Can someone help me out?
- Thread starter beebop
- Start date
Matthew
TF2 Staff
It's my opinion, and that's what I stand by I feel as if there is not a best way of trading, there are several good ways yes but I don't feel like there will be a best way based on how prices usually end up.
jakksilves
LiR
I do not believe this thread.
What the hell is wrong with you people?
Tech45
Senior TF2 Admin
I do not believe this thread.
What the hell is wrong with you people?
Um, I'd probably be more concerned about your pet bird there. Seems demonic... those eyes... it's looking into my soul...! *random tumbling noises in the background*
I will tell you what I have found to be consistently effective and profitable:
Patience.
For every item out there, a range of pricing exists - be patient enough to buy at the lower end, and patient enough to sell at the higher. Never buy an item for more then you want to pay, never sell one for less then you want (must be reasonable assumptions on either end.)
Note that the price of the items determines what sort of range is available, and therefore determines the amount you can make per transaction.
For example - a item listed on bp.tf for 2 ref will have a very small range of pricing variation, vs say an item listed for 8 keys - the higher the value the item the greater the range of price variation, and by extension the amount of potential profit. The range of pricing on Unusuals go from a couple of keys to sometimes several buds - far more territory to stake out a profit than in a range of some crafted metal..
Personal Preference on my part but I don't deal with people who do "quicksells" - my experience has been they are more trouble than they are worth, they rarely sell at quicksell prices, but want to buy your stuff at the drastically discounted pricing - it strikes me as dishonest. Also trying to do the whole "quicksell" routine brings you dangerously close to sharking or scamming - if your personal sense of integrity doesn't rebel at the notion, perhaps a calculated consideration of the possibility of being Marked or banned will give you pause.
Last option is spycrabbing - though a couple of guidelines here are warranted:
Never gamble more than you can afford to lose - as a rule I will never crab more than 1/3 the value of my bp at a time.
If you are losing - stop. I see people all the time trying just one more crab to recover the losses - and they wind up losing everything. Sometimes you just gotta take a hit and walk away - there will be another day when you will win most of the time, save the rest of your resources for then.
Remember that every winning streak comes to an end - if you made a good profit crabbing, walk away before you gamble that one last time and turn a winning day into a losing one.
Patience.
For every item out there, a range of pricing exists - be patient enough to buy at the lower end, and patient enough to sell at the higher. Never buy an item for more then you want to pay, never sell one for less then you want (must be reasonable assumptions on either end.)
Note that the price of the items determines what sort of range is available, and therefore determines the amount you can make per transaction.
For example - a item listed on bp.tf for 2 ref will have a very small range of pricing variation, vs say an item listed for 8 keys - the higher the value the item the greater the range of price variation, and by extension the amount of potential profit. The range of pricing on Unusuals go from a couple of keys to sometimes several buds - far more territory to stake out a profit than in a range of some crafted metal..
Personal Preference on my part but I don't deal with people who do "quicksells" - my experience has been they are more trouble than they are worth, they rarely sell at quicksell prices, but want to buy your stuff at the drastically discounted pricing - it strikes me as dishonest. Also trying to do the whole "quicksell" routine brings you dangerously close to sharking or scamming - if your personal sense of integrity doesn't rebel at the notion, perhaps a calculated consideration of the possibility of being Marked or banned will give you pause.
Last option is spycrabbing - though a couple of guidelines here are warranted:
Never gamble more than you can afford to lose - as a rule I will never crab more than 1/3 the value of my bp at a time.
If you are losing - stop. I see people all the time trying just one more crab to recover the losses - and they wind up losing everything. Sometimes you just gotta take a hit and walk away - there will be another day when you will win most of the time, save the rest of your resources for then.
Remember that every winning streak comes to an end - if you made a good profit crabbing, walk away before you gamble that one last time and turn a winning day into a losing one.
BasePro
Faggot of AIDS
what i do is buy as low as possible and sell for as much as possible, one of the mistakes many people make is buy random shit not caring what it is, if there are items going up in price, such as keys, invest, although trading cards are very popular you might want to but them cheap individually, and sell them for more as a set. there are many ways of making profit, not many are easy nor fast but most are effective. if you need more help feel free to add me on steam :)
-your one and only, Base/Robin
DarkPaladinPrime
TF2 Staff
No, bad HappySticks
Darkly | Sir BaconChops
A Little Darkly
Like everyone said, "buy low, sell high", buy trading cards, scamming (oh, HappySticks...), and gambling for your rewards are ways to make profits.
I would recommend "crafting" your profits. What I mean by that is take advantage of Chemistry Sets and Killstreak Fabricators.
Chemistry Sets (Strangifier):
If you got a chemistry set for a strangifier, check for the recipes and their most expensive craft recipe, which is usually a strange weapon.
If the value of the most valuable recipe (and also the sum of all the recipes) is greater than the outcome value of the strangifier, then you're better off selling it to some else (i.e. Strange Kritzkrieg as a recipe for a 8 ref strangifier).
But if the value of the most valuable recipe plus the sum of the recipes is less than the outcome value of the strangifier, then work to buy and create the strangifier and sell it for a profit. (i.e. the sum value of my recipe is 1.66 ref for a 8 ref strangifier. Made it, sold, and gained 6.33 ref profit.)
Chemistry Sets (Collector's)
If you obtain a collector's (whatever item it is) chemistry sets, you can do one of two things, make it or sell the set. But if you plan to purchase one, make sure the price is reasonably low so that the amount you spend don't go overboard with the value of the collector's plus the recipe value. (i.e. Spend 3 keys on a collector's, spend ~2 keys on recipes, outcome collector's value is 4 keys. Not worth it!)
If the required item is a weapon that can be used for scrapbacking, ex. Flare Gun, then you can easily obtain them by the method of scrapbanking (I recommend using a scrapbanking website for this) and spend only ~11.11 ref and receive profit by selling it by it's asked price (i.e. Collector's Flare Gun for 4 keys) or just sell above ~11.11 ref. You can buy the weapons for a scrap each if you wish, but the scrapbanking method is more economical.
If the required item is a hat or something else, check how much metal you need to make it (200 x value of item= recipe value). If you can make it, go for it! If not, then sell it.
Killstreak Fabricators
If you have a pro/spec. KS Kit Fabricator, the best way to get the ingredients is by buying them off the steam community market. Parts will go for $0.03-0.08 each depending if its battle worn or reinforced, and Pristine will go for $0.15-0.20. Make sure you also get a cheap killstreak kit that is used on a cheap weapon, such as the Gloves of Running Urgently Kit.
Total amount for (only) the recipe by using this method is: ~$1.80 for a spec. KS kit (in ref= ~5.66 ref) & ~$5.40 (in ref= ~16.66 ref) for a pro. KS kit, but exact cost varies.
Since there's no set prices for the killstreak weapons, you can set up a price that you like. I recommend selling the Spec. KS ones for >1.5-3 keys & the Pro. KS ones for >4 keys. You'll get a profit above >0.5-however much keys.
Overall, it's only a recommendation. You don't have to do this if you don't like it. If you do, I hope I helped you a lot and just wanted to show a little variety when it comes to trading and profits. And of course, when it comes to making profit, hard-work and patience is involved but it works in the end!
P.S. I've tried to make it short as possible, so I do apologized if I've bored you to death with this. But if you read all this, here>>>>>>>>>>
EDIT
The planning of purchasing a Killstreak Fabricator still applies on making sure you don't overpay for getting the recipe, such as the Collector's Chemistry Set. Most Specialized are $0.03 and above on the market and many Professional are ~<$2 and above, so choose your Fabricator according to your comfortable buying price.
I would recommend "crafting" your profits. What I mean by that is take advantage of Chemistry Sets and Killstreak Fabricators.
Chemistry Sets (Strangifier):
If you got a chemistry set for a strangifier, check for the recipes and their most expensive craft recipe, which is usually a strange weapon.
If the value of the most valuable recipe (and also the sum of all the recipes) is greater than the outcome value of the strangifier, then you're better off selling it to some else (i.e. Strange Kritzkrieg as a recipe for a 8 ref strangifier).
But if the value of the most valuable recipe plus the sum of the recipes is less than the outcome value of the strangifier, then work to buy and create the strangifier and sell it for a profit. (i.e. the sum value of my recipe is 1.66 ref for a 8 ref strangifier. Made it, sold, and gained 6.33 ref profit.)
Chemistry Sets (Collector's)
If you obtain a collector's (whatever item it is) chemistry sets, you can do one of two things, make it or sell the set. But if you plan to purchase one, make sure the price is reasonably low so that the amount you spend don't go overboard with the value of the collector's plus the recipe value. (i.e. Spend 3 keys on a collector's, spend ~2 keys on recipes, outcome collector's value is 4 keys. Not worth it!)
If the required item is a weapon that can be used for scrapbacking, ex. Flare Gun, then you can easily obtain them by the method of scrapbanking (I recommend using a scrapbanking website for this) and spend only ~11.11 ref and receive profit by selling it by it's asked price (i.e. Collector's Flare Gun for 4 keys) or just sell above ~11.11 ref. You can buy the weapons for a scrap each if you wish, but the scrapbanking method is more economical.
If the required item is a hat or something else, check how much metal you need to make it (200 x value of item= recipe value). If you can make it, go for it! If not, then sell it.
Killstreak Fabricators
If you have a pro/spec. KS Kit Fabricator, the best way to get the ingredients is by buying them off the steam community market. Parts will go for $0.03-0.08 each depending if its battle worn or reinforced, and Pristine will go for $0.15-0.20. Make sure you also get a cheap killstreak kit that is used on a cheap weapon, such as the Gloves of Running Urgently Kit.
Total amount for (only) the recipe by using this method is: ~$1.80 for a spec. KS kit (in ref= ~5.66 ref) & ~$5.40 (in ref= ~16.66 ref) for a pro. KS kit, but exact cost varies.
Since there's no set prices for the killstreak weapons, you can set up a price that you like. I recommend selling the Spec. KS ones for >1.5-3 keys & the Pro. KS ones for >4 keys. You'll get a profit above >0.5-however much keys.
Overall, it's only a recommendation. You don't have to do this if you don't like it. If you do, I hope I helped you a lot and just wanted to show a little variety when it comes to trading and profits. And of course, when it comes to making profit, hard-work and patience is involved but it works in the end!
P.S. I've tried to make it short as possible, so I do apologized if I've bored you to death with this. But if you read all this, here>>>>>>>>>>
EDIT
The planning of purchasing a Killstreak Fabricator still applies on making sure you don't overpay for getting the recipe, such as the Collector's Chemistry Set. Most Specialized are $0.03 and above on the market and many Professional are ~<$2 and above, so choose your Fabricator according to your comfortable buying price.
DARKLY | Pixar's Ham
DARKLY Regular
Killstreaks really depend on luck since most people are looking for a cheap price and for a good sheen/killstreaker. Otherwise it's probably one of the best ways to make profit, since you do make half a key profit or more each time, as mentioned by Baconchops.
DARKLY | Pixar's Ham
DARKLY Regular
jakksilves
LiR
I want this game to die, so much...