Do you trade and how did you start

Floot

Newbie
★ Donor ★
Dec 9, 2017
2,687
1,252
258
under a rock, on a tropical island
I don't always trade, but when I do... I prefer not to...
Because everytime I click on the "Cancel" button...
I'll trade if I need an item, specially when I get it for cheap. (Always check your price on backpack.tf)
The first Time I traded (was to a girl, a steam friend) who badly wanted a Rocket Jumper for her strange Spy-cicle. (worth over 20 refs+"Heavies Killed" strange part.) But I didn't scam or anything because I didn't know a single thing about trading and when I asked her weeks after, she said: "Keep it as a gift from a dear friend"
This was the first ever strange item I got in my BP and I still use it...
 

Captain Weeb

Oh Captain My Captain
★ Donor ★
Honorary Member ★
Dec 31, 2017
361
104
138
New York, United States of America
My first hat was a boxcar bomber, first strange hat was a strange big topper, and first unusual was a stormy storm arctic eyewear. I unboxed all three of these. My first trades was me selling some stuff. Yadaada, here’s my take. There are a lot of guides on how to trade in tf2 for profit, but I usually just trade for stuff I like so I do it rarely. Best tip: be reasonable. People love to do extreme overpay when selling, so try and negotiate to a price that is good for both parties. If they don’t, then look elsewhere.
 
Dec 12, 2018
14
0
11
My first hat was a boxcar bomber, first strange hat was a strange big topper, and first unusual was a stormy storm arctic eyewear. I unboxed all three of these. My first trades was me selling some stuff. Yadaada, here’s my take. There are a lot of guides on how to trade in tf2 for profit, but I usually just trade for stuff I like so I do it rarely. Best tip: be reasonable. People love to do extreme overpay when selling, so try and negotiate to a price that is good for both parties. If they don’t, then look elsewhere.

Im trying to buy hat's at discount and resell them but its kanda slow.
 

Oreos

:I
★ Donor ★
Honorary Member ★
Jan 8, 2019
596
398
158
Italia!
a common mistake in trading that many beginners do is to simply stick by the listed backpack.tf price ignoring all the actual sell offers and buy offers shown in the item page, these can sometimes be very different from the listed price. Also try to behave nicely and be as convincing as you can. My first item was a horrific headsplitter, my first strange was a silver bot killer mk. II wrench, my first australium was an australium wrench and my first unusual was a orbiting planets western wear.
 

Prxme

Post Post Post
Jan 4, 2018
1,219
270
213
The United Kingdom
Common mistake in my opinion for beginners is not knowing the currency , when i was a idiot years ago at trading i never knew and really got into the tradding thing so i would never know currency i would just trade my stuff for something that looks cooler not knowing i'm loosing profit.
 

Neliel

Laureline
★ Donor ★
Nov 26, 2018
493
190
138
the ISS
Back when i was a f2p, i had 2 tradable weapons gifted from random people. As soon as the 15 day wait thing went away, i sold them for a rocket laincher skin (minimal wear) wich i then sold for 8 ref. My very first day of trading. I have bought lots of stuff hard to sell, but i managed to always get profit nevertheless.
 

Olaves

Amphetamine'd
Oct 27, 2017
178
261
108
London :D
I used to trade in both TF2 and then CSGO after. I consider myself very successful because I got most of the things I wanted and I just followed one rule:

ALWAYS TRADE FOR PROFIT

Never, ever, trade for something that is worth less. Even if you're desperate for an item. Don't offer more than it's worth because you will regret it in the long run. Be realistic though. If you can't afford an item, don't even try to trade for that item instantly. Work your way up to that item. Keep that item in your mind as your goal. Sure it may take a bit longer but you don't want a bad rep for low-balling. At the same time, be wary that the higher the risk, the higher the reward.

Always check out trade servers (the popular ones where the super rich go to trade as they tend to have more reliable traders). Keep an eye out on trade websites. I used to use 2 back in the day. Backpack.tf was one and there was another, better one but I forgot what it was called. (Sorry!)

Be patient. You may find someone with the item you want but they may ask too much for it. Just don't go through with the trade or you'll lose out in the long run and find someone else on trade servers/websites who are willing to give it at a reasonable price.

Someone always loses out on a trade between 2 people. Make sure it is not you. It is rare that 2 traders want the exact same items as each other.

After a successful trade, keep that trader on your friends list (unless they remove you) and add [Trader] as their nickname. They may trade items with you in the future and you know they are reliable.


I've retired from trading now and I don't keep up with the currency and whatnot but I can tell you for a fact that TF2 trading is easier to make profit out of than CSGO trading.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheMinecraftPoke

Malfunction

★ Donor ★
Honorary Member ★
May 1, 2018
337
113
138
I always trade with bots. Trying to trade with people, in my experience, has been irritating and a time waster. I'm not someone that trades to make a profit either. I trade just because "I want that thing", rather than "Maybe I can make a profit off of that thing".
 

Lowry

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2018
62
16
18
1: have a friend you can trust who knows how to trade and get advice from. just so you don't get screwed over. (even if they have a little knowledge in trading; you're going to get bad trades if you do it byself
2: backpack.tf is a good reference page for item prices. if you don't have the price of an item. (the prices aren't always accurate)
3: if you're starting just starting out, i recommend buying 2 weapons for 1 scrap and selling 1 weapon for 1 scrap. (if peole are willing to sell them rather than go to scrap.tf)
4: scrap.tf is also a good website to get things and sell things.

i haven't been an avid trader in years but i did start from nothing and now i got all these awesome items. people will take advantage of you if you don't know any better. i remember when i first started off i sold all my hats for 1 weapon each. i didn't know how much hats were worth.
 
Last edited:

pogs

Newbie
May 4, 2019
4
2
13
First time trading I got scammed. I was new to CSGO trading and I went into a trade server, some guy wanted to trade but since I didn't know the worth of my skin (Five-seveN - Case Hardened) I willingly traded it for some trashy Negev skin. Turns out, at the time, my Five-seveN Case Hardened was worth around £20.

Now, I just trade cheap TF2 hats and cheap CSGO skins with bots, mainly scrap.tf. :sad_blob:
 

Coronarena

Mapper
Sep 3, 2018
256
217
123
I used to. Never have been scammed, doubt I ever will be.

It was mainly starting with trading cosmetics. The ones that range from 3 ref upwards and are easy to make a bit of profit from. Well, not easy anymore due to bots.

And since bots can do trading quicker and cheaper than most people, I gave up, and my only source on income TF2 inventory-wise are from donations.