So you've probbably read hundreds of Trading Guides before, and you're thinking: "What makes this one any different?"

I'm a professional trader of course! Actually...

You're probbably right, this guide doesn't really cover anything new or revolutionary in the trading world of Team Fortress 2 but I thought I'd voice my own opinions and methods on the matter anyway.

You may be new to the game and the trading aspect, you might even be a TF2 Veteran (just like me!) who wants to delve into the confusing and daunting side of the Free-2-Play Hat Simulator.

A Short Video Which Covers The Points Made In This Guide

Within Team Fortress 2 there is what you could consider a micro-economy. Trading takes place thousands of times per day stimulating the growth of the game's economic climate. Items within TF2 all hold a value. For many items this value will range depending on demand by other players. If people are starting to desire that Strange Kukri then it's price will likely shoot up. If people are getting sick of chopping each other up with it, it's price will drop.

There is an exception to this however. Metal.

All basic weapons can be smelted together to form Metal at it's lowest form. This metal is what the whole TF2 economy is based upon. Hats and other valuable items are given value in terms of metal. The value of metal is completely stable and is fixed.

For example:

1 Scrap Metal = 0.11 Refined Metal


When you get to 3 Scrap Metal you can smelt them down into a more condensed form of metal. Reclaimed Metal.

1 Reclaimed Metal = 0.33 Refined Metal.


Similarly, when you get 3 Reclaimed Metal, you can smelt them down into another condensed metal. Refined Metal.

1 Refined Metal = 3 Reclaimed Metal = 9 Scrap Metal (0.99 - it's rounded)

Now this type of metal is going to be your main source of trading for the more valuable items as most hats and strange items will have a value over 1 piece of Refined Metal.

Now you know about the metals, you want to get your hands on some.

At the lowest level there are two ways of obtaining some Scrap Metal to start you off.

The first method is via crafting two weapons from the same class together to create 1 piece of Scrap Metal (This where the Scrap Metal gets it's value of 0.11 from).

At this point you're probbably saying: "But JD, I've only got a few weapons in my inventory and they're not from the same classes". Not a problem as you'll see in this alternate method.

Instead of smelting two weapons for 1 piece of Scrap Metal you can trade a single weapon for 1 Scrap Metal. This is known as Scrapbanking. If you're in the business of making profit, Scrapbanking is for you.

However, it is a time-consuming process and you won't always see results straight away. You'll need to hop from server to server announcing that you are "Selling Weapons, 1 Scrap Each". Obviously, don't spam, and when you do get a trade be polite and civil as they may even want repeat business in the future.

You're now at the point where you've got more metal than weapons and you want to turn that into profit. The second, but equally important stage of Scrapbanking is finding a Scrapbanking website;

*cough*
http://scrap.tf/
http://scrapbank.me/
*cough*

where you can trade with several Scrapbanking Bots to acquire two weapons for 1 piece of Scrap. You might just be starting to understand now. Maybe a little.

(You do have to sign-in through Steam on these websites, but it's perfectly safe and secure.)

After this you'll then repeat the process of selling weapons for a scrap each, and woosh! you've made yourself some nice profit.

If you really stick to this method you can actually make quite a large amount of Scrap which you can subsequently turn into Reclaimed Metal and eventually Refined Metal.

Isn't it great having a backpack full of metal? "No?"

Ah you want some hats! It is a Hat Simulator of course.

Well the first thing I'm going to suggest you do is to check out a Pricelist website, such as this one:

http://backpack.tf/pricelist

which gives a good indication of the prices of most hats, miscellaneous items and weapons. But remember people, it is a guideline, not the law. Sometime people will ask for more than the price displayed, othertimes they may want less.

"Enough already JD, I want some Hats!"

Ok, there's a multitude of ways you can get yourself some hats. You can use the Scrapbanking websites that I explained earlier as they will sometimes have hats up for trade. You can go to trade servers and see if anyone is selling any hats that you are interested in. Or you can go for the method which I prefer;

http://www.tf2outpost.com/

Which is another website which requires you to login through Steam (it's completely secure) where various users list the items that they want to trade, allowing others to search and give them an offer for the items.

As this point in time, I'm neither in the mood nor the correct state of mind to even consider delving into depths of Unusual Hats, Earbuds and Keys.

Maybe one day I'll write another guide covering them, but perhaps I won't. You might even figure it out yourself. Only time will tell.

That key does look awfully tempting though...

Anyway guys, thanks for reading this orignal and never been done before guide and I hope it helps with your Team Fortress 2 Trading adventures.

If you enjoyed the guide so much, please rate it up and give it a favourite. If you didn't enjoy it tell me why in the comments section below and let me know of anything I've missed or any improvements or suggestions you can think of.

Thanks again.