The Digits trading guide.



I don't know why I keep saying welcome but: Welcome to the most recent trading guide out there.
It uses years of sharking experience from a guy who's gotten so good at sharking/jewing that he doesn't even need to do it anymore.
Without further ado: How to trade for maximum profit.
Note: This does not cover haggling, if you want to slowly trade up for items or learn how to get all right deals, get another guide.

Before you actually go out and get rich you might need to rearrange or "re-target" your backpack.
Your backpack used to be about items you like, now it should be about items your targets will want.
Hopefully with these items you can cater to all types of players.

Method 0: The good old method (cheap).
This method was developed long ago. It's by far the most used.
You've entered a TF2 server and have seen a new user with a nice item, might be a bill's hat or it might be an uncraftable hetsman's headpiece.
The first thing you should think about is if your target knows the item's value. You may think that everyone knows that a bill's is worth 8 keys but it's not true at all.
On the other hand, even A 3000 hours played user likely won't know that an uncraft hetsman's headpiece is worth 15-30 keys.
Once you've seen a user you'll likely need to open their backpack and think about how the item is positioned.
The item is likely easy pickings.
If you don't feel confident yet you can check their favourite tf2 class.
A user who plays nothing but scout won't care about his team captain and a user primarily maining pyro won't need their strange sapper.
If you feel confident that you can get the item, now is the time to strike.

Once they're in the trade, they may or may not already be yours.
You should usually open up a trade with "Hey there!", optionally leaving enough time for them to say "hi"
Follow this with a "I was wondering if you were willing to trade your X. I have loads of items up for trade if you want to."
Do NOT mention item quality unless they put up or have a few of the unique version of the item.
Usually the target will say "What will you give me for it?"
You want to gauge how good they are at trading so you should answer "What would you want for it?" or "What were you looking to get for it?".
At times they will answer "Got any pyro hats?", "Got any scout items?", "What items do you have?", "Got any keys?" or they'll answer "I want an X."
If they ask for items in general, start putting up weapons and then wait, they may be considering what items they want.
Depending on the number of hours they have they may press "ready to trade" or ask for specific weapons you put up at this point.
After a while or after they say "that's too low", put up stranges, hats and other higher tier items. If you think that they think that they caught you trying to shark them just say "Oh I was just getting ALL my items for pyro out." or "lol, was jk there :V"
If their unusual is for a class they do not play, they are likely to trade for an unusual on a class they do play.
If at this point they are still not trading then you may have missed your shot. Unless you can find or get them to tell you a specific item they want you are unlikely to get their item.
If they want an item that is not in your backpack, do not let on that you are going to buy/trade the item for them. Say "I have it but on another account."
You might want to leave the server before the trade completes (chance of crashing the trade) to prevent "white knights" from telling them what the item they traded is worth.
Hopefully this much info at once isn't too much and helps you out.

Method 1: The good old method (expensive).
This method relies on the other person thinking that there is equivalency between their item and yours.
All unusuals/stranges are worth the same, right?
This method is somewhat the same but you will have to be cautious while dealing with more experienced players as they are more likely to know prices.
The best way to shark an experienced player is to play on new or obscure item values. Nobody knows what the hell a new unusual is worth.
You'll have to find out if they know what their item is worth then use method 0 but adjusted for how much they know about their item.
Due to the diversity of players with a lot of hours you will need to check their group or even their outpost.
If they don't have an outpost, are not part of any trading groups or just have an unorganized backpack/unequipped unusual they're unlikely to know the price.
As with unusuals, you may be able to trade for cosmetics using nothing but weapons due to their own hype at a recent update.
Some will even list trades on outpost sharking themselves "Trading Kringle collection for phlog, manmelter and new axe." when an update comes out!


Method 2: Group Scan.
This method may lead to free earbuds in some cases but takes a lot of time.


Targets should not know tf2 unusual prices that much, try not to go after traded-for hats.
Once you have a target you should add them and wait, don't get discouraged by a long wait, they will either add you or not, you'll just get someone else if they don't.
You'll likely wait between 1 day and 1 week before users will add you This is why you should add a nickname to users. "(Earbuds 20 hrs)"
If they take more than a week then you're unlikely to reach them.
When a target adds you back you should start off with a clear message. You cannot pretend you didn't add them for their item, you just came out of the blue at them.
This can make it harder to evade suspicions of sharking.
Once they add you back you should open up the chat to them with a:
"Hey there! I added you because I noticed your X and was wondering if you'd be willing to trade it for anything? I've got loads of other TF2 items you may be interested in and I also have some steam stuff too."
(as usual don't mention the item's quality.)
Or alternatively, if they haven't played tf2 in a long time:
"Hey there! I added you because I noticed your X in the game Team Fortress 2 and I was wondering if you'd be willing to trade it away?
I've got a lot of other tf2 items that may get you back into the game up for trade or if you're feeling generous you could help my collection by giving them away for free to help me on my quest for hats!"
If they say something along the lines of "yes", you've likely got a catch. If they say something along the lines of "what's your offer" they have likely already had some sharking attempts done on them.
Either way you should answer "What were you looking to get for it?".
If they answer with a flat price "2 buds", "$40" or "2 bill's" either take it or say "aw too much for me :(" and leave.
If at any point they say that you're not the first to offer on the hat then you should ask them what other people offered, you may be surprised that you can easily beat that one guy's rejected offer of 2 weapons!
Finally if anyone answers: "not for trade", "not for sale" "NFS" or "fuck off scammer" just play off as "Aw :(" and leave them with a "Thanks for your time anyways." (STAY POLITE!!!)

Method 3: The Way Of The DOTA.
Well, here's an interesting method I invented myself.
This method relies on the same principles as the other methods but it has a different set of requirements.
This method is one I invented myself, I used this method to trade 5 keys for a smoking honcho's headgear. it's proven to work.
It's also ironic because the more DOTA 2 hours they have, the easier they are.
Targets should not know tf2 unusual prices that much, don't go after traded-for hats and don't go after people who don't play DOTA as much as tf2.
Once you have a target you should add them and wait, don't get discouraged by a long wait, they will either add you or not, you'll just get someone else if they don't.
As with group scan adds You'll likely wait between 1 day and 1 week before users will add you This is why you should add a nickname to users. "(Earbuds 20 hrs dota2)"
Once they add you back your opening line should go a bit like this:
"Hi there, I added you because I noticed your X in the game Team Fortress 2 and I was wondering if you'd be willing to trade it? I've got TF2 and DOTA 2 items up for trade if you want."
Use what you learned from the rest of the guide to talk your way through making them check your dota 2 inventory or getting them to tell you what they want.
"I probably have the items you want on my alt if you can't find them in my inventory."
If you can reach an agreement with them then you're golden.
DOTA 2 TIPS:
Items are usually more valuable the higher they go in item rarity. This is actually a terrible comparison because it's like saying that misc items are worth 1.3 refined to 20 keys because of earbuds but WHATEVER.
██████ Common - Worth 1 scrap.
██████ Uncommon - Worth 1 rec.
██████ Rare - Worth 2 ref to 2 keys.
██████ Mythical - Worth 2 ref to 2 keys.
██████ Legendary - Worth 2-5 keys.
██████ Ancient - Worth 1-30 keys.
██████ Immortal - Worth 1-60 keys.

Anyways, rarity is only ONE HALF of dota items. They can also be unusual, genuine, strange and all that.
The main trick here is to use those amazing item rarities combined with item qualities to get a good deal.
People who play dota 2 a lot will know that UNUSUAL items are usually worth 6 keys.
This is where you'll make your profit. The DOTA 2 player can check the value of dota 2 unusuals all they want, they probably won't find one that's worth anything really.
You should let them or lead them to think that DOTA 2 unusuals = TF2 unusuals. They may even suggest that you pay 5 DOTA 2 keys for their hat or that you trade them a DOTA 2 unusual for their TF2 unusual.

Your profile "Hey! If i added you, there's a dang good reason for it. Please accept the friend request, and i will explain it after! Thanks for your time!" The above line can increase the number of people who add you back when trading.