I require help and guidance so that I do not put myself worse off any more

[DiscoDonuts]

So my "journey" into unusual trading begins when I unboxed a Scorching Flames Snowcapped. I sold that for a Disco Beat Down Mighty Mitre and a Circling Heart Snowcapped and 15 keys. I had a trader friend who was into medic stuff so I thought I might be able to sell both of them to him for 40 keys each for roughly 100 keys in total for the snowcapped. He didn't bite so I had to sell them for less to others. I now know that it was stupid to hope he'd want those hats. Anyways, after some more trading I now have 3 unusuals and 3 keys. bp.tf values my inventory at 50 keys. I've basically sold my Scorching Flames Snowcapped for 50 keys and I really don't want to go down any further. Can I get some guidance, please? I've watched unusual guides but I'm obviously not doing it right. I'm not asking for anybody tell me exactly what to do, just looking for some advice to get out of this hole that keeps getting deeper and deeper. Best bet was to ask for help when you need it I guess.

[requiem.]

1 hour ago, Jambles said:

So my "journey" into unusual trading begins when I unboxed a Scorching Flames Snowcapped. I sold that for a Disco Beat Down Mighty Mitre and a Circling Heart Snowcapped and 15 keys. I had a trader friend who was into medic stuff so I thought I might be able to sell both of them to him for 40 keys each for roughly 100 keys in total for the snowcapped. He didn't bite so I had to sell them for less to others. I now know that it was stupid to hope he'd want those hats. Anyways, after some more trading I now have 3 unusuals and 3 keys. bp.tf values my inventory at 50 keys. I've basically sold my Scorching Flames Snowcapped for 50 keys and I really don't want to go down any further. Can I get some guidance, please? I've watched unusual guides but I'm obviously not doing it right. I'm not asking for anybody tell me exactly what to do, just looking for some advice to get out of this hole that keeps getting deeper and deeper. Best bet was to ask for help when you need it I guess.

Be patient. That is the key to Unusual trading. Sell the hats for a little bit more than they are worth. If people don't bite or want to buy them for less, wait.

Don't buy lucrative items to sell like Unusual taunts or weapons. Only sell for pure or MASSIVE item overpay.

Here's a short list of what NOT to buy:

- Spelled items (nice items, but the prices are inflated and don't sell well, learned that the hard way)

- Like above, Unusual taunts or weapons

-  Hats with unpopular effects (like Massed Flies, that one does not sell well)

- Hats from the Robotic Boogaloo update, they don't sell well

 

if you have 9 keys and want to have my double spelled spec ks botkiller flame thrower hmu (sorry I want it gone so I can start unusual trading)

[Knightfury69]

Umm well everything he said above is pretty right besides spells are a really good way to make money IF U KNO BOUT THEM.. so yea unless u do or u have someone to help u.. u should either try to learn or try unus only.. and btw.. in unu trading patience is smt hella important.

 

 

Also be careful bout sharkers and unu hats unpriced

[Knightfury69]

Also there are bots buying the snowcapped for 56 keys so yea u could have gotten much more in PURE for it if u had waited..

[LeROY]

1. PATIENCE is without a doubt most important.  Trading with intent to "get rich quick" results more often in tears than keys.

 

2. Dont watch/read trade guides and dont take advice from others, what worked for that person at that time probably wont work for you now.

 

3. Dont trade above your experience;  If youre selling 5x (10-15key)hats with 1-2k profit, dont switch to 1x 100key hat.  -Dont try to fix it if it aint broken

 

 Next is.. (I wont say my idea as its not very original but) something I didnt learn from anyone and still my golden rule:

4. Only trade for Pure or overpay in items you like and want to use; it wont feel like a waiting game if you use and enjoy the hat(s).

 

Another idea is to focus on a few low/mid-tier hats and/or effects.. maybe even 1(-2) class(es). They sell faster and mistakes wont brake you

[Loafen Oakenfold]

Hey Jambles,

 

I just saw this and thought I might be able to help, or to at least cheer you up. I've lost way too much money chasing down my favorite unusual combinations, so maybe we're kindred traders.

 

What I've learned is if you want to flip unusual hats to make money consistently you need to buy hats using Buy Orders and sell them for slightly more than you bought them. I've had fairly good luck trading hats with Buy Orders somewhere in the 11-13 key price, and then selling them for up to 1 key more than I paid for them. I think a reasonable pricing ratio would be you can try to earn up to 1 key per 10 keys invested.

 

Also, patience, patience, patience and more patience! Certainly, we can do a calculation on the Return on Investment (ROI) and the Time Value of Money (TVM) to see how our investment is performing, but all this will do is get us to worry about our decreasing investment relative to our next best option or to inflation. Instead, look at the big picture - your goal is to get back what you've lost in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I would suggest staying away from miscs, taunts, and weapons. Maybe you will have good luck trading them, but I certainly do not.

 

Oh, almost forgot - I only trade for hats that I'm interested in owning. That way I can still enjoy the game without feeling annoyed for buying a hat I don't like.

 

Oh, and consider buying the Premium subscription - I find the advertisement perk is worth it!

 

Cheers!

[Loafen Oakenfold]

Ahhhh, sorry Leroy I didn't copy you I promise! I see we're saying very similar things and didn't realize you had posted until after I had as well.

 

Such is life!

[R3SP4WN]

To be honest, if you are new to the scene, I don’t recommend you trade at all, its essentially guaranteed you’ll lose profit near the beginning. 

 

Lotta people talk about patience but I don’t agree at all. Waiting it out won’t get you profit, at least for a while. And there is always the danger of your unusual depreciating in value. 

 

When you get to a certain inventory value I recommend owning a variety of unusuals, and offering unusual that are more valuable but they don’t really use, for unusuals of their favorite effect or class for example. Premium also helped me find dream unusual for people.

 

oh and don’t trade with people like me, or anyone with a massive backpack. People with high bp values are veterans, and I’ve found that it’s basically impossible to walk away with a trade without them taking the upper hand. 

 

Finally learn to identify overpriced unusuals, what items you want to get or avoid, and use buy orders and sell orders to determine an accurate price. 

 

 

Also it would be really nice if I could give my honest advice before people start screeching about sharking. Thanks.

[CallMeAncient]

Hmm I sold my scorching snowcapped for about 120~ keys in nice stuff. experience playing its part i see (just kidding sold it through a broker)

PS- don't get ideas from this and give ur items to a random guy saying he's a broker

[🔥Master Throne Crimson🔥]

6 hours ago, R3SP4WN said:

Lotta people talk about patience but I don’t agree at all. Waiting it out won’t get you profit, at least for a while.

Couldnt agree any better. Patience pays off only for backpacks over 1000 keys and even then, i for example, atm get very few trades. And ofc, people who know what theyre doing make the most money from making fast trades aka grinding their asses off.

[🔥Master Throne Crimson🔥]

5 hours ago, CallMeAncient said:

PS- don't get ideas from this and give ur items to a random guy saying he's a broker

Yeah, from what we've all seen, pretty much noone can be trusted (i mean, there are people who can be trusted, but its honestly just best for you to trade yourself). I had a pretty good friend on Steam, who ended up running with like 12k$ of brokered items (weird how he never asked me if i wanted broker service, but gladly i dont want and need that kind of service anyway lol) and that made me realise the most, that noone can really be trusted.

[Mag!cGuy]

Nah, patience isn't key, it's all about pricing items right. By "right", I mean that you're more on the pessimistic side than optimistic, making every single decision based off a lower price than what you would see at first glance on bp.tf. I mean, it all comes with experience, sometimes there's good reason to think that you'll be able to sell for even more than usual, but waiting months for the "right price" generally only works for very high tier stuff. 

[r0b]

My advice is to just sell your Nintendo Switch and buy whatever you want.

[LeROY]

10 hours ago, LeROY said:

 

...dont take advice from others

 

I stand by this!

[DiscoDonuts]

12 hours ago, ʀɛզʊɨɛʍ said:

 

- Hats from the Robotic Boogaloo update, they don't sell well

 

 

Robo effects or the robo versions of normal hats or both?

[Mag!cGuy]

49 minutes ago, LeROY said:

I stand by this!

 

Advices are fine as long as one is critical about them. I mean it's either taking advices, or making all the mistakes yourself. Been there, done that, would have chosen the advices path if I had to redo it. Let others who traded before you give some tips and tricks here and there. Actually, you gave sound advices yourself, OP would be a fool not to follow them. 

[apollothelion]

9 hours ago, CallMeAncient said:

Hmm I sold my scorching snowcapped for about 120~ keys in nice stuff. experience playing its part i see (just kidding sold it through a broker)

PS- don't get ideas from this and give ur items to a random guy saying he's a broker

Cough cough hi. 

@Jambles If you legit want some help, feel free to ask me. I can give you some tips to keep you out of trouble. Some of what above is helpful, but newer traders I have noticed need more context.

[requiem.]

2 hours ago, Jambles said:

 

Robo effects or the robo versions of normal hats or both?

Robo hats. The effects are not that bad but the robo versions of normal hats do sell poorly.

[Wsdea]

11 hours ago, R3SP4WN said:

oh and don’t trade with people like me, or anyone with a massive backpack. People with high bp values are veterans, and I’ve found that it’s basically impossible to walk away with a trade without them taking the upper hand. 

massive +1

[CallMeAncient]

1 hour ago, ApolloTheLion said:

Cough cough hi. 

hi mom. still upset about that gross comment of yours

but not that much to not recommend her. she helped me sell my scorching snowcapped & some other stuff ^^

 

[🔥Master Throne Crimson🔥]

2 hours ago, CallMeAncient said:

hi mom. still upset about that gross comment of yours

but not that much to not recommend her. she helped me sell my scorching snowcapped & some other stuff ^^

  

Shes the one i meant by "there are people who can be trusted" xd