SephirothSG's guide on how not to be scammed in tf2.

[Sephiroth]

Now I know you're probabaly saying "Seph why would we need a guide on how not to be scammed?" Well some members arent experienced in trading and will more than likely be scammed/have been scammed before. So i'm making this for all those people.

==[SteamRep]==

So first off I would like to discuss SteamRep, SteamRep is an amazing site used to find a players "Reputation" in the trading community. It is located at http://steamrep.com/ and is one of the first stop sites I would visit before trading with someone for something big.

All you have to do to lookup a player is put their Steam ID/Custom profile url/Paypal email into the search field. As shown below.

Searching that will redirect you to this page

Spoiler

As you can see this page shows you a myriad of information, my location, steam ID, profile url etc etc. But the only thing you really need to focus on is the "Reputation status" image. There are multiple statuses that you will find on peoples steamrep page I will list the basic ones here.

No special reputataion: This means that the user has not been determined as a scammer on steamrep or any of their other "SteamRep recognized communitys"

SR DONATOR:Traders that support the cause by donating cash or items to SR

ADMIN:Admin belonging to the respective communities.

MIDDLEMANroved to the community that they can be trusted to middleman trades.

SOP TRUSTED SELLER:Belongs to the SOP Trusted Seller group. (SourceOP)

CAUTION:Shady or deceptive trading behavior, but not a major offense

SCAMMER:

found to be guilty of one or many of the following:
Trading with known scammers (see below)
Charge-back or Reversal
Quick-switching items
Receiving the item and not paying
Providing or soliciting fake reputation claims ("fake rep")
Using fake middlemen
Impersonating and acting as an Imposter
Spycrabbing and then not paying
Accomplice to a scammer (Ignorance is not an excuse)
Brokering (selling on behalf of) scammers and scammed items
Hijacking or hacking other traders
Alternate account of a tagged scammer
Anything that is deemed as deceptive or fraudulent activity by SteamRep admins

That covers SteamRep for now.

Also remember the golden rule, If a deal seems too good to be true. It probably is.


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[Sephiroth]

==[TF2 Spreadsheet]==

http://tf2spreadsheet.blogspot.com.au/

In this post I will be talking about TF2 Spreadsheet a wonderful website for checking item prices.

TF2 Spreadsheet is a tool used by traders to check item prices it is a simple website. Search for an item get a result.

In this picture I am searching for a "Strange Flamethrower" I will explain to the best of my ability what each part of the search result means.

As you can see, 2 results have shown up. One for a Strange festive flamethrower and one for a Strange flamethrower we will be focusing on the Strange flamethrower for now.

Now the first section in our search result shows us what quality the item is of.
For example:
Strange
Vintage
Unique
Crate, Strange Part, Tool
Genuine

The 2nd shows us what class the item is for.
For example:
Pyro
Soldier, etc
Item
All
All-misc

The 3rd tells us the name of the item, It also reinstates what the quality of the item is with a colour.

The 4th tells us the price of the item in refined. The strange flamethrower is 1 refined exactly but sometimes you might see 1.33 1.66 etc etc, i'll explain what those .XX numbers mean now.

.11 = 1 scrap
.33 = 1 rec
.66 = 2 rec
1 = 1 refined

Some items cost too much to be measured in refined so other systems are used for example:

Keys and buds.

The 5th shows us the Non-Vintage/Non-Strange/Non-Genuine/Non-Haunted/Dirty average value in refined metal.

The 6th shows us how much of the tf2 community owns that item

The 7th and final area has misc notes about the item in question




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[Sephiroth]

Placeholder for more content. If you have anything you would like to see in this thread, Please pm me with information.

 

[XavierB]

I got scammed once @_@, they tooks 1 refined off me when I was poor :'|.

Nice guide though. Very well done =D.

 

[ReLaPse CT]

Beautiful guide

 

[Wize]

Great guide to help people who aren't experienced in the field of TF2 Trading! Keep up the good work.

 

[noblenote]

I highly disagree, steam rep is ran by few people, lot of false information, wouldn't rely too much on it for people your trading with. Now the tf2 blog spreadsheet, is a good source for small items, but i wouldn't trust them on any semi-valued items.

 

[Shiznoe]

Wow good guide! Nice job

 

[NoTroop]

Very nice.

 

[Manason]

Now I don't play TF2 that often, and I certainly don't trade that often, but when I do I make it on a "self value." Meaning I'll trade my earbuds for an eyelander if I personally value the eyelander more. I just find this to be an easier way to trade, because I get what I want and they get what they want. That's how it's supposed to be right?

 

[Sephiroth]

I highly disagree, steam rep is ran by few people, lot of false information, wouldn't rely too much on it for people your trading with. Now the tf2 blog spreadsheet, is a good source for small items, but i wouldn't trust them on any semi-valued items.

idk, i've always found the information there valid, Another way I suppose you could check a players "rep" would be their steam profile, usually people theyve traded with for "big" items will leave a comment such as +rep etc.

Now I don't play TF2 that often, and I certainly don't trade that often, but when I do I make it on a "self value." Meaning I'll trade my earbuds for an eyelander if I personally value the eyelander more. I just find this to be an easier way to trade, because I get what I want and they get what they want. That's how it's supposed to be right?

That is up to the player, I made this thread to try and lessen the chance of people getting scammed and to try and help them with prices. Again its the players choice if they want to trade earbuds for an eyelander.

 

[IrateDonnie]

Now I don't play TF2 that often, and I certainly don't trade that often, but when I do I make it on a "self value." Meaning I'll trade my earbuds for an eyelander if I personally value the eyelander more. I just find this to be an easier way to trade, because I get what I want and they get what they want. That's how it's supposed to be right?

That's how I trade.I traded my soldier medal #814 cheap to a Aussie that was collecting them for his clan,I traded it for three vintage hats & still felt guilty like I ripped him off even though I know the medal was worth a lot more.

 

[Ledzo]

Nice Seph, good job. This will be helpfull +rep

 

[D3RP MCHERP]

I recommend using tf2trends instead of the tf2spreadsheet it's more pretty and easier to understand.

 

[Carmen Miranda]

How does one even get scammed anymore?
With the way the trade system is now, you have to both put your items in, and then lock it down, and then finalize the trade.

 

[Cyclone]

Search up Brandon guys, and look at how many scammer friends he has.

Nuff' said.

 

[Sephiroth]

Bumping this.

 

[curly.q13]

Looks like u put a lot of hard work into that! Good job and Thanks!

 

[N-Light]

Nice!

 

[Ledzo]

Thanks nice guide Seph, as usual you do the good stuff