TF2 Trading Tips for Beginners ------------------------------ Section 2: Completing the Trade and Scrapbanking When somebody adds you, you will recieve a notification when you get online. Simply click on, "View Friends List" in the bottom right corner. On the top of the friends list, you should see somebody's name. Click, "Accept" to accept their friend request. Wait until the player gets online. When they do get online, right click their name, then click, "Send Message". Type in a short greeting, and ask if they would like to trade for your item. If they reply yes, then ask them to send you a trade request. You cannot send Steam trade requests when you aren't in TF2. When they send you a trade request, accept the trade. There should be a scrolldown box in the top left corner. Click it, then select, "Team Fortress 2". You should see your item in your inventory. If not, repeat Section 1. If you do, drag the item to the top right. Wait until they put the metal you want into the trade area. Click the empty blue box below your trade area. It should say, "Check this box when ready to trade". It should be green after you click it. When the other trader's box is also green, you can click, "Make trade." Remember to thank the trader. You can remove them later from your friends list. Congratulations. You've completed your first trade. --- Next up you need to do something called scrapbanking. To do this, you must either go on a trade server and say, "Scrapbanking" or put up a trade on a trading site where you exchange your scrap for two craftable weapons. Another easier way to do this is to go to Scrap.tf and to click, "Reverse Bank". You can then then scrapbank without wasting time, and choose the weapons you want to recieve. After you complete this trade (by following the same steps as above) you can now sell each of these weapons for a scrap each, like before. When you have enough metal, you'll be able to do larger and more profitable trading. Repeat scrapbanking and selling your weapons and items for metal until you have more than 3-5 scrap. You can continue scrapbanking if you would like, but it's a slower process than other trading. There are many things you can trade from there. Read on to find out different things you can trade. --- Lots of things are available for trading when you have more metal. Here is a list of things that are in the 2-9 scrap range. - Dirty Hats - Cheap Strange Weapons - Vintage Weapons - Semi-valuable Unique Weapons - Cheap Paint - Halloween Items (Unreliable and sometimes unwanted) - Semi-valuable Crates (sometimes unwanted) - Botkiller Weapons (Unreliable and sometimes unwanted) There are a few more, but these are ones that I have traded in the past. I don't recommend Botkiller or Halloween trading, unless you have more metal to spare. Sometimes they are hard to get rid of, and some may take weeks to sell. --- From this point on, you have to choose one of the items on the list or continue selling weapons for a scrap. Go to Backpack.tf and search up a few weapons, if you're looking for strange, vintage or unique items that are within your price range. You should be looking for ones that are worth 0.11 - 0.88 or 1 ref. These are your targeted items. One way to get cheap stranges and vintages is to put up a trade, saying, "Buying Cheap Stranges/Vintages for 1 scrap." Make sure you include a line saying, "No ___". This is because some stranges and vintages are very cheap, and are worth only one weapon. Look at Backpack.tf, and if 0.05 or 0.11 is in the price range, you may want to include these in your, "No ___" list. There are lots of stranges and vintages to choose from. If you want to buy/sell dirty hats, you have to get familiar with them first. Go to Stats.tf and click on "Hats". Here you will find a visual list of hats. Click on them to see statistics of them, and their names. You can also go to, "Backpack.tf/pricelist" and in the first column, click slot to organize the item prices by slot. Scroll down to head and see prices of hats from there. Make sure you look in the "Uncraft" row, though. Paint can be bought and sold the same way. Go to, "http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Paint" to see the different paint names. Lots of those that can be purchased, dropped, and uncrated are the cheapest. Again, search up the prices on Backpack.tf. It will be helpful throughout your trading career. Once you find out what you want, make a new trade that says, "Buying ____ for ____ Refined." Fill in the blanks with the item you want to buy and how much you want to pay for it. Make sure that the prices you give are either lower or at the lower end of the suggested price. This way you can earn more profit. Wait for somebody to add you, complete the trade, and repeat this proccess. If for some reason you aren't making profit, or your trade is going to slow, try scrapbanking again and getting a different item. --- The process you should be following is: Recieve weapon from trader then Sell weapon for 1 scrap then Scrapbank then Sell both weapons for 1 scrap then Scrapbank with two scrap then Repeated Scrapbanking until higher amount of metal then Buying cheap item worth 2 - 9 scrap then Selling item for more than you bought it for then Profit! --- If you have followed these steps correctly, then you should be making some decent profit. Go on to Section 3 if you have been doing well so far.