Flipping Cheap Items

My thoughts on some stuff

What is Flipping?

For anyone who has actually gone into TF2 trading for profit, there is a general rule that many follow.

Many guides talk about 'buying low and selling high' as a rough guideline to making profits in trading, but saying it isn't as easy as doing it.

In this guide, I will refer it as 'flipping'. Also, this guide talks about small items that cost ~1 key or less.

NOTE: This guide isn't a guide about how to trade, but I guess some of the stuff here can be applied.

How to Flip

Flipping isn't easy, especially if everyone seeks to make profits out of each other.

Furthermore, if everyone is selling high, there isn't much profit to be made.

Well, not exactly. You see, there are many different types of people on the market, and making profits just need to be 'selling more than you buy'

For example,

Market Price for a Strange Sniper Rifle: ~4 refined
Price you bought a Strange Sniper Rifle: 3 refined
Price you sold the same weapon: 4 refined
Profit: 1 refined

As you can see, you made a profit of 1 refined, even though you sold the Sniper Rifle at the market price.

How people behave

This branches into the realm of economics, which is great to know if you want to make profits consistently.

The behaviour of people in the economy can be summarised into 3 categories:

• If I want this item in my inventory, I will offer a higher price
  
• If I don't want this item in my inventory, I will sell at a lower price
  
• Traders who don't really want items for personal use

This allows for the economy to operate, since not everyone is driven by profits, but by what they really want.

Of course, this can be expanded upon in greater detail

The TF2 Economy

As with any market, buyers and sellers determine the market price. However, the TF2 economy is pretty special, due to many trading sites out there.

If you have traded for a while, you should know the website http://backpack.tf/ and http://www.tf2outpost.com/

The purposes of these websites won't be covered here, but to summarise, http://backpack.tf/ serves as a price list for most of the items in TF2, especially for small items. http://www.tf2outpost.com/ is simply a site for classifieds.

Many traders base their prices around http://backpack.tf/ prices, and that is one of the main differences between real world economies, and the TF2 one.

The Issue with backpack.tf

One of the main issues with TF2 pricing is that many traders base their offers and trades around http://backpack.tf/ prices.

That issue is not exactly bad, but many people do not realise how http://backpack.tf/ has affected the economy.

In case you didn't know, http://backpack.tf/ prices are determined by votes, otherwise known as 'price suggestions'. These price suggestions are arguments that push for either a rise or fall in prices, and are supported by completed trades at off-prices, or unsolds at prevailing prices.

The Issue with backpack.tf (ii)

To summarise with an example,

The Rancho Relaxo is priced at 9.33 refined. This price was previously suggested by another trader, and at that time of suggestion, the price was 9.66 refined.
So what does this mean?

Previously, sellers of the taunt listed their Ranchos at ~9.66 refined. As there were more sellers, people who really wanted to get rid of their Ranchos dropped their prices to 9.33 refined, suffering a 'loss' of 1 reclaimed. These cheaper listings were accepted quickly, and there was enough evidence to push the http://backpack.tf/ price of Rancho Relaxo down from 9.66 to 9.33 refined.

What is the issue?

The people who have sold their Ranchos for 9.33 refined could have avoided the 'loss' if they sold it later, and since these 'bad' trades have to be made in order for the price of http://backpack.tf/ to be dropped, there is a time lag.

Prices

As with any economy, prices which are determined by demand and supply are volatile and rapidly changing. However, due to how http://backpack.tf/ works, the price curves are smoothened out. This makes the TF2 economy stray away from regular economies, especially if everyone bases their prices upon http://backpack.tf/ prices.

Making your trades matter

However, you cannot discard http://backpack.tf/ entirely, as the prices there still reflect standard economic principles, where prices still change based on demand and supply, just that it is not as rapidly.

A better way of looking at how to price your trades is to look at existing classifieds on http://backpack.tf/ and tf2outpost.com, and making your decision on your pricing.

Typically, selling at prices below, or at the http://backpack.tf/ price allows your trades to remain at the top of the classifieds page.

Making profits

Wait, if I sell for below the market price, how am I going to make profits?

Refer to my previous example on the Strange Sniper Rifle.

Profits don't necessarily have to selling high, just have a difference between your sells and buys. This is where looking at which items to flip is key in making profits.

Not all items can be flipped as well as others, and this involves studying markets trends and observing existing classifieds.

For example, if there is a considerable number of sellers at a price below the http://backpack.tf/ price, selling at the http://backpack.tf/ price is not going to help you, especially with how classified listings work.

Buying lower, and Selling

This is where trading for profits becomes tedious. As you have to be on the lookout for really good deals in order to make sizeable profits, you have to search through loads and loads of classifieds.

Luckily, there are websites like http://www.trade.tf/ that can help you filter out deals that are not optimal. But nevertheless, trading is an active process, consistent profits still require you to make judgement calls as to whether it is profitable to flip certain items.

Conclusion

TL;DR: Selling items for higher than market prices is harder than buying at lower than market prices. Make profits your own way.

Making profits is nevertheless something that requires experience and skill, and sometimes some luck. So happy trading, and have fun!

FAQ

• What do I do if my listing is not noticed?
  
  Look at other classifieds and see if your listing is competitive and relevant. Listings of higher prices are often pushed below, and cheaper ones are at the top. If you really want it to be sold, you can follow suit and drop your prices.
  
  
• My listing is cheap/competitive, why is it not being noticed?
  
  Give it time, and it might be picked up by anyone who wants the item.
  
  
• I tried to flip and I'm not making profits.
  
  Put some time and research on items before actually flipping them. Also, try not to sell for below than the price you paid for, unless you have no choice.
  
  
• You poor scrub, why should I listen to you?
  
  You don't have to, as I said, this 'guide' is kind of something that I hope can help others. :/
  
  
• This guide has no pictures, and too many words. :(
  
  I'm going to be working on it when I have time, but I hope there isn't anything bad otherwise

[Ma Meilleure Ennemie]

Wao karu's guide
I did flip before and make profits, not on too cheap items tho
I don't do it anymore