Valve launches Steam Market (buy and sell items)

[WiseUp216]

I did a search and did not see this posted.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/12/12/valve-steam-community-market-beta/

I don't play TF2 but I had a crate key in my inventory. It sold within 30 seconds of me listing it for $1.61. It looks like it is limited to TF2 items right now. A quick way to add some funds to your Steam wallet if you have stuff you don't need.

I receive Steam beta updates so it may not show up for you if you don't.

 

[cmdrdredd]

They are apparently taking a 15% commission on all sales. This is a cash grab. People used to trade items all the time and now Valve is trying to cash in on it.

 

[pcslookout]

They are apparently taking a 15% commission on all sales. This is a cash grab. People used to trade items all the time and now Valve is trying to cash in on it.

This.

Valve is trying to act like ebay.

 

[cmdrdredd]

What's even better is you can only trade consumables. So people with all these hats and unused weapons can't trade to people who might care to have it.

I've read a few comments about this and people are all giddy about it. Why is it that when Blizzard tried to do a real money auction house in Diablo 3 it was met with disdain but when valve does it, it's a miracle?

I never played Diablo 3 either so I don't know a whole lot about how that system works.

 

[KaOTiK]

What's even better is you can only trade consumables. So people with all these hats and unused weapons can't trade to people who might care to have it.

I've read a few comments about this and people are all giddy about it. Why is it that when Blizzard tried to do a real money auction house in Diablo 3 it was met with disdain but when valve does it, it's a miracle?

Diablo 3 was designed around the RMAH and it shows in the game for the worse too. TF2 was not designed around it and also with Team Fortress 2 being F2P it is hard to get upset when they are pursing other streams of revenue for the game.

 

[Grooveriding]

LOL, this is disappointing. It's Blizzard's Diarrhea 3 implementation.

 

[JAG87]

For a second I thought this was for games...

/excitement

 

[postmortemIA]

all i could sell is crates, and nobody wants them.
why not let me sell dropped weapons and hats for a cash

 

[power_hour]

Upside is they make a few/lots of bucks. Downside is the get some bad feedback. If people are dumb enough to pay for virtual stuff they don't even own then screw em.

 

[CPA]

Sold a tag for 50 cents in about 2 mintues. Priced it 13 cents lower than the lowest price. Free Market Bitches!

 

[Necrolezbeast]

Sounds pretty cool! Not sure why everyone talks crap about this sort of thing or the RMAH.. if you don't like it, don't use it.. sounds like a cool way for gamers to make a little money and devs to make a little more as well, as long as it doesn't make the gaming experience that much worse, who cares?

People buy and sell items / currency in games anyway, this is just a legal way to do so and benefits everyone that wants to participate in buying and selling of things. Legitimizes sells and purchases without the chance of being scammed...

 

[gorobei]

there was already an underground market that traded in rare hats for money, crate key arbitrage, and other promotional items all thru paypal. some people were making a few thousand dollars a year. valve got nothing from it so they created a legit system.

the EU court ruling that consumers have the right to resell online downloaded games means that valve has to build a means for them to do so. since building an exchange is a significant endeavor they might as well find a way to make some money off of it.

they are starting small by limiting it to TF2 and to tool items. eventually it will cover hats and weapons. they also need time and data for their economist to analyze and figure out the control factors. when they get around to being able to trade games, you will see all kinds of deals going crazy.

their main objective is to figure out how to minimize sales loss from people buying used games from other steam users, and to avoid any exploits in steam holiday game sales that might cannibalize revenue. since no money can be taken out, but just held in steam wallet; it is all a giant store credit system. NO ONE is going to get rich off of this, except valve.

 

[ApexBoost]

They are apparently taking a 15% commission on all sales. This is a cash grab. People used to trade items all the time and now Valve is trying to cash in on it.

They can still do it how they used to and not deal with the commission, this is just a legit and safer way to go about it.

 

[JumBie]

Sold a few items already, made about 2 dollars.

 

[Karsten]

Bad guy STEAM... gives you the game for free, keeps updating the game, makes it so you can legally trade, sell or buy items. That you can use to get more cool games...
-----End Sarcasm-----

User complain that they take 5-15% of the money you can make... sigh... don't even know what to say. Apparently, contrary to common believe, it takes people to come up, maintain and improve a game, servers and purchase systems. People that want to be able to fed their families.

 

[XenoX]

This could be very interesting. iam excited about it!

 

[Olikan]

Bad guy STEAM... gives you the game for free, keeps updating the game, makes it so you can legally trade, sell or buy items. That you can use to get more cool games...

User complain that they take 5-15% of the money you can make... sigh... don't even know what to say.

meanwhile at blizard...

gentle women voice:
"oh thank you for your 60 bucks!... if you had some problem with our laggy servers, well it's your problem... if you find a pack of elite monsters that is insane hard, pay more or die
we at Blizard wish you a good day"


this is me, from blizzard fan to blizzard hater

 

[Karsten]

this is me, from blizzard fan to blizzard hater

Right there with you buddy. It really looks like Blizzard finally lost it's touch. The new Starcraft will be the first Blizzard game I won't pick up on release (gave up on MMO a LONG time ago).

Now... did their MMO success ruin them or the unholy alliance with Activision?

 

[Olikan]

Right there with you buddy. It really looks like Blizzard finally lost it's touch. The new Starcraft will be the first Blizzard game I won't pick up on release (gave up on MMO a LONG time ago).

Now... did their MMO success ruin them or the unholy alliance with Activision?

i think it was both...

WoW, really changed blizzard... artistically, gameplay wise and that "polished" feel
....Activision for sure made blizzard "money first, game latter" company

 

[darkewaffle]

Interesting, I've got some old crates and keys laying around at least. Can't turn them into cash but you can at least use the Steam Wallet to buy games on Steam, so that's not too bad.

I have no problem with the RMAH on D3 or this.

 

[CPA]

Bad guy STEAM... gives you the game for free, keeps updating the game, makes it so you can legally trade, sell or buy items. That you can use to get more cool games...
-----End Sarcasm-----

User complain that they take 5-15% of the money you can make... sigh... don't even know what to say. Apparently, contrary to common believe, it takes people to come up, maintain and improve a game, servers and purchase systems. People that want to be able to fed their families.

Hey, don't you know we're in the Entitlement Age.

Dark Ages
Age of Discovery
Age of Enlightenment
Industrial Age
Entitlement Age

 

[Red Storm]

Hmm, can't wait till they open it up to hats. I have an Unusual Fedora (Ghost effect) that I've been wanting to cash out, but have no desire to deal with Paypal.

I did also think this meant we could trade anything, including games we own and whatnot.

 

[Martimus]

Hey, don't you know we're in the Entitlement Age.

Dark Ages
Age of Discovery
Age of Enlightenment
Industrial Age
Entitlement Age

Most of the great civilizations had an age of entitlement at the end of their relevance. It is generally considered the primary reason for their rapid fall from prominence.

 

[ImpulsE69]

there was already an underground market that traded in rare hats for money, crate key arbitrage, and other promotional items all thru paypal. some people were making a few thousand dollars a year. valve got nothing from it so they created a legit system.

the EU court ruling that consumers have the right to resell online downloaded games means that valve has to build a means for them to do so. since building an exchange is a significant endeavor they might as well find a way to make some money off of it.

Only part I care about. I was just thinking the other day what the legality of this was. Many people site the "you dont own it, it's a license" well I'm sorry, but a license can be sold as it is tangible. If I have 20 games I've paid for that I've never even installed, I should have the right to sell them (or the account). EULA blah blah don't care. Just saying...so I'm interested to see where this goes.

 

[gladiatorua]

Valve hasn't launched Steam Market. It's only beta. So for now it's only TF2, only consumables and only 200 items per year per account.

And no, it's not wrong, immoral or evil. It's just collectibles in a game where you start with decent stuff, easily get all the side-grades you need and hats are cosmetic collectibles.