Today, I will be covering the anxiety-inducing topic of cash trading.

To preface, I would like to advise you to trust your gut whenever conducting cash trading. If something feels fishy or weird, regardless of the rep of the other person involved, back out. This is trading, there are no consequences of backing out of a deal and you can always find other people to sell to or buy from.

Now, let's get to the good stuff. I will be covering what types of cash trading exists, which payment systems are used and some simple steps to ensure you never lose your items or money.

Types of cash trading:

1) Skins > real world money - this is the area where scammers make most of their money. They prey on new traders who want to cashout their skins quickly and aren't aware of all the scam methods out there.

Converting skins directly into real world cash is fairly risky, even under the best of circumstances. Due to the huge number of scammers out there, most people who sell skins directly for cash will exclusively use BTC as their payment method.

2) Keys > real world money - this is the most popular way of cashing out. There is always a demand for keys and, whilst there are still many scammers out there, the number is definitely lower than when selling skins directly.

Common payment methods

1) Paypal - most commonly used when conducting cash traders. It is very easy to find people to sell to just because of how widespread the use of Paypal is. However, the downside is that they offer practically no seller protection for virtual items. A popular method scammers use is to chargeback the payment once they receive their skins. Paypal will side with buyer in the vast majority of cases and it's very difficult and annoying to win a dispute. For this reason, Paypal cash trading is one of the least safe ways to sell anything and I personally do not recommend it at all.

2) Skrill - much less used than Paypal, however there is also less scamming going on than with Paypal. To the best of my knowledge, chargebacking is possible but I've only heard of 2 instances when it has happened and I've done a lot of business on skrill. The good thing about skrill is that there are many buyers that are always looking for keys so even though there aren't as many people you can sell to, those to whom you can will often be able to buy whenever you want.

3) BTC - the optimal choice for sellers. There is no chargebacking with BTC, so if the buyer goes first you're completely safe.

Steamrep and Cashreps

There are 2 primary ways to check if someone is trustworthy when cash trading. It is absolutely mandatory to check the steamrep account of whoever you are doing business with. If someone has ANY reports filed against them, confirmed or unconfirmed, DO NOT sell to or buy from them. This is absolutely critical. Never, ever do business with someone that doesn't have a clean Steamrep.

A cashrep is a thread within the CSGO Rep steam group, where people who have bought/sold items or skins from a user for real money will comment in order to prove the users credibility. Always ask the person you're considering doing business with if they have a cashrep. DO NOT accept comments on a users profile as proof that they're not a scammer. These comments can be faked very easily, unlike those in a proper cashrep thread.

Who goes first

Buyer always goes first, unless he has a very large number of replies on his cashrep (significantly more than you do) - do not send your items/keys to anyone who you are not 100% sure is legit. If someone has 10-20 pages of comments on their cashrep thread, chances are they aren't a scammer but you can never be 100% sure. This is an unavoidable risk when cash trading but it can be mitigated by only buying from well known/trusted sellers with large cashrep threads.

Finally, I will be making a checklist of things you should do before every single cashtrade you conduct:

1) Check the persons profile - if he has a steam level of 3, only 10 hours on CSGO and only 5 friend on his friends list with equally shady profiles, chances are he is a scammer. Additionally, check his inventory. Most scammers will have empty or ♥♥♥♥ inventories because they move all their scammed items to alts in order to avoid getting a trade ban.

2) Check the persons friendslist - if you have mutual friends, make sure to ask as many of them as possible about the credibility of the individual. If he has high tier traders on his list, this also adds to the persons credibility. Additionally, make sure to look at the friendslist through steamrep as opposed to directly on steam to see if he has any scammers on his
friendslist

3) Check the persons Steamrep - has to have 0 reports of any kind and few to no scammers/trade banned individuals on his friendslist

4) Check the persons cash rep - how many comments does he have, how recent are they, what has he bought/sold in what quantities and to who

5) Be observant and vigilant in regards to the persons behavior when you're talking to them. If they are rushing or pressuring you into doing something you're not 100% sure of, chances are they are a scammer. If they are making weird requests like adding your friends or seeing if the item is duped or any other nonsense like that, they are most likely a scammer. Another sign is if they are offering way more for your skin/keys than what is logical or what you usually get. They do this to lure you in and take advantage of your greed and excitement. Trust your gut and if you feel like the person can't be trusted, simply say you're not interested and move on. There ARE other buyers/sellers and spending an extra few hours/days finding them beats losing all your ♥♥♥♥ and making some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ scammers day.

Happy trading and remember: If you are unsure of a cash trade you're about to do, feel free to make a post on the group page. If it is a large trade or an emergency, add me on steam and I will do my best to help you out. If you decide to do this, please also write a comment on my profile stating why you're adding me.

Thanks for reading!