Trading kandi

Trading is the part that turns a pile of bracelets into a night you remember. Nobody hands you a rulebook at the door, so here is what everyone else already worked out.

How a trade goes

Someone catches your eye, you hold up a wrist, they nod. You do the handshake, and a bracelet moves. It takes thirty seconds and you will both be grinning by the end.

The etiquette

• Offer, do not demand. Ask if someone wants to trade. Do not grab a wrist, and do not point at the piece you want.
• The giver picks. Whoever is handing something over chooses which one. Asking for a specific bracelet is the one move that reliably annoys people.
• It goes both ways. A trade is an exchange. If you have nothing to give yet, say so — most people will hand you one anyway and tell you to pass it on.
• Right wrist tends to mean tradeable, left tends to mean keeping. This one is informal and far from universal, so read the room rather than the wrist.
• No means no, instantly. No sulking, no second ask.
• Handmade carries more weight than bought. Nobody will run a check on you, but the whole point is that somebody sat down and made this.

Your first show

Bring more than you think. Ten to fifteen singles is a comfortable first stack — enough to trade freely all night without running down to the pieces you actually care about. Keep the ones you are not trading on the other wrist, or in a bag.

Make a few with words on them. Word bracelets trade faster than anything else, because someone reads it, laughs, and wants that exact one.

If you are nervous

Trade with someone who is also standing alone. It is easier, it is kinder, and it is how most people got their first piece. Beginners are not a problem in this scene, they are the point of it.

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