TF2 Trading #1: Is it worth my time?

Topic #1 in a series on TF2 Trading

To anyone who trades in TF2, this may seem like a silly question, but to a lot of people, it's totally valid.

Some people think the idea of trading is boring, scary, confusing, would take too much time, and/or just don't care enough about getting items in TF2. That's totally valid.

But there's some good reasons why you might want to take the dive too.

First, it would take a really long time to wait for all the items to drop. Each drop is random -- it's just as likely to be an item you already have as an item you don't.

Second, trading with other players is always cheaper than crafting. Let's say you want weapon X, which costs a reclaimed (6 weapons) to craft. Let's say someone else got that as an extra drop. If they can trade that to you for between 2-5 of your weapons, you're both winning.

Third, buying from other players is always cheaper than the Mann Co Store. Far cheaper, in fact. The store prices seem...well, let's just say random. Right now, players buy/sell refined for about $1 each, and will trade, say, an Ol' Snaggletooth for about 2-3 refined. The Snaggle $7.50 in the store, and isn't even tradeable when you buy it. Similar case with Keys -- they are about $2.50 in the store, and players will sell them for about $2.

Fourth, some items are unavailable in the store or via drops. Unusuals and Strange weapons are only available from crates (and are random), vintage and promotional items cannot be purchased, and some colors of paint are only available through random drops.

Finally, you may have some items that are quite valuable in your backpack, that other people would pay quite a bit for (I'll talk about those later).

So the answer is yes! If there's an item you want, or don't need in TF2, it's always worth it to trade it!