How do you know the value of a trading card in gems before buying them?

[Arun1000]

Just randomly looked inside my inventory and some cards are worth 400 gems, whilst others are worth 2. I can't see any way to find gem value on community market.

[Lokiator]

You look at the value of a sack of gems (1000 gems) and then do the math.

[Arun1000]

Originally posted by Lokiator:

You look at the value of a sack of gems (1000 gems) and then do the math.

Value in gems, not cash.

[Lokiator]

Originally posted by Arun1000:

Originally posted by Lokiator:

You look at the value of a sack of gems (1000 gems) and then do the math.

Value in gems, not cash.

That would be the "do the math part". You look at the cash value of a card, the cash value of 1000 gems, and convert.

For example. If a card is worth 5 cents and 1000 gems are worth 35 cents , then the card is worth 5 / 35 * 1000 = 143 gems.

[Arun1000]

Originally posted by Lokiator:

Originally posted by Arun1000:

Value in gems, not cash.

That would be the "do the math part". You look at the cash value of a card, the cash value of 1000 gems, and convert.

For example. If a card is worth 5 cents and 1000 gems are worth 35 cents , then the card is worth 5 / 35 * 1000 = 143 gems.

I have several cards of the same price which differ in gems value.

[Arun1000]

An example here: both items are 6p but the top one is 40 gems and bottom is 4.
https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/465520-The%20Magician%EF%BC%8CI
https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/391740-Cheeser

[Lokiator]

Originally posted by Arun1000:

An example here: both items are 6p but the top one is 40 gems and bottom is 4.
https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/465520-The%20Magician%EF%BC%8CI
https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/391740-Cheeser

That's the auto-convert value. That's based on the relative purchase price of the game, how new it is, how popular it is, etc and ranges from 2 to 40 gems. That value can also change / drop over time. It's rare, but sometimes happens if the developer starts giving away high volumes of free keys on Humble Bundle, Fanatical, or some other third-party site.

NEVER convert a card directly to gems. Every single card can be traded for more than that value. It has no function in trading cards except to set an absolute minimum value for extremely common and cheap sets like CSGO/CS2. If you want to trade cards for gems, you use the market valuation.

And for reference, no cards (other than foils) are worth more than 2000 gems / # cards in the set. That's the gem cost of creating enough booster packs for a complete set of cards (though you may have to trade doubles).

[Arun1000]

Originally posted by Lokiator:

If you want to trade cards for gems, you use the market valuation.

How do I find market valuation for individual cards? (soz for the extra questions)

[Lokiator]

Originally posted by Arun1000:

Originally posted by Lokiator:

If you want to trade cards for gems, you use the market valuation.

How do I find market valuation for individual cards? (soz for the extra questions)

In the community marketplace. It's kind of a pain to use the search function there, but it works eventually... :P