Hol' up...Steam says I can't use the Marketplace because I haven't bought anything in over a year. That's practically extortion.

[edesignspl]

I shouldn't have to keep buying stuff to be able to use the marketplace. My account is 18 years old and I've spent thousands of dollars on games over the years. This is equine feces. Anyone else run in to this? I'm not gonna spend $5 in the store just to access the Marketplace, that's absolutely stupid and asinine. I have no VAC bans, think I've had maybe two comments deleted over all these years, never been banned from a forum here, I've done nothing wrong other than apparently not feed Valve enough money. I checked the Help page about why I might not be able to use it and none of them apply to me except "You haven't paid us any money lately."

Shame on *ME* for trying to catch up on all the unfinished games in my library that I *already* spent money on, right? Is that the take-away I should have? Can't fully participate unless I keep buying stuff? Good thing I got awarded some points recently so I can do nothing with them unless I spend more money /s

[Chompman]

It's because you are not a active customer for steam.

Think of it like renewing a store membership to be able to shop there like certain stores have.

[Snapjak]

The market restriction is literally "a purchase". It can be 50 cents.

You can even use money made on the market for said purchase, but you still have to do it once a year if you want to keep using the market.

Also the points shop is entirely separate from the marketplace. Not sure why you think you can't use your points there.

[edesignspl]

Steam doesn't have paid memberships. Accounts are free. It's nothing to do with thinking of it like that. That's not how to think of it. They sure don't advertise the stipulation and never have. One thing if they straight up advertise it as a paid membership but they don't.

[edesignspl]

Originally posted by Snapjak:

The market restriction is literally "a purchase". It can be 50 cents.

You can even use money made on the market for said purchase, but you still have to do it once a year if you want to keep using the market.

Also the points shop is entirely separate from the marketplace. Not sure why you think you can't use your points there.

No, the help page says minimum $5 purchase :(

Is it? I get them confused a lot. But either way, shouldn't have to keep buying stuff to use it.

Thank you for your response

Quick edit: But it's still a problem as I do have cards I'd like to put up for sale in the Marketplace.

[Snapjak]

The $5 restriction is the one-time requirement to go from a limited account to an un-limited one. It's not a requirement for continued market use. The page may just list that as one of the reasons for not being able to use, but it doesn't apply to you.

The one that DOES is "no purchase between 7 days and 1 year" or whatever they chose to word it as.

[Mr. Smiles]

No, you cannot keep using the McDonald's wifi just because you bought a coffee there last week and nothing since.

[Chompman]

Originally posted by edesignspl:

Steam doesn't have paid memberships. Accounts are free. It's nothing to do with thinking of it like that. That's not how to think of it. They sure don't advertise the stipulation and never have. One thing if they straight up advertise it as a paid membership but they don't.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/451E-96B3-D194-50FC#purchase

No Purchase Older Than 7 Days
Your account must have a successful purchase older than 7 days, but not older than a year in order to access the Community Market. The purchase of wallet funds, games, DLCs and software meet this requirement. Activating a Steam Wallet Code or Gift Card on your account to add funds to your Steam Wallet also meet this requirement. Retail CD key activation and gift purchases do not satisfy this requirement.

To use certain services like the following as steam does actually have a fee for other services on their site:

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/71D3-35C2-AD96-AA3A

Limited user accounts are prevented from accessing several features on Steam, including but not limited to:

Adding friends (limited accounts can still create quick invite codes)
Voting on Steam Reviews and Workshop items
Participating in the Steam Market
Trading Steam Community items (trading cards, booster packs, gems, etc.)
Making your Steam profile visible to non-friends
Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions
Gaining Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards
Submitting content on the Steam Workshop
Posting in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions
Creating public Steam guides
Accessing the Steam Web API
Using browser and mobile chat
Adding public artwork and screenshots
Adding messages to trade offers
Creating Steam groups
Counting towards Steam group membership
Following/adding curators
Posting hyperlinks in the Steam Community

[Yzal]

Being able to use the market is a benefit for being an active customer.
You haven't bought anything in a year = you're not a active customer.

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

No, you cannot keep using the McDonald's wifi just because you bought a coffee there last week and nothing since.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by edesignspl:

My account is 18 years old and I've spent thousands of dollars on games over the years.

Irrelevant. You are not special. Everyone regardless of how old their account is has to be a spending customer in order to use the community services provided by Valve.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by edesignspl:

Anyone else run in to this?

Yes. A different Steam account of mine just had this restriction placed on it a week or so ago. I bought a 49 cent game and didn't think anything more about it.

[THE LORD]

Buy a $0.50 game and send it to one of those beggars. Problem solved.