Yo, I just traded a game on steamtrades for TF2 keys for the first time (normally I just trade a game for a game) without much knowing how beneficial this is at all (not), could someone 101 me on this? I kinda just "yolo'ed" this and went with what was being offered to me but I wanna know better the next time.

So as example, I traded away Zombie Army Trilogy for 2 TF2 keys (Mann Co. Supply Crate Key), how do I know the value was right?

My questions most importantly are...

  • ... are keys commonly accepted for trades or rather nah?
  • ... how do I know the game's keys value?
  • ... I assume it's commonly more beneficial to trade the received keys for another game than reselling it on Steam since I lose the value due to fees? (Or whatever else am I supposed to do with them /o\ )
4 years ago*

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I think the first and most important thing is - know who you're trading with! It's easy to pretend to be someone else, so when you go and complain, you complain to the wrong guy. Don't trust links to profiles, find them yourself. Make sure the steamtrades profile is the same profile you're friending on Steam and chatting with.

Regarding the price - if you're happy and the other guy is happy, all is good. If both you and the other guy is trying to make a profit, the trade is not gonna happen :)

4 years ago
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Yup, concerning the first part that's something I am usually very careful with.

For the second, how do I estimate a game's value? For example, most of the games I give/trade away are coming from bundles of various tiers. My point is I just wanna make sure someone doesn't want to make a very bad offer (esp. if they see on my profile I rarely ever trade = an ez target to get fooled oof).

Or the other way around - I want to make an offer to someone but I have no idea what is an average value.

4 years ago
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You can search the forum for the same game, see what people ask/offer for it. Sometimes you can find the game on G2A or similar to know the price.

Be careful not to spend hours just to save a few cents though - unless the saving is itself the game you're playing ;)

4 years ago
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Well, sounds quite like an ants work indeed then! :o And y'know what they say, time is money, so that's where you're right that looking solely at the profit is not the best thing. Cheers! :)

4 years ago
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Check the lowest game price with Isthereanydeal or other sites.

4 years ago
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Would anyone actually trade for that much (in keys) given the game's been bundled in the past? I often see bundled games being traded for cheap but on the other hand something's telling me the real trade value might correspond to the G2A market (and the likes?) as you never know if those people aren't going just for profit :o

4 years ago
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I don't trade, so i am not the complete right source.
The ITAD and other sites list for sure the g2a prices or you need to check them on top of the common/normal price checks.

4 years ago
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I usually use Barter, https://barter.vg/, a website, to assist in making matches. There you can 'match' with your tradeables and someone's wishlist and vice versa. They keep stats so you can easily see and check how many trades they've completed on the site, how many failed, and you can even check other's ratings on the traders. It's worked really well for me.
They also show which games have been given for free, bundled, and lowest ever price.

4 years ago
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I wasn't familiar with this site, thanks!

4 years ago
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It's got a pretty steep learning curve, but once you're comfortable with it, it's really quite good. You'll discover a new feature every week. And always mouse over things because they make excellent use of tooltips.

Warning, though, there are a number of predatory traders who look for new traders and hope they have no idea of value, and will make tons of ridiculously low offers. Just Ignore them (via the site) and move on.

4 years ago
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Thanks for the tips, I'll try to familiarize myself with the site/offers first before trading away some leftovers. Cheers :)

4 years ago
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1TF-Key is worth ~2€ atm.

... are keys commonly accepted for trades or rather nah?
Yes

... how do I know the game's keys value?
you can check greymarket prices like g2a, kinguin. rule of thumb: if the price is okay for you that's the value

... I assume it's commonly more beneficial to trade the received keys for another game than reselling it on Steam since I lose the value due to fees? (Or whatever else am I supposed to do with them /o\ )

YES. Reason why people use these keys (or csgo keys)

  1. Keys are like stocks with some pricechanges
  2. people trade keys for skins from csgo and sell them later for real money
  3. people sell keys on market and buy games from steam (and sell them for other games, real money...)
  4. people use keys as hidden reserves
4 years ago
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Thanks a ton for the in-depth reply! This makes most of the things clear for me.

4 years ago
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This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

4 years ago
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your game in 'Have' and Tf2 in 'Want' on ST

Oops I did it other way around before accidentally, that's why I couldn't see the keys values. FeelsStupidMan. I guess this perfectly answers the part about the avg. key price. Thanks :)

4 years ago
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Important items/values:

TF 2 keys and CSGO (non-hydra) keys are the most widely accepted currencies. TF2 keys are worth around $1.80, and CSGO keys are worth $2.00.
CSGO has a lot of different keys, but for trading purposes they're all the same EXCEPT Hydra keys (those were originally priced differently, but it looks like that might have been fixed by now?)
Always specify whether you're trading CSGO or TF2 keys, as there is a noticeable difference in value

Next up is a Mann Ticket. That's worth around $1.00 and is worth half a key
The prices for tickets and keys are set by valve and are therefore very stable.

A Sack of Gems is the next item. The value fluctuates, but right now it's worth around $0.40, so not quite half a ticket. Each trader values SoGs differently, and trading SoGs for Keys especially depends on who you're dealing with.

Lastly, there's Ref and Scrap. TF2 allows you to turn items into scrap metal, and combine scrap metal into refined metal. These are just about worthless. Scrap is $0.01 and Ref is around $0.10. Most traders don't even bother with these.

In addition, sometimes people will try to trade cards or items. The value of these varies wildly. Most cards are only worth $0.01, though some rare cards are worth a lot more. Skins and Hats can be worth hundreds of dollars. For now, steer clear of these. Unless you know what you're doing, you're gonna have a hard time figuring out fair value for these. Let the other person worry about converting items into standardized currency (i.e. keys)

4 years ago
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