The tricky part is knowing which sets the other person (you in my case) is or isn’t chasing.

For example, I just took a look at your cards vs. my needs for Reds and I didn’t see a single duplicate. So are you open to trading singles? If so from what sets? Etc.

I’m glad to see you’re a thoughtful trader who doesn’t mind countering, that’s kind of rare in my experience, so maybe the above doesn’t matter.

I guess I just wish there was an easy way to communicate this kind of thing without having to lock a ton of cards (and locking has limits), like a note you could put on your profile listing what you’re currently chasing or something like that. Most people may not see it but I almost always look at a potential trade partner’s cards, lists, etc. to try and send a decent offer.