so we get the trade done"

That still doesn't mean one should be uncareful, because one can allways be scammed.

[Copilot]

Honestly, taking the time to create a new account, perm a mule, change passwords... mule trading seems a hella more time consuming than just trading in person (that takes all of what, like 1 min if that?) which kind of seems to destroy the whole point of the process. I realize alot of people cannot be on 24/7, but to me it seems to convey the sense that "I am so pro and busy I cannot be bothered to do your petty little trades". I can see if two people work completely opposite shifts or something and just cannot be on, but if you've got the time to set up a mule trade you should have more than enough time to do the trade in person. Not only that, i don't have any friends who play D2 and i usually rely on in-person trades with respected members to tranfer my items, hell I've already lost a lem and a pul trying to switch items after a mule trade =/.

How do mule trades take "hella" more time? It takes all of 20 seconds to make a new account, and if you think typing in a password takes a long time then I don't know what to say.

To the people saying they mule trade because they think "oh you are just another trader I can't be bothered with you" Most of the time you mule trade is when someone sets up a thread selling 50 items and it has 5 pages of people buying things you can just go through each of your PM's with mule info account and finish the trades. An example of this is Emerald's trade thread, there is 8 pages of trades in there, and he is a very well respected member, it was alot easier PMing him mule account info and getting the trade done without me having to be home or on diablo.

[Garisdacar]

btw you don't have to perm the mule, it'll last 10 days before expiring. most mule trades i've done on this forum have taken less than 24 hours.