unusual trading

[StormTrooperAim]

I wanna start unusual trading and starting off with 8 keys pure. I just wanna know a few things:

What can I get with 8 keys?

What unusual effects & hats should I avoid?

What unusual effects/hats are more desired?

Are Unusual taunts worth it?

[Scott Bakula]

8 keys gets you a bottom of the barrel hat or two bottom of the barrel taunts. It's still possible to make profit, but your entire capital will be invested into a singular item, making it harder to generate profit as all your eggs are in one basket.

As for what to avoid or get, it really comes down to experience with watching the market and negotiating. You can make profit with anything, but what's important is knowing how much you can flip an item for and how quick. Make a wrong choice there and you are stuck with the item until you are willing to take the loss and try again. Knowing when to cut your losses is one of the most important things to learn when trading; Having an item that's not selling costs both time and potential profit, so it can be better to take the short term loss to reduce the overall costs. Learning how to properly offer and counteroffer with others without insulting them is also important. In low tier trades, item overpay and sweets are where you make profit, not something like buying a hat for 8 keys then selling it for 9.

For what's desired, it's pretty obvious looking at the average prices on a hat to see what people want (i.e. a person typically wants an unusual Team Captain, not a Gym Rat). It is easier to sell a good hat with a bad effect, than a bad hat with a good effect.

And for taunts, they can be worth it, but you can easily lose your shirt on them. Profit is easier when you stick with the limited effects instead of the standard ones.

 

Honestly, I'd suggest buying about 12-15 more keys before starting. The more capital you have, the easier it is to generate profit.