When playing online games such as Team Fortress 2, trading plays a big role. It is even considered the backbone of this game for years now. Trading is a way for gamers to acquire items from their co-players, such as metals, hats, and weapons that they can use to level up their character or teams.
Due to its popularity over the years, forums and discussions about basic tips on how to trade have been continuously circulating on the world wide web. There are tons of strategies, ideas, and a variety of options that you can apply when you want to start trading.
So, if you’re a player of TF2 and want to start trading or want to improve trading strategies, here are eight tips that you would totally wish you knew sooner:
Weapon Banking
This is a very simple trading method. You just have to find a player that’s willing to trade a weapon for your weapon. However, there are some guidelines that might be helpful. When trading a weapon, make sure to trade the one you don’t often use or the one that’s very functional for your team. Make sure that your weapon is beneficial to your trader as well so that both of you are in a win-win situation.
Scrap Banking
Another common method of trading is scrap banking. It is widely used by thousands of players in Team Fortress 2. You will basically sell your in-stock weapons for one scrap each, and then scrap bankers will initially trade your one scrap for two weapons. After gaining two weapons for one scrap, you can make a small profit by selling each weapon that you acquired to other players for one scrap each. This method is called reverse scrap banking.
If you can execute this method properly and master the process, you can really gain bigger profits in the long run. Plus, you can obtain different weapons and decide if you want to keep them, sell them, or trade weapons to weapons.
Choose a reliable site for trading.
If you want to trade outside the game or the server, you can opt for this option. In today’s time, there are hundreds of trading websites available for Team Fortress 2. Due to the number of websites you can find, you can never avoid encountering fraud or scam websites.
You really have to be extra careful since outside websites are not part of the scope of the game’s responsibility. To make sure that you won’t be scammed, only trust sites for trading Team Fortress 2 items that are legitimate and recommended by reliable sources.
Spycrabbing
In Team Fortress 2, spy crabbing is equivalent to gambling. Just a friendly reminder, gamble at your own risk. During the game, two participants will change to the Spy Class and pull out their disguise kits and taunt. Another technique for this method is to sell an item for a lower amount so that whenever you fail it won’t be a huge loss. Apart from that, before you start to spy crabbing, see to it that all the guidelines and rules are clearly set and approved by all of the participants.
Check out major updates.
As we all know, updates are usually associated with new items to be introduced and released. Once these latest items are available, the prices of the older ones will automatically drop. This means those items will be tradeable. Some promotional items will be up for trade as well, so don’t get too impulsive as you might regret it. Most of these items can be sold lower a few weeks after the update.
Lastly, as these types of sales are a very seldom opportunity, make sure to grab the chance to invest in special keys. Special keys are the ones that are very useful in the game and saleable most of the time.
Beware of renamed items or weapons.
You can’t really avoid fraud people in the gaming industry. There will always be people that will try to outsmart you or take advantage of your limited knowledge about trading. Since we can’t really stop them from doing this, you should always set extra precautions for yourself. You need to be wise and make decisions slowly.
Here’s what they usually do. A scammer will try to rename a common item into a higher-quality item. To avoid being scammed, hover your cursor over the item to confirm or reveal its original name if it is renamed. Aside from that, the chat box inside the server will notify you about renamed items, so make sure not to disregard any notifications from the chatbox.
Hire a trusted SteamRep middleman.
SteamRep is a website to keep track of scammers in the TF2 community. Now, on the website, you can hire a go-between that can further assist you in tracking your cash tradings or transactions with another player. A reliable SteamRep middleman will help you ensure that you are dealing with a trusted player as well when doing trading. Overall, this website is very useful when it comes to improving the safety of game-related trading.
Make sure to trade for items that are not duplicated.
Duplicated items or duped items hold a lower value. In order to ensure that an item is not a dupe, always check and view the other player’s backpack and review every history of the item so you can track if it is duplicated. The common indicator of a duped item is it has a smaller value compared to the original one, so always be wary.
Final Words
Trading in Team Fortress 2 has gained massive popularity. Players are getting fond of trading items to level up their gameplay, obtain some profit, and get great deals. However, since there are multiple ways on how you can trade, you really need to have planned strategies. If you just started your trading journey or you have been doing this for quite a long time and you want to learn more, apply the steps mentioned above for more strategic trading.
