Talk:Trading

Trading offline

It should be known that you can't trade with players who are offline. Daminshi

--I've added this to the article.

I've tried using a dummy steam account to rack up and trade items to my main profile, but it won't work unless I have 2 accounts open through 2 computers or environments. Daminshi

why dont u trade the items to a trusted friend from account 1, then trade for them back using steam account 2? Nk 170 16:01, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Appearently the Scout's Bombing Run is a contender for most valuable item in trading. DO NOT CRAFT THE BOMBING RUN. You can probably trade it for whatever you want.

-- Hats in general are valuable trade items. Because desires change rapidly, it would be best if we have a citation or source for this before we post it to the page... we don't want to start false trading riots now, do we? :)

-- VintagePC 23:57, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Cheater's Lament

I'm one of the auld-skool idlers (I never regretted it) and I did get the Cheater's Lament soon after the update. However, I didn't get it after trading, I got it after my... first death, was it? I hadn't traded anything at that point, much less even clicked on the "trade" button. I didn't buy anything, and I had idled the night before so I'd already hit the drop cap. I think the Cheater's Lament drops the first time your drop queue is checked for a new item after the update. On death, or on trade, whichever comes first. Of course, this is just unsupported testimony at this point, so I won't edit the page yet. Can someone else corroborate this please? Scorch 18:08, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Same here. Didn't trade for it, I just received it on my first death when I started playing. Szthesquid 18:09, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Added note about this. VintagePC 23:55, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Let is also be known that after the Mann-Conomy update it was possible to receive one as a random hat. I received one even though I was one of the people who used the idling program. Misterslin 15:25, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Trading Screen Picture?

Would adding one be helpful, or just redundant? TheMedik 21:16, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

I've noticed over the last few days that there are repeated new image uploads for this page -- most notably, new images for the "A successful trade" box. The original image was perfectly sufficient, there's no need to add your own image when it's already there. --Szthesquid 14:52, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

The image was saved as a lossy jpeg with some (although not much) artifacting. The current image should be just fine. ~ lhavelund ^{(talk ▪ contrib)} 14:55, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification, although it would've been nice to see that explanation in the edit notes. --Szthesquid 14:56, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I was perusing the category of images needing improvement, and just set my sights on that one. I didn't think much of clarifying it in the edit description ;) ~ lhavelund ^{(talk ▪ contrib)} 14:57, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Playing while trading

Not many people know this, but it's possible to continue playing while trading by pressing escape. Pressing escape again will bring you back to the trading screen. Desertfighter 19:38, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip. Pass it on. Daminshi

Can we put this on the page. I really wish I knew this earlier and have seen no in game indication of this. --Ajburges 13:05, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

You can't access any other menu while using this. Useful though. Nosoop 17:49, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Actually you can access the other menus even with the trade window open. While trading window is open, pres ESC. You will then be taken back to the game. From here you can press M or N to access the other user menus. This is useful when you need to craft or melt a metal all the while not quitting the trade window. Done it a few times already, try it! Roninsmastermix 15:03, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Item Value

We need to discuss what a item is worth to better inform people. Here's a list from most common to most rare and what's in demand right now.

• Tokens [Nobody wants tokens. It requires you to sacrifice more weapons then it does to make Metal. Takes too much work.]
• Normal weapons [Drops all the time]
• Vintage weapons [Pretty common... for now. Otherwise, pretty useless.]
• Scrap Metal [Requires 2 normal weapons. A equivalent trade.]
• Crates [Dropped a lot. They require $2.50 to acquire a key to open. Valve is using gambling to get us to pay them.]
• Reclaimed Metal [3 normal weapons and a hard to find weapon is good for this one.]
• Nametag [Don't know why people want them. It's $1 to change a weapons name. Getting it for free is a different matter.]
• Paint [Same thing with the nametag.]
• Dueling Mini-Game [A item that can be purchased in the store, but buying enough to get Platinum if you win them all is $146.52... Goddamn it, Valve. (Highly sought after.)]
• Refined Metal [Requires lots of weapons. Best saved till you have 3 for a random hat and trade it for the one you want.]
• Ellis Cap [Not sought after right now, but might become more valuable in the future.]
• All regular hats [Takes lots of patience and finding the right person to trade with.]
• PolyCount Hats [Weapons and hats can be dropped or crafted, but they're highly sought after because of the bonus.]
• PolyCount sets [Hard to get right now.]
• ManCo Cap [A reskin of Ellis cap. A lot of people were disgusted and never wanted anything to do in the store when it first came. It will become valuable for its rarity.]
• Bill's Hat [Left 4 Dead 2 Pre-purchase]
• Lumbricus Lid [Worms pre-purchase]
• OSX Earbuds [Weekend special. Log into a Mac and get them for free in 3 day period.]
• Sam and Max items [Pre-purchase]

Impossible but wanted anyway

• WAR winners [3] [I know no one wants them, but a lot of people hated that Garry's mod photoshop pic that won 2nd place.]
• Golden Wrench [80] [I wanted this thing but TF2 wasn't working that weekend.  :( Had to reinstall Windows 7.]
• PolyCount Pin [65] [If I only knew how use Maya...]
• Gentle Manns Service Medal [11,111] [Bullshit how it was from a code in the web page and was only on when everyone in the U.S. was at work or school.]

This list might be very dependent on who is trading and for what, but it's a reasonable guess. Daminshi

 Disagree, value is highly subjective. I'd delete crates if I wouldn't find people that will gladly give me weapons for them. For me vintage is only a silly label, for others it's worth a reclaimed metal. You call the name tag worthless, I'd be willing to trade some stuff for it (and people are willing to pay). Add to that that much of this is speculation (will vintage ever become really valuable or will people that care for it get it long before it gets rare?) and the article could never do this any justice without being so vague as to have any value left. --CruelCow 02:28, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

 What: No. -The Neotank ( | Talk) 02:31, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

 No: Value of items depends from person to person, like Crow said. Can't exactly pin solid numbers on something dynamic.

 OpposeThe wiki is not the place to track and detail an economy. Although I would be interested in the economy of TF2 items, as a separate site I think it'd be quite a good resource for traders. -RJ 02:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

 No: I have been lurking the Steam Community Forums to find trades for what I want since the update. I am still seeing the value of items fluctuate greatly. It will take months for the economy to stabilize as certain items are in very high demand right now do to rarity. Other items will only increase in value as people who want them, get them, and effectively remove them from the economy (Example: no one is getting my Vintage Hotrod now that I have it. Save for if I can set someone up with a sucker trade). Even once it stabilizes, value will still be subjective. --Ajburges 13:01, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

 Nope.avi: Not our place to determine what is worth what. Vekter 20:16, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

 Support: I started a thread about values a long time ago. But thanks to the Christmas update, some of the values are distorted. Here's the thread: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1654436. As mentioned in my thread,  "I don't think it would necessary kill trading. I'm just doing this [study] because everybody is complaining that Person A is bad because he ripped off Person B because B did not know what the value of his items were." I think we can estimate the price of tools. As for hats and other cosmetic items, we should leave that alone since it is too subjective. I argue that we should have price lists but only for standard items (e.g. crates, tags, paint) so that people will know how much metal it costs and not get scammed. As for the determination of prices, I suggest we do what I did in the thread. We survey around a few hundred people and take the average of the prices. We make a note on the page that it is based on x number of people's opinion. These people are the sample population of TF2 and therefore would most likely make a good generalization of how much people are willing to buy and sell. Think of it as a census. We can also periodically adjust the prices by conducting the survey again for every 6 months or every year. Steelfist 02:59, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Trading Tips

Some of these seem like opinions more than anything else to me. Some rather bizarre opinions at that. In particular:

1. Never agree to offers where additional items are added to "sweeten the deal".

Why would you not agree to a trade you are considering if the person then offers you more? I've traded 2 hats and thrown in paint and stuff for 1 hat if the person had something I really wanted. I could understand a warning about some "demanding" more items in a trade after it was agreed upon or something, but otherwise I don't get this one.

1. Never trade a high-value item for another before first checking availability and crafting blueprints. Usually, trading for the spare parts and combining them is a much better idea.

I don't get this one either. Trading for the spare parts for hats rarely works since the only hats you can craft specifically without gambling on the outcome are the polycount hats and the bonk helm? Just me? Crap 13:11, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

The first one has been deleted. I just rewrote the second one, so hopefully it makes sense now. --CruelCow 13:14, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

Tradable now?

Apparently the Gentlemann's Service medal is now tradable (And can be removed from the untradable items list), can anyone confirm? GeneShark 07:18, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

This is true. I am not quite sure which patch they made it tradable though. - Attaint 00:27, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Free item?

Where did that come from? – Smashman _(talk) 00:27, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

Stub?

This article looks rather complete/large for a stub. Maybe a cleanup is needed of the trading tips section, but it dosen't look like a stub to me. Ailure 18:16, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

You're right. Changed. Moussekateer 18:40, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

Checks in trading?

This is new, I can't trade some items. I keep getting the message "The Trade Was Canceled, Because Some Items Do Not Belong To You Or The Other Player". Seems to be occurring after trying to trade items I just got. Netham45 23:24, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

I haven't got this problem before but a probable cause for this problem is that your connection to the item server is interrupted. Tkj 02:38, 29 August 2011 (PDT)

Community trading glossary

How about we add such section explaining the meaning of terms such as "clean"/"dirty" items as well as "sweeteners" with references to SteamPowered forums posts as sources? When I first saw someone discussing a "clean" item at the forums I checked whether the wiki has an info on this before asking in the thread so I think it would be a useful section. Kalev 19:38, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

I support this. --Szthesquid 20:51, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

I think it would be a useful addition too. Moussekateer 22:19, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Ok, I just started to work on it. Kalev 17:12, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Section created, check it out. I have two questions:

• Should this be a section or a separate article?
• Do you think that the term "crap hats" should be added? I've seen it tons of times referring to Old Guadalajara and Napper's Respite since they drop regularly and are very common therefore their value is very low. Traders often warn they don't accept "crap hats" when trading a highly valued item. Kalev 17:43, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Looks good to me. A small section is enough I think. And no, "crap hats" is very subjective. Moussekateer 17:45, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

 No, no, no!: The value of hats is entirely subjective. A wiki should have absolutely nothing to do with this. -The Neotank ( | Talk) 17:49, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

One thing it might be worth doing is adding these terms to the Glossary page. Scatmanjohn 17:54, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. But what about the "sweeteners" then? Their description mentions values and they can't be actually explained without doing so. Kalev 17:57, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Maybe a better definition for sweetners would be "Additional items added to a trade" or something along those lines? Scatmanjohn 17:59, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

How are "clean/dirty" items as "sweeteners" any less subjective than hat value? The value of any item is completely up to the parties in question. -The Neotank ( | Talk) 18:01, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

There is nothing subjective about "clean/dirty", it just refers to if an item is physically tradeable or not. Scatmanjohn 18:09, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

"Additional" are obviously dependent on "main" items which once again discusses values. I clearly get your point, Neotank, but on the other side it's really common and though subjective I think it should be there one way or another. How about something like items that are considered as an extra by one of the trading sides to increase the satisfaction of the other side with the deal? Yeah, it's even more subjective, but doesn't involve values. — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kalev (talk) • (contribs) 2010-11-11T13:15:04

Edit: or maybe "extra" does... Ok, do what you want with this term, but I'm concerned confident that the current definitions of "clean" and "dirty" have nothing to do with a value. I didn't mention "clean" are more desired than "dirty" ones. Kalev 18:18, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

I se what you mean now, jumping into the discussion at the wrong point made me think that you called items like Old Guadalajara or the Napper's Respite "dirty." Do as you will then. :) -The Neotank ( | Talk) 18:26, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Its no problem :), I will add the "Dirty" and "Clean" definitions to the main glossary in that case :D, not sure what to do with the sweeteners definition though Scatmanjohn 18:29, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

I've noticed many users at Steam Forums are discussing "crate hats". Are those simply the ones you may get from a crate (respectively included in one of the series' lists)? Kalev 18:40, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Yep, exactly. Moussekateer 18:47, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

I found that section a little iffy, given that it's subjective: never even heard of the term before. At the very least, maybe some sources. Clank 20:03, 24 July 2011 (PDT)

I Feel like people are posting on just random, not-accurate, abbreviations just so that way they can have more posts, for example, I have never seen the vintage tyroleon called, "Tyro", never in my life. So is this even reliable or should I clean it up or what?Xephslayer 21:37, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Definitely needs some cleanup, IMO. I think it'd be better as a separate page, personally. Evang7 21:53, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

If nothing else, new page sounds good. Clank 20:03, 24 July 2011 (PDT)

Untradable Logic

>Due to the possibility of selling items outside of the Mann Co. Store for real money, some items are not tradable.

This sounds like speculation, and looking at the list it seems to be more based on the fact that they are connected with an in-game mechanic, such as the Dueling Minigame, or attachment to a Team Fortress 2 achievement.--Zootch 09:11, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

I think that may be poorly phrased but what is the explanation for hats and weapons bought from the store being untradable? Moussekateer 09:13, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Sorry; looking at it again, it appears to be another point altogether. The problem is the "Untradable Items" section is awkwardly assembled...

Lugermorph

The page has the Lugermorph listed as untradeable then states underneath that the pre-order ones are tradeable. Does this mean that the poker night ones can't be traded and if so, how do we know before it is released? Scatmanjohn 19:05, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

We don't know if the poker nights ones will be tradable. This should be removed from the list until we know. Moussekateer 19:34, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

Il do so now then Scatmanjohn 19:35, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

I believe you can trade purchases items if and only if you use Gift Wrap. GreaterBeing69 00:45, 19 August 2011 (PDT)

Accessing the other menus while Trading window is open

It should be noted that it is possible to access some of the other menus while the Trade window is still open. All you have to do is press ESC (which will take you back to the game screen) and while you're in the game screen, press "M" or "N" to access the other menus. This is especially helpful when you need to craft or melt metals and all the while not closing the trade window. This helped me a lot when the person i'm trading with is an unknown trader.

Maybe useful to insert as a tip in the trading tips section. Roninsmastermix 15:10, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

This has already been discussed above. Please read the rest of the discussion before raising an issue. :) --JakeSanchard 12:11, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Error

Gift wrap is tradeable. Please fix the template. Thanks. Thespy 23:07, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Steam ID

There is no information about how people could know somebody's Steam ID which they can add then to invite another person for trading. Special page or additional info on this page? kreafan 03:53, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

"Players may request a trade with a fellow user from their friends list, from the current game server or by entering the Steam Community URL of another player." maggosh 04:06, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

What they mean is information about Steam IDs, such as how to acquire one, and any additional information. - nixshadow • t|c 06:05, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Scam section

I feel like the whole section should just be removed. A lot of the referenced scams are incorrect. For example, a bait and switch would be having one person pretend to be paying heavily for a specific, inexpensive item or number of items. Just the victim closes the initial trade and shrugs the whole thing off, the second scammer would pop in and offer up the exact object the first person was looking for. The victim would then offer more than the item is worth, thinking they'd get a better payout anyway. After making the deal, the first person would tell the victim they are no longer interested, or simply leave the server/ignore trades.

Aside from being poorly written, it's just plain silly to have that information on a wiki. I mean, and this is an extreme example, what would you do if you went to the stickybomb page and it had a detailed section dedicated to teaching reads how to make their own real-life pipe bombs? That's not too good. I wouldn't wanna see someone get scammed because someone else learned a smart way to do it from this page.

Opinions? SilverHammer 05:56, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Neutral Although this page does explain to people how to scam, it can be useful to people trying to prevent getting scammed, and does provide some additional information that could be deemed worthy. But then again, this information could easily be found elsewhere, on more trading appropriate sites. - nixshadow • t|c 06:05, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Support I'm for this. The scam section is just silly, and most of the scams are very far-fetched. It doesn't really need to be here. — Xenak (Talk|Contribs) 06:06, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Oppose - the bad scams should just be removed, but the ones I read just now seem to be valid, e.g. external trading for Steam games, raffle contest things (I see them sometimes) and the quality scam (although it's easy to not fall for if you're not new, but still a scam). It's useful info, I don't see a proper reason why we shouldn't try and outline some of the real scams people are falling for when it comes to trading... seb26 06:29, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Oppose What seb said. ^^ maggosh 06:31, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Oppose Seen most of those happen multiple times. If the section is written poorly then it should be fixed, not removed. -Shine 06:34, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

 Oppose Nope. flutterravie Talk Contribs 06:38, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

May I suggest you actually mention why you oppose, even if you are just copying someone else, it helps with reasoning. - nixshadow • t|c 06:41, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

If I could say something new, I'd say. flutterravie Talk Contribs 10:51, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Since the whole Steam Support being cheated to give vintage items thing, Valve seems to have taken a pretty strict stance on not returning items to players under any circumstances. If two players agree to a specific trade, and one player later finds out it was unfair and their item was far more valuable than they were lead to believe, or the other player doesn't follow through with their end of the deal after the first trade... That's pretty much it. When two players check the boxes and hit trade, the trade it done through their eyes. As I stated in the initial post, we're giving anyone who reads this page ideas. Ideas that, as some of you have stated, work. I tried to rewrite the section, and the first sentence alone is just... silly. Building on that, the whole scam section is a subsection of "Trading Tips". It's as though the Wiki endorses those actions. People fall for scams when making trades, yeah. But is that really worth adding to this sort of page? Both "Glim-dripper" (a phrase I've never heard before, and I've been to my share of trading servers) and "Double-team" describe the same act which is pretty much a real-world bait n' switch. SilverHammer 06:52, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Yeah it's kind of worded badly but I think scams are worth mentioning since they are useful info for any player. No it's not really wiki-like but still, wikis are meant to be informative and the scam section would probably be helpful to a lot of players. I suppose it's not a good idea to give people ideas on how to scam but I still think it's better to have a section on this than not to. seb26 07:19, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Well if you take all the nonsense out, what you're left with barely constitutes a section. SilverHammer 19:53, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Improving Glossary

I'm trying to create a new table for the abbreviations glossary. It's too unappealing and unorganized for me, and a ton hard to edit.

My current project is located here http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/User:Denmax/Sandbox

I haven't finished the new table yet, but before I do continue, I'd like to ask permission first if it is allowed.

-- Denmax (talk) 10:50, 1 July 2011 (PDT)

Old abbreviations table located here -- Denmax (talk) 20:42, 2 July 2011 (PDT)

Uber Update free players?

How does trading work for free players after the Uber update? BK275 20:07, 4 July 2011 (PDT)

I would aslo like to know this.--Waffleman 15:02, 31 July 2011 (PDT)

They cannot send trades, only accept them; and they cannot give items - only receive. -RJ 15:06, 31 July 2011 (PDT)

The Steam Trade Beta requires that you have a premium TF2 account to trade TF2 items.

I think someone should add that in to prevent confusion that "all" users can trade. {{subst:void|This template should always be substituted. Please change {{Unsigned}} to {{subst:Unsigned}}}}— The preceding unsigned comment was added by ANormalUsername (talk) • (contribs) 2024-12-12, 00:13 UTC

Will do. Sign your posts in the future. --SilverHammer 13:47, 16 August 2011 (PDT)

That's how it already works for regular trading, and Steam Trading Beta users without premium TF2 accounts can still trade Steam Gifts. While I realize that's not the point of the article, do take care not to phrase it such that non-premium TF2 players are completely excluded from Steam Trading. --coreycubed / talk 13:49, 16 August 2011 (PDT)

A good chuck of this article needs to go

Specifically, everything below Trading tips and above Untradable items. Especially the monstrosity that is the 'Common Abbreviations". A few of them makes sense, like "Max head" or "HOUWAR", but some of these are just blatantly stupid and entirely unheard of. "Solly Poly Set", "Whiskd Gent"? Some of them aren't even abbreviations, just flat-out descriptions. "Black paint" People refer to it as such because it actually is black paint. As ballad so eloquently put it, "I need 2 half zats to craft my pp". I've never heard anyone address either of those by those names. Further, the whole section is a jumble. It's as though people just waltz on by, tack their personal nickname for the item at the end, then waltz on out. In my opinion, this article should be a lot less community oriented than it is. We've all seen what "expert traders" have done to trading itself, and frankly this article looks like it could have come out of tf2wiki.net. Opinions? --SilverHammer 14:22, 16 August 2011 (PDT)

 Agree Get rid of it. It's subjective and doesn't fit in the wiki. Balladofwindfishes 14:38, 16 August 2011 (PDT)

Craigslist of TF2?

I think it might be a good idea to put a chart up of some sort showing the current values of items and hats and such. As well as a Section for trading. Example: "I am trading my Bill's Hat for 5 keys! Send a message to me on steam." so it can be easier to find items that people are willing to trade instead of going from server to server. GreaterBeing69 00:55, 19 August 2011 (PDT)

This wiki is about information, but that information can get extremely subjective. We aren't the price setters of items, so that information doesn't belong here. As for trading here, there are better places for that. If people feel they have been low/high balled in a trade, and said they did it here, that is blame we don't need to have. - nixshadow (t|c) 00:58, 19 August 2011 (PDT)

Ahh very true I didnt think about it like that.

GreaterBeing69 03:43, 19 August 2011 (PDT)

Alien Swarm Parasite not tradable?

I never saw an untradable Alien Swarm Parasite... I think we should remove it from the Untradable items list. {{subst:void|This template should always be substituted. Please change {{Unsigned}} to {{subst:Unsigned}}}}— The preceding unsigned comment was added by Plumpkins (talk) • (contribs) 2024-12-12, 00:13 UTC

Although the majority of them are tradable, I have seen quite a few of them that were untradable. I'd say the majority are tradable though, so i'm not sure what the "default" should be

- nixshadow (t|c) 23:43, 30 August 2011 (PDT)

There is a little note that says that some of them are tradable. The ones that are untradable are the ones gained from the game Alien Swarm through an achievement.