How to PoE trade safely and securely.
PoE Trading is the lifeblood of Path of Exile. Generally, it’s the lifeblood of any MMO with a good economy. What separates Path of Exile from other MMO titles is its lack of any kind of monetary system. Instead of money per se, it relies on a barter system, and what players consider PoE currency is common barter PoE items.
In any case, here are the PoE trade dos and don’ts.
Be Polite
That means being prompt and ready to do the PoE trade. Prepare the agreed-upon price in PoE orbs before going to your seller’s hideout. If you don’t have the correct PoE orbs, ask them if they will accept equivalents instead. Be warned that you could be paying more for their trouble of converting them later.
Politeness also covers being respectful of the other participant. Do not spam them, especially if they’re running a map (as revealed by the /whois command). They may also be AFK. In those two situations, tell them to message you once they’re done.
Using the poe.trade automated message also helps the seller know what you need from them. Don’t just greet them like you want to chat. Do that after the sale, not before. If they say, ‘wait’ or ‘1sec’ and they don’t reply after 5 minutes, you can send them another message. Other players are people too, and they can forget things.
Even if you’re a seller, you have to be polite as well. Don’t spam! Always have a buyout price when selling something on trade chat (even if it’s pretty high). Reply to potential buyers even if it’s just to say you’re running a map or otherwise busy.
You Can Haggle the Price
Just don’t try to lowball too much that it’s almost shameful. That’s insulting to the seller. Find a happy middle ground. Don’t bother haggling on PoE items in demand or PoE uniques, though. Also, you shouldn’t haggle if you’re buying the PoE item with the lowest price on poe.trade.
For Sellers: Update Your Shop Space
You can use a program to do so automatically. This will reduce the uncertainty of which PoE items are still available and which ones have already been sold. No buyer will pester you about sold PoE items, and you’ll be able to play in peace.
Do Not PoE Trade for External PoE Currencies
This can get you banned if you’re caught doing so. External PoE currencies include Forum Gold and real-world money or objects. It’s called real money trading (RMT) or real-world trading (RWT). Advertising sites that do so can also get you banned.
Trading normally shouldn’t raise any flags, so don’t worry about this rule. As long as you’re not involved in shady trading practices such as trading accounts or the aforementioned activities, you should be good.
Do Not Sell Trash Rares or PoE Uniques in Bulk
Nobody will buy those. If you want to dispose of them somehow, try the PoE vendor recipes instead. Good rares are those that boost or enhance certain builds. You might want to sift through your loot for those kinds of rares. Then again, that requires some knowledge of popular builds. You can always ask around, but selling them to vendors is the quickest way.
Do Not Trade Between Long-Term Leagues and Three-Month Leagues
For one thing, cross-league trading is very dangerous. You’re going to give another player your PoE orbs and then log in to the other league to get PoE orbs from that player. Just one look at the process will make you realize that it’s a method prone to getting scammed. All the other participant has to do is not log in to the other league and block you!
Another reason to not do this is that it gives an unfair advantage in three-month leagues. We all want to keep things fair. Trading from a softcore league to its hardcore version (and vice versa) is allowed. It, however, does not diminish the inherent danger of the process. Do so at your own risk!
And those are the dos and don’ts of PoE trade. Keep these in mind and stay safe while trading PoE currency.
Enjoy Path of Exile!