1. There is no such thing as a "pending" ban or Steam admin. Anyone threatening your account is a scammer trying to scare you. Read more.

Is this a scam ?

Discussion in 'SteamRep General Discussion' started by Nippy, Jul 14, 2019.

  1. Nippy

    Nippy New User

    Messages:
    3
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:82026301
    Someone added me today and he wanted to trade me weapons for some boxes (weird but ok) I tell him that I don't play TF2 anymore so I don't care and he send me a trade offer. 4 weapons (0.20 ref) for 1 Infernal Reward War Paint Case ( I didnt find the price in ref but there were buy orders for 8 ref on backpack.tf) 2 Winter 2017 War Paint Case ( Buy orders for 13.22 ref on backpack.tf) and 1 Mayflower Cosmetic case ( 0.05 ref).

    So if we convert to ref he wanted to trafe me 0.20 ref for 34.49 ref.

    I'm not going to say the name of the guy who sent me this trade because I don't know if it is a scam or not ( even though in his bio he says he opens 100 boxes per week) And I have zero evidence too.

    So is this a scam or not ?
  2. Horse

    Horse Administrator SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    76,831
    SteamRep Admin:
    STEAM_0:1:34690691
    Pretty much you disagreeing with what the user is offering you.

    Lets lay it out this way - you go to look at something someone is selling, perhaps a used car.
    They want $1000 for it and you look it over and offer them $840. Should they think you are trying to scam them?
    Absolutely not... you are only haggling the deal. That was the whole purpose behind steam trading anyway was to allow a TRADE system so user could haggle between items back and forth. Thing is with trade offers they are just tossed up usually without any communication. If you don't like the offer decline it and add the user to discuss the trade.
    [M&C] TheBluekr likes this.
  3. Lava

    Lava Public Relations SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    5,858
    SteamRep Admin:
    STEAM_0:1:46187366
    We don't pass any judgement on the price of items or how fair/uneven a trade offer may be. If the offer itself is clear and within a single trade window - no trickery or deceit such as impersonation or defaulting on promise to pay outside Steam - then it's generally not considered a scam by our standards.

    He's free to ask or offer what he wishes in trade, while you are free to accept or decline. Your own counter-offer, if you make one, doesn't have to be even either. It's your items, you can do what you wish with them. Sometimes people say we're turning a blind eye to "scamming" by taking that stance, but we decided it was best for the community if we not enforce prices and gridlock the economy. Prices of items in Steam are ultimately arbitrary, and decided by supply and demand, not some central authority who tells you what you must list your items at. If you have something he wants, and he (maybe) has something you want, then it's up to the two of you to either figure out what would be a fair trade or go your separate ways. Sometimes you won't see eye to eye, in which case nobody is forcing you to trade or interact. If you can't get along because of it, you block one another and move on. If nobody ever makes an "uneven" trade, because they're afraid of getting "punished" for it, then nobody can ever profit and the economy gridlocks. That's how a barter economy works.

    So use your best judgement. If the offer looks fair, accept it. If not, decline and move on. No need to report it unless something more rotten is at play.
    [M&C] TheBluekr likes this.