I live by the following set of rules when it comes to trading shows and I hope that you do the same:
1. Don't sell discs. The bootlegs on my list are not for sale (Don't even ask). The artists who are kind enough to permit taping at their shows don't profit directly from these "bootleg" recordings. And as tapers and traders, we should not be profiting either. If you don't have anything to trade, I'll be glad to do a B& for you.
2. Always burn discs DAO (disc at once). I will not accept to trade discs that are burnt TAO (track at once), which means that there are 2 second gaps between songs.
3. Never trade MP3-sourced shows. I have only listed shows that, to my knowledge, are not sourced from MP3s and I'm not interested in trading for MP3-sourced shows.
4. Use EAC (www.exactaudiocopy.de) for secure audio extraction. Always extract the music to the harddrive before burning and never burn discs on-the-fly since it often produces discs with flaws. EAC is free and the only program available to make exact copies of the music on a cd. Flaws such as pops and clicks are often created due to bad copying routines but using EAC in the right way will make it possible to make perfect copies and prevent degeneration of the music. This Q&A from the EAC homepage explains pretty good why EAC should be used:
Q:Why should I use EAC, instead of AudioGrabber, WinDAC, etc.
A:EAC features some special read modes, known as "Secure Modes". Using
these secure modes, every sector read will be doublechecked and reread
or corrected if necessary. On many drives the extraction is not error
free, thus these routines will make sure the track is read correctly.
EAC can be a bit tricky to set up but if you e-mail me I'd be glad to guide you through it. Here's a page that explains throughly how to use and set up EAC: http://www.ping.be/satcp/tutorials.htm
5 . Use quality CDRs. I mostly use TDK, Kodak or Sony and it's nice to get decent quality discs in return.
6. Please give information about the shows I'm interested in. Before we set up a trade it's nice to get information such as any known flaws (any glitches, pops, clicks or other errors.....) on an interesting show. Also things like knowing if it's an incomplete show or any known source info is interesting. I'm working on incorporating this kind of information to my list. If nothing's noted on a specific show I will give you all information have before we finish a trade for it.
I have artwork for some shows, unfortunatly not available for download. If we set up a trade for a show I will e-mail you any available artwork. If artwork is not available I will always e-mail a setlist together with all other information I have about the show.
7. Send CDs in sleeves. Since jewel cases often breaks, I send discs in CaseLogic type sleeves. To prevent discs from breaking it is always good to send the package in a bubble mailer.
8. Check CDs before sending. Make sure that the CDs play correctly before sending them. I always give them a spin to make sure it's not a bad burn.
10. Enjoy the music! This is the most important rule of all. Trading music should be a fun hobby and should not feel like work.