I don't advice anyone to get into trading. It iss a dirty game. Where everyone you find tries to rip u off. And unless u haven't been in the game long u will defenitely get scammed.
But thats why we are going to have LZ trade admins soon who are going to focus on scammers and sharkers. I'm planning to make/take a trade guide for newbies. I'm also disappointed that there are still scammers and sharkers everywhere, but we already took enough actions in the past with scammers on our trade servers!
Sharkers and Scammers will always exists,and always existed. What you can do against getting sharked scammed : *Check their steamrep *Never trade with scammers/sharkers/marked people on steamrep,either its good deal or not,even if its a unusual for 1key dont do it! you can get marked for that as Caution tag. *Check their game time (Higher game time = Means more loose for him). *Trade with a Middleman on transactions where you/he have to go first. *Ask your friends (Not only 1) if the deal is good or not. (!watchout : Truefriends will never want the worst for you,so be carefull who you ask). *Check their reputation (High reputation means this user has done alot of trades and would not risk it). *Trade with Public Profile/Inventory only *Trade . Back 2 topic : Unusual trading is very nice and profitable if you know what you're doing and how some rules from my experience : * Be Patient,you will never get the full price of your hat if you only wait 1day. * Check Around tf2outpost for great deals * Check that your unusual is not a dupe (This reduces the price for many people) (How to check if a item is a dupe : Copy the users Steamprofile link (Putting mine up for example) <a class="postlink" href="http://steamcommunity.com/id/DonaldDUQQ/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://steamcommunity.com/id/DonaldDUQQ/</a> > Go to <a class="postlink" href="http://www.tf2items.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.tf2items.com</a> > Copy paste the Link from profile (for example mine) > Check the backpack for the unusual > Click on it > For example my headwarmer ( <a class="postlink" href="http://www.tf2items.com/item/1104428881" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.tf2items.com/item/1104428881</a> ) > You will Now see the full list of the previous owners, if there stands "This item probly still exists in users backpack" check that users backpack,and if it exists there its a dupe. (Watchout! , theres a glitch that if it says "this item probly still exists in users backpack" its sometimes because the user has a private profile,always want the seller to verify his profile is public & Ask your friends if they can check it too quick, 4eyes look better than 2. * Check that your unusual is not a Gift (Meaning gifted from someone) this reduces the price almost for EVERYONE
you can check item history on TF2outpost too. as those aren't complete, it becomes required to check on all available places.
I don't say that we can reduce the sharkers and scammers to zero, but we can do something about them and it's a high priority for me to reduce scammers and sharkers on our servers to the littlest level.
I can't exactly see sharking as a big problem on our trade server, if someone has made the effort to come to a trade server then they more than likely know the value of their items. Blackened isn't exactly going to pop on and start giving out copies of Witcher 2 for unusuals ( :badgrin: ) is he? Doubt many of you will know what the hell I'm on about, but essentially I am saying scamming arise, sharking not so much; if at all.