Do you agree?
Alternate idea: make a community wiki.
There are a ton of things such a wiki would be good for, one of which is providing advice on how to avoid scams and be a decent trader.(Others include briefly answering new user questions that get repeated incessantly, providing useful how-tos, keeping a stable repository for useful links and tools, and just generally doing a much better job of documenting all aspects of the site than the staff has the time to do.)
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Yeah, true. The idea is to make something that will help people avoid scammers. :/
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I partly agree with you: some people aren't going to read anything, and so no amount of documentation will help them. (But, even then, links to the wiki could provide handy, short replies when those same people show up in the forums every second day. And I've thought before that a "ten commandments" for new users that kept things short and to the point could be useful for warning them against the most common blunders. The current FAQ is not the clearest document for this purpose that could be devised.)
On the other hand I think there are a lot of users who might appreciate further or clearer information about various things. When I came to the site I would have gladly read an overview of trading procedures and best practices. Also, despite reading the FAQ I had no idea there was a list of previously bundled games, and had I known that it would have saved the staff one confused support ticket and the forums one junk thread. And I doubt I'm unique.
Also I think even many long-time users still sometimes have questions about where something is to be found, etc. Look at how many official repository threads have been started in the forums for everything from gifs to browser ad ons. The problem is that, due to how the forums here are structured, many don't even know that information is there as it's perpetually buried.
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That's actually a great idea, I'm sure someone would benefit from it.
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True. ;P Even if it would help one person, it would be awesome.
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I have seen some guides like that on steam. I'm afraid most people who get scammed don't read them though.
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But a steam guide is more difficult to search. It would be better if there we had FAQ here too.
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I posted this for someone before. It might be helpful if someone wanted to create an FAQ.
"Checking:
1).Always double check the trade feedback (e.g http://www.steamgifts.com/user/maildave/feedback) + the steam profile that it links to, and the person you are talking to on steam (ask them to post on ur thread to double check too). [Normally +100 rep and above rarely scams, +50/-0 rep and above are decent and you can probably trust still, +25/-0 rep and above are still okay, anything below +25/-0 try to do more checks and always check anyone with -rep and take extra care]
2).Check steamrep.com (not so accurate sometimes, as only confirmed scammers, with who had done a few scams are shown there), this site shows confirmed scammers who you should never ever trade with (if he is shown as a scammer on the site)
3).Check if the person is in any rep boost groups (most of the time those who are in rep boost groups on steam (e.g of rep boost groups https://www.google.com.sg/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%2Brep%20group) scams when they have the chance)
4).Never just go 1st based on steam profile reps/ inventory alone (as steam profile reps can be easily manipulated, as mentioned in point3).
Trading:
1).Normally most trades done here are game keys for cards, refs, other game keys, csgo/tf2 keys, so most of the time 1 person needs to go 1st. As a standard rule of thumb, normally the lower rep on steamgifts always goes 1st. (Unless both players are around the same rep) (Of course you could ask another person with higher rep to go 1st, and some times they would if the item is of low value)
2).Try to build up some rep by trading lower value stuff (e.g bundled game for cards) or safer trades like gifts for keys. (At the start it might be difficult to find trades without going 1st due to low rep, so I would suggest you slowly build up rep this way 1st, before selling higher value items/games to avoid getting scammed)
3).Sometimes trades might take a few days to a few weeks (with constant bumping a few times a day everytime u can, you can bump every hour) before people will post on your thread (if your trade is not super value or quick sell, i.e very cheap compared to market), [There are many people who only look through the 1st page of the trading page, so they only see ur trade when you bump it]
So it might be good to search around other people's trades to see if there are any trades you might want to do with others if you want a higher chance to trade away your game."
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Nice guide. ;) Thing is that even scammers can make a lot of +rep, even on steamgifts, if they start selling some low value items, so not everyone with high rep can be trusted.
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Definitely true, people can turn coat and scam even if they have a high rep. If the item they are trying to scam is of high value it's probably worth it to them.
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True. They usually sell revoked expensive gifts to get fast money though.
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Yea, I get what you mean, (it would also be wise to check the 1st trade and the last trade they made, i.e the longer they have been trading for, the more reliable).
If you take everything into consideration, scammers with very high rep rarely exist.
The only one which I know of that had 100+ rep which scammed, scammed a total of $5000+ worth of keys from a few hundred people. (I feel those who have high rep(by which i mean above +100) normally wouldnt scam any other amount less than $50, because that would not be worth having their account marked as scammer for [after building up their rep over a few years and also their steam account is linked to steamgifts, so both will be labeled as a scammer].) There would also be some pointers to look out for in a scam.
The story:
This guy (forgot the name) had (+140/-0)~ rep, created a thread wanting to sell tomb raider for 2 keys below market price. (I think it was 14 keys market price, and he was selling it for 12 keys at that point of time). But the catch was that you would have to reserve a key since he has limited quantity (so you had to pay the key first, to which he promised he will give the game 2 weeks later). <<(at this point I was suspicious because if he had limited quantitiy of keys, how could he agree to sell a few hundred keys to so many different people, also it would be difficult to keep track of so many people and he would just be making it more troublesome for himself). So I said that I would trade with him only when he got the game. But after the 2 weeks, he just blocked everyone and left.
So it is sort of like him using his +140rep to scam for $5000usd, which I think rarely happens.
So as long as you do not fall into the trap of being extremely greedy and knowing what to look out for, I think it is fine to trust those with very high rep. *Also if you do not trust those with very high rep, just take the time to build up your rep and trade when you have higher rep.
But as with anything online, there is no 100%, so everything involves risks, and you need to know when to take the risk and when not to.
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Ehm, you are forgetting the people that sell gifts that get revoked afterwards. They usually steal paypal wallets and sell a lot of gifts with it, so they get a big profit fast.
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I didn't forget that. Just that I haven't met a guy with above +100 rep doing that (yet?), or maybe it's just me.
Only time I got gifts that was revoked due to chargebacks was from a guy with +10 or so rep. [Even this type of scam can sometimes be avoided though, by checking up whether there were any bundles or discounts or price glitch on the game being sold, if the price is too cheap to be true]
Note: I had a trade with a +500~ rep guy that revoked a gift (but after talking to him, he said he got the game from another guy through trade (which might be the reason) and he refunded me my items)
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FAQ? Mate :)))) nobody read here... it can help maybe.. hmm... 2 guys? :)
Good idea but i think... ^^ based on my own exp in trades, u can write 5 times in thread and 100x in comments something and another guy ask u for same thing agin...
Also new guys clearly do not understand how it works... they buy game in sale for 1,99€ and then want 8 csgo keys and its fair and u are idioit when u say its much :D bcs game is for 20€ on steam and he want only 17€! epic save for you
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Well, it's true that almost nobody wants to read texts. Almost nobody ever reads my trade's description, but some people do, so it's ok. So, these people will probably read the FAQ too. And, to conclude, if it's going to help even 1 person, then that's fine by me.
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Yes, but its good idea at all, but not effective, pipolz are lazy :D
U can create trade FAQ if u want :)
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I can, but I mostly trade untradable gifts, so my FAQ wouldn't be ideal. xD I don't go first though. :P
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Lol, I don't think I've ever read the FAQ fully but there's always 1 person in 10 that does! (I hope so lol)
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There's a bit in the FAQ explaining how CV works,
and that doesn't stop people from making threads about why their CV dropped. :X
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So? There are still people that read the FAQ. ;P
Can't we just tell both of those people on the forums, though? XD
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Yeah, but so what? xD Doesn't everyone deserve a FAQ (the way I said it sounds wrong, but nevermind)? :P
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A reddit post lists different types of scam. I refer to it once in a while.
https://m.reddit.com/r/Steam/wiki/scamtypes
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Yeah, but they should have a FAQ here, in order for people to see it. It's not like I need it. I'm asking this FAQ for the people that need it. :'(
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More than a FAQ, I need a glosary. There are too many new words there to start trading.
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What do you mean? Like, what ROW means, etc.? This kind of words?
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I understand that as keys that work everywhere.
I was thinking in words like: rep, ref and tod. They may be the only ones or there may be more, I don't know what I don't know.
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Yeah, but there are people that don't know about ROW. It means Rest of the World and yes, it can be activated everywhere. I think that everyone knows that rep means reputation, meaning that you ask someone to write a positive rep comment for you. Ref means refined metal. Tod means tour of duty ticket. Yeah, they should write these abbreviations somewhere. :/
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Bumping this topic up because I still see at least 1-2 people claiming they were scammed (simple scams) in the forums every week. I feel a separate trade FAQ should be started. (maybe placed under the "created" tab in the trade section)
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True, true. We are all saying "How could you fall with such a simple scam?", but we tend to forget that we were all newbies in trading at some point.
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I agree, there ought to be a few tips or something for trading. But my best tip for people who post trades: if someone adds you asking about the trade but hasn't commented, block them. Even if they say they'll go first, just don't. Let's just say someone's game is a giftable item - one technique scammers will do is contact support and tell them to block the gift. Meaning, the game will go right back in their account, and you'll be left with nothing.
I personally only trade with people who have really good rep, in which I usually always go first since I don't have much rep. I'd also trade with someone who's given away tons of games on here if they have no rep, but that's about it. Always play it safe, and you should avoid getting scammed q:
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Yeah, always play it safe, people. Only trade with people that have a lot of +rep here, not in their steam profile only. Although, in the past, people were trusting me just because of my steam profile +rep, but I am the exception, because I'm cool and honest. ;P
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Well, profile rep is better than nothing, at least it gives people something to go off of. Only problem is that people can tell all their friends to give them profile rep, or they can join groups where people will do a "+rep for +rep" type of deal, though most people don't go to those extremes just to scam people q: And hmm, true, you ARE The Lucky Shamrock afterall! So you must be one cool cat ;)
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Thank you, thank you. ^_^ Yep, I'm not only TheLuckyShamrock, but TheCoolShamrock too. :B And I've heard of those groups. I've even seen people doing fake giveaways and asking people for a +rep in their profile.
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You're the CoolestShamrock I've ever meet, even cooler than Shamrock Farms and their milk! ;D haha. Whaaa? People would actually expect other people to give them good rep for making a fake giveaway? Wow, I bet that turned out wonderfully q:
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I don't know those farms, but thanks a lot. xD And yeah, there are many fake giveaways where they ask for +rep. :P
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Yeah, but I'm not talking about the people that make trades on reddit, but about the steamgifts users. It's a different site. I'm talking about creating a FAQ here, which could be showing preferrably when someone is trying to create a trade. ;)
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But this guide is not about trading on reddit, but trading in generally. Trading is trading, there are some additional rules on reddit, but rest are the same. Checking users, most popular method of scams, places where you could check the user this is the most important things.
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You didn't actually understand what I meant. They're different sites. How can a steamgifts user know that he should check reddit in order to consult the trading guide? We need a guide here. There are plenty of guides in other sites, but a steamgifts user won't necessarily know that there are guides in those other sites.
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Ok, I get it. But if you have time you could prepare something similar or just ask the reddit mods for permission and make a copy. Then ask support of SG for adding it on this site.
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I believe there was a guide, back when steamtrades.com existed.
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Yea, there were supports dedicated to the trades section too. But too many people were getting scammed, not following the guides and flooded the support so much so that they remove the support for the trades section. (People are just too lazy and greedy when it comes to looking up info for trades)
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Well, they can make one again then, which can be displayed even when someone is going to create a trade.
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Trades
Trades are limited to the trades section of the site, and should not be posted in giveaways or on the forum.
Do not hijack another user's trade for your own benefit, and keep your trades in their appropriate topics.
Include a summary of what you want [W] and have [H] in your trade title to help with readability.
Regional or trading restrictions on gifts or items you're planning to trade should be specified in the description.
Trading Steam accounts, or accounts from other gaming services is not allowed if it's forbidden by their terms of service.
Use the integrated bump feature when you need to bump your trade, and do not post and remove comments in an attempt to increase visibility.
Users are allowed a limited number of active trades. Please close trades that are no longer relevant or available before posting new ones.
Trade feedback should only be used to describe your personal trading experience with a user. It should not be used (i) to post negative comments when you disagree with someone's offer, (ii) for revenge or retaliation when someone leaves you negative feedback, or (iii) for unrelated comments or trading experiences not directly involving you.
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I was talking about making a FAQ about trades in order to avoid being scammed. I was NOT talking about guidelines of how to make a trade. :P
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I'll bump this topic everytime I see an impersonator scam.
Bump
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And it should also appear whenever someone wants to make a trade. :D
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I Highly doubt that will solve the issue even in the slightest ...
Scamming is a common thing , its a source of income for some ppl .
The only solution to that is to be Extra carefull , be 100% sure who you are trading with ... and after that .
Just pray you dont get scammed regardless :P
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First of all, scamming is stealing. And stealing should be punished by the law. Anyway, the FAQ isn't about me. It's about the many people that come here to start trading and end up getting scammed. The FAQ is needed to make them understand how trading works. And it should appear whenever someone tries to create a trade.
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The idea is nice , but i bet you 99% of ppl would just insta close the popup w/o reading it :)
Dont get me wrong , im not against your idea ... i just dont think it will change anything .
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Not really a popup. Just a text in the side of the trade creation window. And it doesn't matter if it won't save a lot of people. Even if it saves one person, then it would still be awesome. It's just something essential that should exist, but it doesn't and I wonder why.
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Hi! Can I ask something? If I've already played a game, can I trade it anyway?
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Hello. :) No, you can't trade it if it's already in your steam library. You can only trade games that are in your inventory.
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There are many things that you can trade.
First of all, let's say that you may want to sell a game. To sell this game, you must firstly buy it. You want it as a steam gift? To buy a steam gift, you must either buy it from the steam store or from a trader or from a trustworthy site that sells games. You want it as a key (you know, I mean a code that you use to redeem a game)? Then you can buy it from many key stores, like humble bundle, indie gala, etc. or from another trader. So, let's you bought this game. Probably you bought it at a low price and then you want to sell it to gain some profit. So, you come here, open a trade and say that you have this game and that you want something else in return (example: [H] Counter Strike: Global Offensive [W] 3 keys).
In the other hand, if you came here in order to buy a game, then go to the trades section and search for the game that you want. When you will find a trader that has a good price for the game you want and he's trustworthy (be extremely careful of scammers), then you can buy the game from him. He may be selling it as a steam gift or as a key. Maybe the key isn't even a steam key, but a uplay key, etc. It's important that you must check him out on the steamrep site first and check his reputation here on steamgifts too. As long as you are sure that he is trustworthy, then you can trade with him, but I would suggest you to trade only through the normal steam trade window and avoid going first in trades.
So, what can you trade here? Most people trade games here. But a lot of people will also accept items, cards, keys, gems, when doing trades. It depends. Different people ask for different things.
So, do you have something that you want to trade? You want me to tell you how to open a trade and such?
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People could find all trading relevant infos in 10 seconds google, the ones getting scammed are people who dont even care to do that. so any trading FAQ, text up down or anywhere wont help them. If they couldn't google a few seconds, you think they will waste even a second to ready FAQ? It might sound rude / hard, but let them learn it on the hard way, instead of wasting the few resources of this site on things nobody will read. Ofc that's only my Opinion in this.
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Well, maybe they think that they know how to trade, so that's why they won't google for information, but they actually don't know how to trade. And why not help them to know how to trade? Force them somehow to learn this information? Why should they learn the hard way? To help the scammers profit? No, I don't want any scammer to profit. Scammers are common thieves.
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Most scams I see are impersonator scams.
When I talk to some of them, they said they did trades before on other forums and sites, but didn't know to click the steam icon on the steamgifts profile page to double check (they just looked at the link to the steam profile and steamgifts link).
Some new players also said it was hard googling for info, so they just trust steam profile reps.
Although there were also some that were just plain stupid and didn't want to learn or even try abit (and those should be scammed), I feel a FAQ might be good, at least for those who take the time to click and read them.
PS: there was a trade FAQ when steamtrades was another site, but not sure why they removed it when they combined it with steamgifts
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I know that this is not going to solve anything and that scams will continue to exist, but shouldn't there be FAQ about the trading section too? That's all I'm asking and I'm pretty sure it won't take much time to get created. FAQ could include some tips about avoiding to get scammed. If it will manage to help someone, even 1 person, I'm sure it would be awesome.
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