Trading in 2023

[Sandman Enjoyer]

Hey people's,

So I have a buddy who is trying to get more into trading with about 5 keys and is trying to make a profit even if its just a bit at a time. Anybody have some tips for him so he can get his startup? 

[zelias]

If your budget is 5 keys, I'd suggest to look for painted items (mostly black/white/lime/pink paints) selling or srange weapons with good parts (like damage done, dominations, players hit), you can make a nice amount of stonks out of those items without investing all your keys on a single item

[n_n]

What zelias is saying is right but if he wants to make profit and his starting point is 5 keys he's better off just going and mowing someone's lawn for $20. 

[AwesomeSause]

build killstreak kits

[Macioeus]

3 hours ago, Sandman Enjoyer said:

Hey people's,

So I have a buddy who is trying to get more into trading with about 5 keys and is trying to make a profit even if its just a bit at a time. Anybody have some tips for him so he can get his startup? 

Honestly you should buy more keys. 20 keys is a good starting point. I started at 10 but to get to 20 was a pain in the ass. But from 20 it blew up so quickly. Get 20 keys and if you cant afford it, just do some home jobs or anything.

[RussellSproutz]

If your friend do trade, it must be for fun. If it's not for fun, then he or she won't be there to continue to trade up.

[TheTexanTiger]

To put it in perspective, 5 keys isn't even $10. I've posted similar replies on other threads, but profit trading at a total volume under 100 keys or $200 is a waste of time. 

 

For example, let's say you are the best salesman in the world and sell your item at a 10% markup every day for 2 weeks. You end up with 19 keys, which is worth ~$38. 

If you had worked one single 6-hour shift mopping the floor of a McDonalds for minimum wage at $7.25/hr, your take-home pre-tax would be $45 for the shift.

 

Stay in school, get a decent job, then buy whatever you want when you have money. Don't waste time trying to squeeze blood out of a rock by trading from rags to riches.

 

Edit: Or hell, just enjoy the game, it's free

[RussellSproutz]

1 hour ago, TheTexanTiger said:

To put it in perspective, 5 keys isn't even $10. I've posted similar replies on other threads, but profit trading at a total volume under 100 keys or $200 is a waste of time. 

 

For example, let's say you are the best salesman in the world and sell your item at a 10% markup every day for 2 weeks. You end up with 19 keys, which is worth ~$38. 

If you had worked one single 6-hour shift mopping the floor of a McDonalds for minimum wage at $7.25/hr, your take-home pre-tax would be $45 for the shift.

 

Stay in school, get a decent job, then buy whatever you want when you have money. Don't waste time trying to squeeze blood out of a rock by trading from rags to riches.

 

Edit: Or hell, just enjoy the game, it's free

That's what I do lol I work and buy what I like. I totally agree with the game being free to play and unusuals are merely cosmetic and doesn't affect gameplay whatsoever. Just have fun and enjoy the old, but gold, which is Team Fortress 2!

[Littlepudintater]

unbox, can i make it anymore easy for you?

[Aysentaro]

6 hours ago, TheTexanTiger said:

To put it in perspective, 5 keys isn't even $10. I've posted similar replies on other threads, but profit trading at a total volume under 100 keys or $200 is a waste of time. 

 

For example, let's say you are the best salesman in the world and sell your item at a 10% markup every day for 2 weeks. You end up with 19 keys, which is worth ~$38. 

If you had worked one single 6-hour shift mopping the floor of a McDonalds for minimum wage at $7.25/hr, your take-home pre-tax would be $45 for the shift.

 

Stay in school, get a decent job, then buy whatever you want when you have money. Don't waste time trying to squeeze blood out of a rock by trading from rags to riches.

 

Edit: Or hell, just enjoy the game, it's free

except when you make $1.25/hr with the same job coz you are not in a first world country

[Scott Bakula]

20 minutes ago, Aysentaro said:

except when you make $1.25/hr with the same job coz you are not in a first world country

Which would only be 30 hours of work, still making it the better choice than beginning trading from nothing.

[c-to-p]

Your steam says you are from the USA, just get a job at any restaurant if you're young/still in school. Why bother trading for profit with $10 (5key) when you can make a few hundreds with just a few days of work lol

[Aysentaro]

5 hours ago, Scott Bakula said:

Which would only be 30 hours of work, still making it the better choice than beginning trading from nothing.

i made 1025 dollar on Steam in a span of 2 months only started with the contractor and 2 keys from the 5 dollar i had to spend to be able to use the market, which is pretty much the equivalent of a 12 hour job here, if you are botting the market you probably make 30/hr

[TheTexanTiger]

On 3/20/2023 at 11:09 PM, Aysentaro said:

except when you make $1.25/hr with the same job coz you are not in a first world country

OP is American. The same is still pretty true in most countries. If you're making $1.25/hr in a third world country, the last thing you should be doing is spending time gaming lmao.

[TraL]

Sell low. Buy lower.

Well, you can also check some strange or genuine item on different trading website. This is pretty common that bot on bp.tf just buy stuff higher than seller on other platform...
Be careful if you do that:
- Only take BO on bp that are from bot (with the small icon)

- In case of strange, that the BO is not for something with a paint/strange part

- In any case, that the BO is not for spelled item.

An a few occasion I just trade like 4 or 5 Bill hat for almost a full key of benefice between two platform...