I asked someone on a trade server what items I should buy for 5 keys to get started on trading and they recommended I get cheap spelled items. Is this good advice?

[Easiestcc]

I've always wanted to start being serious about trading, but I've never known which items to start with, so I asked someone on a trade server what to get and they recommended spelled items.

[RussellSproutz]

It would be a nice way to start, but tbh I'd recommend just getting a part time job like working at Mcdonalds or something and set aside a bit of funds to get like 30 keys to fund your trading hobby. Then you can start trading some mid tier unusual hats ranging around 20 - 30 keys

[Slam]

Spells are the only real way to trade for profit below 15-20 keys right now.

 

I would strongly recommend investing like $50 or so into getting 20-30 keys to start so you can go straight into trading non-trash-tier unusuals, the amount of work you'll have to do to make 1 key profits at your current level will not be worth it unless you have no other option.

 

Past that if you do invest in some keys I'd recommend just buying 1st/2nd/3rd gen effects on decent hats and ignore case-era stuff. Most of it is extremely high volume and low demand and not worth trying to make money off of unless you go the community market route.

[Scott Bakula]

Yes and no. Spelled items can be a good way to make profit using cheaper items, but you have to know what you're doing. Values are going to vary wildly based off of the spells and what items they're on as well as because of general subjective opinions. This then makes it very easy to make a bad trade and be stuck with dead inventory, which can be crippling with such a low capital.

 

Honestly, it's best to save up to around 20-30 keys and start with the lower tier unusuals (hats, not taunts). That would get you enough to buy a few to start with to get the hang of trading.

[Easiestcc]

36 minutes ago, Russell said:

It would be a nice way to start, but tbh I'd recommend just getting a part time job like working at Mcdonalds or something and set aside a bit of funds to get like 30 keys to fund your trading hobby. Then you can start trading some mid tier unusual hats ranging around 20 - 30 keys

I already have a job, so that shouldn't be an issue for me.

[Guccifish]

id honestly say 20-30 is outdated, 40 is the new 20 imo 

[faZe cat]

you need at least 10,000 keys to invest, if not then it's just not worth spending time doing it

this is not 2017 or 2018 where you can put several hundred of keys and build up your backpack

 

the year 2019-2020 (till around 2021) was the best, many items sky rocket in prices

from my personal feeling, this time is to cash out and manage your portfolio from what you gain off tf2

 

it's never too late but considering many high tier items (from what i've seen) are unsold from time to time

your best bet is probably put several thousand of keys to speed up your profit and then cashout your original money that you put into it

[AwesomeSause]

Waste your money like the ogs and buy a gpan for a girl 

[AwesomeSause]

2 hours ago, faZe cat said:

you need at least 10,000 keys to invest, if not then it's just not worth spending time doing it

this is not 2017 or 2018 where you can put several hundred of keys and build up your backpack

 

the year 2019-2020 (till around 2021) was the best, many items sky rocket in prices

from my personal feeling, this time is to cash out and manage your portfolio from what you gain off tf2

 

it's never too late but considering many high tier items (from what i've seen) are unsold from time to time

your best bet is probably put several thousand of keys to speed up your profit and then cashout your original money that you put into it

Don't play the game at all either, focus on trading, that's all it is

[TheTexanTiger]

Honestly, trading especially at volumes below 100 keys is unprofitable.

 

You should just spend your money buying the things you like.

 

Some items certainly make good investments because of limited quantity and rarity, but at 5 keys your options are limited and your investment horizon is going to be very very long.

 

Don't spend hours and days trying to squeeze blood out of a rock by trying to trade 5 keys into 6. Just buy the items you want, and when you're bored of tf2 you can sell for keys and liquidate to paypal.

[Littlepudintater]

Do the low tier trader pro strat and buy a 80 key hat to try and flip for 82

[TheRenegadeSniper]

6 hours ago, faZe cat said:

you need at least 10,000 keys to invest, if not then it's just not worth spending time doing it

this is not 2017 or 2018 where you can put several hundred of keys and build up your backpack

 

the year 2019-2020 (till around 2021) was the best, many items sky rocket in prices

from my personal feeling, this time is to cash out and manage your portfolio from what you gain off tf2

 

it's never too late but considering many high tier items (from what i've seen) are unsold from time to time

your best bet is probably put several thousand of keys to speed up your profit and then cashout your original money that you put into it

Dawg in what world do you need to put 18k into this game to make actual returns lmfao. I've had an inventory below 10k for years and just flip hats back and forth and its just casual extra income. If you're taking trading somewhat seriously you can do it from any dollar amount, even in the hundreds. Sure, the market may be slower, but that doesn't mean things don't sell.

[floppyfish390]

7 hours ago, faZe cat said:

you need at least 10,000 keys to invest, if not then it's just not worth spending time doing it

this is not 2017 or 2018 where you can put several hundred of keys and build up your backpack

 

the year 2019-2020 (till around 2021) was the best, many items sky rocket in prices

from my personal feeling, this time is to cash out and manage your portfolio from what you gain off tf2

 

it's never too late but considering many high tier items (from what i've seen) are unsold from time to time

your best bet is probably put several thousand of keys to speed up your profit and then cashout your original money that you put into it

There's no way you actually know how to trade if you think that... my inventory has been built from like 100 bucks i put in like a year and a bit ago. Recommending a new trader to put in 10,000 keys into a huge market like this is kinda crazy ngl. 

[AwesomeSause]

29 minutes ago, floppyfish390 said:

There's no way you actually know how to trade if you think that... my inventory has been built from like 100 bucks i put in like a year and a bit ago. Recommending a new trader to put in 10,000 keys into a huge market like this is kinda crazy ngl. 

how do we trade then? Because theres like, what, 27 traders with control over the market? Virtual items worth thousands for no good reason, no one truly "trades" anymore, its "this is the price fuck you otherwise". No haggling or fun at all.

[floppyfish390]

56 minutes ago, AwesomeSause said:

how do we trade then? Because theres like, what, 27 traders with control over the market? Virtual items worth thousands for no good reason, no one truly "trades" anymore, its "this is the price fuck you otherwise". No haggling or fun at all.

I trade by buying stuff i like that I see for cheap, listing it, using it and then selling it for more than i paid. Determining all of that though is just basic market knowledge. And sure, most traders are stingy af, just don't trade with them. Send out random offers to people if you want a hat to move relatively fast, it's not hard. People do trade, I haggle with people all the time for items!

[Rainy]

You can make profit and have fun at any range. It does take quite a while to build up a good amount of capital but you can. I’ve spent a couple years trading “seriously” and I have quadrupled the amount of money I put into the game. You definitely need 100+ to get moving at a decent pace, but I’m evidence that if you put some money and time in, it’s worthwhile. 

[AwesomeSause]

27 minutes ago, floppyfish390 said:

I trade by buying stuff i like that I see for cheap, listing it, using it and then selling it for more than i paid. Determining all of that though is just basic market knowledge. And sure, most traders are stingy af, just don't trade with them. Send out random offers to people if you want a hat to move relatively fast, it's not hard. People do trade, I haggle with people all the time for items!

No one wants to trade though, it's all bots and the people on trade servers just sit around unless you got something actually worth

[floppyfish390]

6 minutes ago, AwesomeSause said:

No one wants to trade though, it's all bots and the people on trade servers just sit around unless you got something actually worth worth

the only thing in your inventory is a frozen icefall yule hog, a case hat with a case effect and also a very liquid item. Ofc no one's gonna want that, i'd recommend quickselling that for pure and getting keys, then YOU can look for other quicksells as well... snowball effect.

[AwesomeSause]

15 minutes ago, floppyfish390 said:

the only thing in your inventory is a frozen icefall yule hog, a case hat with a case effect and also a very liquid item. Ofc no one's gonna want that, i'd recommend quickselling that for pure and getting keys, then YOU can look for other quicksells as well... snowball effect.

Aaand there we have it, the typical trader behaviour.

 

I worked hard for that hat and then got shat on by other traders for it, and at this point I don't care that I bought it and I don't care if it sells, but I'll be damned if the traders and trader bots who took up other frozen Icefall yule hogs after me to lower the price fuck me over.

[floppyfish390]

1 minute ago, AwesomeSause said:

Aaand there we have it, the typical trader behaviour 

Well I mean its the truth, has nothing to do with trader behaviour. I'm trying to help you out because you seem disenfranchised. You're the one complaining about trading being unfun and im trying to give you ways to make it fun and trade up to better items, but if you don't wanna listen to me so be it. 

[AwesomeSause]

2 minutes ago, floppyfish390 said:

Well I mean its the truth, has nothing to do with trader behaviour. I'm trying to help you out because you seem disenfranchised. You're the one complaining about trading being unfun and im trying to give you ways to make it fun and trade up to better items, but if you don't wanna listen to me so be it. 

So sayeth the one who disses ones Frozen Icefall Yule Hog without owning one first, may God judge thee!

[Alecto]

1 hour ago, AwesomeSause said:

Aaand there we have it, the typical trader behaviour.

 

I worked hard for that hat and then got shat on by other traders for it, and at this point I don't care that I bought it and I don't care if it sells, but I'll be damned if the traders and trader bots who took up other frozen Icefall yule hogs after me to lower the price fuck me over.

You have all your capital locked into one item which happens to be a difficult thing to sell for profit, so you refuse to take a loss and sell it to free up your capital.

Then proceed to claim trading isn't working because nobody wants that one specific item, then when offered valid advice he's the villain?

It's not a conspiracy, you just chose to buy an item which makes progress difficult because you didn't know better

 

If you're truly happy to keep the hat, keep it and stop worrying about other people shitting on you for it. Attacking people on a forum who are trying to help you find success doesn't do you any good.

[Bambi]

8 hours ago, AwesomeSause said:

So sayeth the one who disses ones Frozen Icefall Yule Hog without owning one first, may God judge thee!

Dude, this is really weird behavior. They weren't dissing your Yulehog, they were pointing out that it is extremely liquid, and that there is a very small margin for profit because of that. They were trying to give you constructive criticism to assist you in trading. There are lots of traders who start sub 50 keys and make very good profit quite quickly.

I like the Yulehog, I think it's a dope hat, and I've owned one before. It's not that it's a bad hat, it's just that it's super liquid.

 

8 hours ago, AwesomeSause said:

but I'll be damned if the traders and trader bots who took up other frozen Icefall yule hogs after me to lower the price fuck me over.

Do you think there is a conspiracy to lower the price of the Yulehog you bought?????? That is the impression that I am getting.

[AwesomeSause]

3 hours ago, Bambi said:

Dude, this is really weird behavior. They weren't dissing your Yulehog, they were pointing out that it is extremely liquid, and that there is a very small margin for profit because of that. They were trying to give you constructive criticism to assist you in trading. There are lots of traders who start sub 50 keys and make very good profit quite quickly.

I like the Yulehog, I think it's a dope hat, and I've owned one before. It's not that it's a bad hat, it's just that it's super liquid.

 

Do you think there is a conspiracy to lower the price of the Yulehog you bought?????? That is the impression that I am getting.

dude have you seen what shit I talk on here

[AwesomeSause]

10 hours ago, Alecto said:

You have all your capital locked into one item which happens to be a difficult thing to sell for profit, so you refuse to take a loss and sell it to free up your capital.

Then proceed to claim trading isn't working because nobody wants that one specific item, then when offered valid advice he's the villain?

It's not a conspiracy, you just chose to buy an item which makes progress difficult because you didn't know better

 

If you're truly happy to keep the hat, keep it and stop worrying about other people shitting on you for it. Attacking people on a forum who are trying to help you find success doesn't do you any good.

And I didn't do anything that you just assumed, nice arguing though.

 

When you're done following my every move and done criticising me feel free to actually talk.