Getting Rep

While I begin to acquire more assets in TF2, it is my hope that I'll be able to begin selling items for real money. Obviously, buying items with real money is a hazardous prospect; people will look for rep.

As a trader with absolutely zero reputation, what's a good way to get myself started?

I've only ever done cash trading once, there are people out there who will do cash trading with complete newcomers.

Obviously, there will be a limit on what they can accept from you and will presume that you will go first. There are people out there, you just have to look for them.

My first money trade was with a friend, who trusted me and gave rep.

There's no fast way to get rep. As far as cash trades go, I don't even trust being an admin of a community for it's face value. You need a rep thread at a trusted community (Pick one from our front page and make sure to follow their in house rules on them). Every time you buy or sell something for CASH only, you should ask the other end of the transaction to rep you (and ofc, do the same in return). After a while, people will begin to trust you more and more.

Rep isn't everything though. I was a middleman before I completed any cash trades. That's because people saw I conducted myself with integrity and transparency from the start.

Some tips?
Start small - Buy a few keys here and there from people willing to trade with new guys. They may ask a little more money to trade with you, but it's still a LOT cheaper than the store.
Don't be offended when people don't want to trade with you - I used to get really frustrated (and suspicious) of those that would try to pressure me into trading. A bad attitude can kill your rep before you start.
Stay transparent - Keep your profile public, check your TF2Items BP regularly (to update the cache) and help out when asked.
Be aware of your friends list - If you have someone shady on your friend list, remove them. People that don't know you, don't know if you're good friends or you just traded a craft hat and never spoke again to that scammer.
Don't be greedy - Nobody likes greedy people.
Be informed - Look at the rules of the places you trade, obey them and be respectful to admins and community members.

I'm sure you get the idea by now. You have to show people you're trustworthy. Trust is built over time and it's clear to me that it is a big advantage these days when there's so much fear.

Don't be misguided though. I'm not scared of buying from people as there's a smaller risk there. The biggest risk for those who do their homework (check rep threads, SR profile and such) is chargeback scams. So buying rep is just as important as selling rep (I consider it more important).

Everyone has their own fears. Listen to them, understand them and then overcome them.

Im just curious, does all that rep + that's on your steam comment section counts or not?

Absolutely not. Profile rep can be deleted by the account holder. Many times people have asked me to rep them after a normal item trade when no trust was afforded to either side. That also makes no sense. Rep isn't about being a nice person, rep is making cash transactions and doing it right, first time.

Only with money trades, all other normal trades aren't eligible for "repping".

2 trader situation:
The person that goes first, gets rep.

2 trader + MM situation:
The MM gets the rep.

Nobody else should get rep. If you go last on first situation, you didn't run risk, for you already had your money/items.
If using MM, the MM is providing the trust to deal it. Therefore the MM gets the rep. As the 2 traders with MM don't run a risk with a MM, they aren't eligible for rep.
in other words, the rep is for the bearer of the risk.

As in normal trades (items vs items) there isn't any risk, the rep is worthless.

A whole lot of traders "+rep" each for each trade, not involving money or trust, on eachother's profiles. That rep is worthless.

I think DataStorm has the best philosophy on the topic of when rep should be given. However, using the same philosophy, traders new to the money trading scene would never be able to get any rep because they would always have to go first. Since they went first, the person who went second, using DataStorm's philosophy, would not rep the other person, simply because he never had to trust him.

i have over +100Rep at tf2outpost &
i have over +200Rep at my steam wall
& 50% of this comments from traders who go 1st
its mean trader pay me/give me 1st
THIS AN IMPORTANT!!!
& i want be a trusted trader
but admin say - its nothing((

i don use forums SOP or SteamRep
because i don have free time
but im 100% trusted trader

The trusted seller status on SteamRep reads: SOP Trusted Seller.
Which means you need to meet the requirements on SOP and get voted in to the trusted seller group.
Outpost rep and profile rep means absolutely nothing, since there is no form of negative feedback on outpost, and you can moderate what is posted on your own profile.

Sorry, but personally I wouldn't trust you with anything.

AANNNNNNDDDD thread derailed.

Well, Chaos gave some absolutely great tips. I don't even know how I could improve on that. He's kind of the expert in getting new traders going.

yeah? btwn you own my awesome unusual hat (im unboxed this) - ask yourself how?))) its destiny...


& all you use outpost SOP steamtrades ect
all this site's include inner reputation
& you all think this is nothing? funny... but ok
im agree its nothing because i think too its a bullshit)
steam wall best choice for +rep
no need more moves - all in one places
but if this sites nothing & steam wall nothing too
how you choose who trusted trader? - paradox (antinomy)

this site must help ppl find trusted traders
but i see you do gere only "witch-hunt"
thx for help i do my job as usual
without marcor: SOP SteamRep ect

I've already explained why, in this thread, that profile rep is not a suitable place to help your rep. It's pretty important for people to be able to post negative rep too if a deal went sour. No negative reps helps show you have integrity and are able to complete the deals you set out to make. Deleting a bad rep shows you're not interested in integrity. Outpost doesn't allow negative rep, which is why I don't take any notice of rep there.

Your outpost rep is here - http://www.tf2outpost.com/rep/41425
As of today, you have 109 reps on outpost. I estimate that about 5% of those are legitimate reps with worth.
Simply saying "+Rep" or "We traded" is not rep that holds any value. Neither is a character vouch from a friend.

A good quality rep would be, for example -
"I sold this trader 3 Earbuds for Paypal money. I went first and recieved the money promptly."

It describes the transaction, and shows that trust was afforded to you. Many of your reps don't show such trust.

If you have any questions regarding the difference between a good and bad rep, feel free to ask here, as it all pertains to the OPs question.

As far as SR not considering you trusted, here's why :
SOP Trusted Sellers are regulated and monitored by SOP. We do not run such a scheme at SteamREP and don't plan to in the future. The primary reason for SteamREP is to warn those of scammers, not to show off the trust of some. Admins are listed because those are the ones you turn to when you've made contact with a scammer. SOP Trusted Sellers are listed because many offer a middleman service, and they have worked hard to gain the position. Middlemen are listed because they help make sure you are safe when performing a real world money trade.

There are many people that have as much, if not more rep than you. Quality is more important that quantity in this case. Let's look at an example of that:

If I were selling an item worth around $500, and you offered to pay that price, I would want to see your rep thread. If your rep thread had 3 pages of rep, showing that you slowly built up transactions to a similar value, that rep thread has some validity and shows that you are able to make the transaction safely. If your rep thread has 10 pages of you buying single keys at a time, you've not shown that you can handle larger transactions at all.

When people look through your rep thread, they look for larger transactions, especially if you're going to be buying or selling a high value item.

I'll state it again to be clear - Quality is more important that quantity.

thanks for many words but im not best english user) But & not dumb too for looong explanations - but anyway thanks
1ST Rule in trades: Dont use words "BUY/SELL/PAY...ect" in reputations comments because its illegally or half-legally!
so im use disguising words because i dont want global steam account ban for selling items/games
but the main point is clear to all - user go 1st - mean all ok - no any scam

btwn outpost before have -rep function but 99% its not about scam reports
its all about trader cant accept crazy lowball offer - so lets go s✿✿✿ him
im absolutely sure you dont think oupost team its stoopid...
its easy to understand too i think

finally i see here only private community of admins moderators vip's ect others sites
& you use & accept only SOP reputations - but what new or unique in you site?
if i need check SOP Rep - i go to SOP & check this)

Thats bullshit, valve doesn't care, they only say that they aren't supporting that.
what that means? well, that if you buy/sell them, and get scammed, don't expect your items / money back, or that valve is going to honor the trade.

Using trickery or omitting truth is counter to what trusted sellers are about. Complete transparency, honesty and integrity is key.

I know I don't need to repeat myself here, because I've already explained why these things are important. I can also see you have conducted 100s of successful trades and have left many happy traders in your wake, but your reps are lacking the quality and self scrutiny that you deserve.

If someone reps you after a paypal trade and all it says is "We traded" or something similar, just ask, politely if they can be more specific about what the deal entailed. More specifically, ask them to state it was for money, a rough amount of money spent and who went first. Those are the important parts of an individual rep.