Most of the time, I'm trying to get a game cheaper through trading. (Either by trading with someone who has better regional pricing or using a game I got on a sale) Although, when trading leftover bundle keys I'm mostly trying to get something useful from them instead of having them just sit in a text file doing nothing.

i'm a trader, and i trade for profit, yes.
Everything (everything) in my library (except Supreme Commander 2, and a few gifts i got) and inventory came from one copy of Plants vs. Zombies which i traded for profit.
most other traders also trade for profit.
i think trading is fun, too.. others may not, but i do ^^

trading is huge waste of time. most offers i was getting sound more like they tried to scam me. I don't mind losing few bucks in trade but offering some crappy indie game from bundle(or even free stuff) for 10+euro game is just low.

Now I'm only doing it when there was pricing error that I missed or when buying from Russians.

I think you should add more

Just because games are on your wishlist doesn't mean they're you're most wanted item right that moment. You might have some other game in mind that day / week / month.

Also, a lot of traders, myself included, don't like to activate games we get until we're ready to play them. I've traded for a game with the intention of playing it and then traded it away because I got a good offer or it was the only thing someone else would take and they had a higher want from my list. I think I had 3 or 4 different copies of Bastion go through my inventory before I finally activated one.

Related to the last point (though for other reasons as well), keys are just not as reliable as game gifts or TF2 keys. Someone could scam you and leave you with a non-working key. They could have bought the key with a stolen credit card, or they could charge back the payment. You may say, "Well that can happen on Steam too." Yes, but at least sometimes Steam support will return your items if you traded within the trade window and that happened to you. It's a long, slow, painful process to get them to do it, but sometimes it happens. That won't happen if you take some guy's key from who knows where. Plus, if you don't activate it immediately there's no way you know it works (see my previous point). Even if it was good when he gave it to you, a month or two later he might forget he traded it and use it himself or give it away. Plus, a key often means it was gotten at a lower price than a Steam sale price even. Bottom line, some traders don't want to be bothered with them.

To each his own, really. I managed to make some rather "profitable" deals, such as my Unepic Stem key for a Sanctum 2 preorder (included that tower defense minigame too, at leawst 13 euros, while Unepic is 8 in the store), or Hitman: Absolution for an old indie bundle key which I can't even remember now. But then again, I made things the other way around too, such as offering Morrowind for an Indie Royale that wasn't even as good, or a tradable $10 game for an indie key, or how about Mount & Blade Warband for Indie Gala X, which is probably the only one I regretted because the games were uninteresting in the end. For me, it's all based on interest, I don't go to look for the prices and such.

If all your traders act like that, then you are trying with the shit kind to be honest. Usually, I manage to actually get a reason as to why they're not accepting my offers, but I don't even need that, just a simple "no thanks". Once you look at the thread of the trader, you'll see how much of a dick it is from his/her responses. I avoid these people 90% of the time, and only offer something when I really need what they have. Needless to say, it never worked because "LOL u lowball m8, get rekt".

Not for me really. I only trade for the simple reason I can't buy bundles myself so if I'm insterested in any game from any I try to trade for it.

In steamtrades first you get the games, then you get the cards. Then you get the women (or other games)

Rule 2: The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.

also
Rule 21: Never place friendship above profit.

and if you meet anyone who says he's not trading for profit:

Rule 29: When someone says "It's not the money", they're lying!

One big reason for trading is the ability to acquire region locked or uncensored games. Also regional pricing makes a huge difference from time to time.

Key is risky since it can't be done 1:1. You need a hell of a lot reps to be able to successfully sell keys.

I'm not an extensive trader and trading for profit takes too much time for it to be worthwhile for me. When I trade I do it for things that I'm interested in much like you. That being said I still reject most offers because people offer games I already have or games I don't want. I always include a list of what I'm looking for but people in general just don't seem to read before throwing an offer out there.

Games are worth certain amount based on supply and demand. It's your fault that you don't meet the approximate market price. Why would someone trade a game to you and get less in return?
As an aside, wishlists arent really updated often amongst alot of traders. And if you offer a bundle game, chances are that if they wwanted that game, they would have bought the bundle themselves

Just my 2 cents here. I have to agree mostly with what Ceildric said. I usually trade games for TF2 keys and vica versa. Most of the time I don't activate the game before I'm ready to play it, as I have a big backlog already and I may be able to use the game in a more desirable trade as leverage and just get it again later at another sale.

Also I'd say most of the traders are interested in making profit, still usually that profit is not that significant, rather a lot of small profits make out a big one over a certain period of time.
What a lot of people don't understand who never or rarely traded before is that current price does not equal trade value, meaning it is highly dependent on previous sales, how new or old the game is, what is the supply/demand for it and if there is any regional pricing difference or not. You have to really be "aware" of the different sales, discounts, freebies, humble bundles that may affect the games value. For example not so long ago a guy offered me a 75% off coupon for Serious Sam 3:BFE claimning it was worth 30$. When I simply pointed him to the Humble Weekly sale where you could buy all SS games for around 5 bucks, he got aggravated and said that the sale is over and I shouldn't act like its the most ridiculous offer.

Also I would say luck is also a big factor when trying to make profit from trading as you never if your game will go on a daily/weekly sale and you may be actually losing money on it as it gets devalued. So that's usually why I never amass a lot of gifts in my inventory just for the sake of having a big variety of games to offer, as that raises the chance that I get stuck with some of them for a lower price than what I got it for.

Last but not least PATIENCE is really key, trust me, there is always someone who is looking for that game you have to offer. Even if 300 people skip your offer, there will be someone who is exactly looking for that particular game (ok, maybe one exception is The Ship xD).

TL;DR - Trading is a lot of fun and can be profitable too!

EVERYTHING is for the prrrrrrofit!!.

The Teladi Company welcomes you, friend, aboard.

I've been trying to get an [INVALID] version of CS:GO from a friend. He'll only trade it for $20+ games.

YEAH!

Please refere to the Rules.

1. Collect Underpants
2. ?
3. Profit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5sxLapAts

Personally, I do like nice trades that go in my favor. But, I believe half of my trades so far have been more or less in the other's favor as far as getting the most "bang for your buck" is concerned. I simply trade away what I don't want for something I think I will enjoy.