Trading cards like playing the stock market?

[himmatsj]

Seems like you can perhaps invest $10 into trading cards, and if you purchase the right ones, the value may increase by 20% overnight...then invest the $12 in more cards, rinse ad repeat. Soon enough, you will an overlord.

Or am I missing something?

Is it possible for someone to gobble up hundreds of the same types of cards, create a scarcity as well drive up prices....then sell them back?

Or does Steam have same mechanisms to prevent this from happening?

[Cyber]

You're missing 15% of Steam's share, so +20% overnight is actually +5%.
And don't forget that Market is Valve's playground, they have absolute control over it and there's nothing that can change it.

[Lehkeri]

And why would it need to be prevented?

[Purple Tentacle]

your more than welcome to do that, unless your going to try and influence the market only the summer trading cards are only ever likely to increase in price by holding onto them, and then your going to have to wait years, or you could manipullate the market, spending lots of cash and even more time for a tiny gain. is it really worth it ?

[himmatsj]

What do you mean by 15% Steam's share? I honestly hadn't heard of this before,

Do you mean, if I sell a card for $1 on the market, I will only be credited with $0.85 in my wallet?

If so, that sucks.

[Purple Tentacle]

steam takes a cut and the game creator takes its cut

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Purple Tentacle:

your more than welcome to do that, unless your going to try and influence the market only the summer trading cards are only ever likely to increase in price by holding onto them, and then your going to have to wait years, or you could manipullate the market, spending lots of cash and even more time for a tiny gain. is it really worth it ?

I don't think so. Most games, if you buy the cards now, will see their value rise by 2 to 3 times, until they get on a daily deal, or worse, a Humble Bundle.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Purple Tentacle:

steam takes a cut and the game creator takes its cut

Where can I read about this? Google returns nothing. In the Steam trading cards FAQ this wasn't there.

[himmatsj]

Also, if you notice, most Summer Trading cards have increased in value by 1.5x in just the past 24 hours. Some like Skyrim up to 2.5x in the past 24 hours. If you're smart this could be a good game to play! (too bad I can;t!)

[Ricc]

Originally posted by himmatsj:

Originally posted by Purple Tentacle:

steam takes a cut and the game creator takes its cut

Where can I read about this? Google returns nothing. In the Steam trading cards FAQ this wasn't there.

When you click on the "sell" button in your Inventory you can set a price and see how much of that you can keep. (about 85%)

[milknorf1469]

Originally posted by himmatsj:

Originally posted by Purple Tentacle:

steam takes a cut and the game creator takes its cut

Where can I read about this? Google returns nothing. In the Steam trading cards FAQ this wasn't there.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6088-UDXM-7214

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by milknorf1469:

Originally posted by himmatsj:

Where can I read about this? Google returns nothing. In the Steam trading cards FAQ this wasn't there.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6088-UDXM-7214

Thanks!

[bigdgaff]

In addition to above comments, any profits made would be stored in the Steam wallet and could only be spent within the Steam system.

You could be the best business person in the world and make a million, but it is only any good for further Steam purchases.

[JaFa]

bigdgaff pretty much nailed it. On top of never being able to withdraw steam funds, I know there is a maximum cap on how much the steam wallet can hold. I believe the cap is $500 last time I checked.

These trading cards are a fun diversion, but not much more. It's true the market fluctuations can be pretty big in one day, but you're still dealing with pennies per card. Too much work spent earning such a small profit (that can only be spent on games and other cards).

Where I live minimum wage is $10 an hour. Flipping burgers will earn you much more.

[EliteWolf11-21]

I trade the stock market and I have been trading the steam market since it came out and have only made about $5.00 profit in the steam market. It is definitely possible but every gain you make will only be about .05- .10 until you have the ability to make much larger volume trades. Currently i'm invested in 15 booster packs, i have sold some already...averaging like i said .05-.10 per unit. Currently though i am realizing that steam's commission on cheaper items is better...cards vs booster packs for example...at the price i can sell some of my booster packs...commission is about .08 whereas if i sold 3 cards for .20...commission is about .06. The only problem is the cards are worth less....as per the sliiiight chance of a foil from a booster pack gives the 3 card pack sliiightly more value. All in all though the steam market needs more traders, currently there isn't a lot of volume making it a bit scary/unknown if you will be able to liquidate your positions or not. Trading the packs is slightly risky because i believe they are over valued because the chance for foil is way to low, but if you end up making a bad trade with packs you can always use the pack and sell the 3 cards...just average out the price of the 3 cards before hand so you know about how much you can get. in most cases you would definitely lose money doing this but as a last resort you would gain a big portion of your investment back. Also restating something noted above, either way Valve wins, they get commission, they get you to encourage other people to buy items, and ultimately when you buy a game with your wallet funds, they get that as well. Which in my opinion is great, Valve deserves this and it is about time they take advantage of this opportunity. As for the average user, i would recommend selling your cards and items, if you want to take up trading...do so but realize what was stated above...don't expect big gains....only invest in what you think is the lowest possible price...be wary of low volume. I wouldn't buy into the whole profile leveling up thing, i'm @ 10% and have gotten only 1 booster pack this way. IMO you will make more by selling the items you get, and only after you have enough to invest in trades can you begin to trade. One last thing to note is that you can now trade items for items in the dota 2 lounge...i think it is possible to trade in game items for an item that you can sell in the market... like trading rares for keys and such. It is another possible avenue to trade up from but before you do so make sure you understand the worth of your items.
*disclaimer* i am not an investment professional and all comments regarding investment advice should be taken as entertainment only. I am not responsible for your actions. Good luck.

[himmatsj]

Just want to say...I started off with my cards which had a market value of under $3 in total. Then I got 2 TF2 keys which gave me an extra $3.60 after a few days of trading. Now, I have cards worth $18 in total after a total of 5 days of "stock market" playing.

The trick is, buy the high yield cards. If you're lucky, you can get a $1 card for $0.40. Always look for games which are new. Even if a game card sells for $.20 and you can buy one for $0.14, you should.

It is definitely possible to make money, but if you ask me, I spent a lot of time. I take it as a "game" almost. I could go out and work for 2 hours and earn the $12 I made over 5 days.