Is scrap banking still profitable?
- Thread starter Sir Lemmington
- Start date
CocoaNut Cakery
Gore-Spattered Heavy
I did it for a while. I think I started after scrap.tf was a thing.
Your best bet to getting started with trading, though, is to buy a couple of keys (or ToD tickets), sell them for ref, use that ref to buy things that people are selling at a discount (usually by listing a buying trade on TF2Outpost or hanging out in a trade server and trying to find a deal), and then sell the things at full price or a lesser discount. Works good. I spent a couple months scrapbanking and I got lucky and that's how I moved past that stage. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that can afford the $5 2 keys or 5 ToD tickets costs.
Alternatively, you could try to find a deal on the SCM, but I also wouldn't recommend trying that.
Your best bet to getting started with trading, though, is to buy a couple of keys (or ToD tickets), sell them for ref, use that ref to buy things that people are selling at a discount (usually by listing a buying trade on TF2Outpost or hanging out in a trade server and trying to find a deal), and then sell the things at full price or a lesser discount. Works good. I spent a couple months scrapbanking and I got lucky and that's how I moved past that stage. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that can afford the $5 2 keys or 5 ToD tickets costs.
Alternatively, you could try to find a deal on the SCM, but I also wouldn't recommend trying that.
Let's be honest. Not really. You're not making any profit when it costs two metal to make a weapon, and you're just charging the exact same thing.
CocoaNut Cakery
Gore-Spattered Heavy
How it works is that you sell each weapon for one scrap each. You buy the weapons two for one scrap in order to get a stock of weapons to sell.
RainbowNoms
Gore-Spattered Heavy
In theory, it could still work. In practice, I'm not sure, since I've chosen to start with a couple keys as well.
Your best bet would be to focus on popular or high demand weapons, if you do stick to the scrapbanking strategy. However, I recommend you move into the ref market as soon as possible.
Your best bet would be to focus on popular or high demand weapons, if you do stick to the scrapbanking strategy. However, I recommend you move into the ref market as soon as possible.
You're probably better off key merchanting.
Buy key(s) for the lowest price you can get them at and sell them at the highest price you can sell them at
Buy key(s) for the lowest price you can get them at and sell them at the highest price you can sell them at
CocoaNut Cakery
Gore-Spattered Heavy
#2 is only relevant if you don't do your research. If you have no idea what you're doing or your idea of trading is "buy a bunch of item X and hope it goes up in value," (the "or" is probably unnecessary) then sure. You need luck.
But knowledge trumps luck any day of the week.
Proxy
Truly Feared Pyro
The point im trying to make is, you don't make profit trading anymore these days, not unless you find an idiot. In almost all circumstances people want even trades. So your two options are unbox and hope you score or MvM and hope aussie turns a profit.
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Scrap banking is useless and not really worth your time anymore. Basically what I did before I bought keys = farm for metal, trade for items, wait for that item to go up in value and then trade it off for more metal. Find items being sold at a low price, buy them, and turn around and sell them for something higher that will sell. Buy a couple of keys and buy more expensive things that are being sold cheaper than the suggested price, and then sell them higher to get your keys back and then some. Sell the cheaper things you don't want on the market and get cash. Either use cash to buy cheap games are are more interesting than TF2 or buy an item at a low price and then turn around and sell it for more later on.
At least that's what I did before I unboxed an unusual.
At least that's what I did before I unboxed an unusual.
This is really the only way to make metal anymore, scrapbanking has slowed down to a super snail's pace unless you find yourself some regulars to sell to.
CocoaNut Cakery
Gore-Spattered Heavy
Yeah, pawn shops are also a bad source of profit. As are stores in general. And fast food restaurants. And banks. And I know that credit card companies are just a losing investment all around.
Oh, wait...
Seriously, it's fine to know absolutely nothing about convenience pricing, but when you start trying to act like you're some sort of expert in the field, then that's a problem.
You know nothing about convenience pricing, either in practice or even as a concept. That's fine. Just shut up about it for the love of mayonnaise.
Enter every raffle you can where the grand prize is an unusual. The luck is absolutely required here, but if you win it (no matter how cancerous the hat is) selling that unusual or trading up to bigger and better unusuals is a sure fire way to turn a profit at no cost to you.
