In this guide, I'll do my best to provide all of the information and resources you need to be a knowledgeable trader. I'll cover terms you'll see, basic trading methods, and scams to watch out for. The trading community can be overwhelming at first, so my goal is to make you completely prepared to get started by the time you're done with this guide!
How do I even trade with someone anyway?
Unlike some other games, such as CSGO, Rocket League items are traded in-game, not through Steam. To trade with somebody, you'll have to get them on either your Steam or Epic Games friend list (I'll go over how to find these people to trade with shortly). Once you've added them, or you've accepted a friend request from them, you can invite them to your Rocket League party (or they can invite you to theirs). From there, click on their profile picture at the bottom and hit "Invite to trade" and you should be in!
Once you're in a trade, you'll see your inventory of tradable items on the left side of the screen. On the right side, you'll see two trade windows. The top window is what you've put in to offer, and the bottom window is what the other person has put in to offer. You can put in and take out items simply by clicking on them in your inventory.
Once you've agreed to a deal, simply hit the big Accept button at the bottom of the window. Once both of you have pressed accept, there will be a 5 second countdown (so you can cancel if something is wrong) and then it will give you your items.
How do I tell what an item is worth?
You can use RL Insider to check item prices. It is used by everyone as a reference, and is simply the go-to price guide of the trading community.
Terms to know
I taught myself everything I know about trading, and so I can speak from experience - it is very overwhelming when people start throwing random acronyms at you! I'm going to list a few here that I think are important to know before you get started.
- [H] - What somebody has in an offer
- [W] - What somebody wants in an offer
- LF - Looking for
- BP - Blueprint
- Quicksell - selling items for under the minimum value (as found on RL Insider)
- OP/Overpay - people will often say that they want credits, and will take item offers as overpay only. All this really means is that they'll only take item offers that are obviously better than what they would get in credits.
- 10cr, 10c, 10 creds - Credits (number is obviously interchangeable)
Non-Crate Items (NCVR's, NCI's, NCE's)
You see these thrown around a lot, and it's important to understand what they are, confusing as it may be. Non-crate items are ones that have been obtained through drops - not through golden crates, OG crates, or crafting blueprints.
You can tell an item is non-crate because it doesn't tell you an origin when you hover over it. For example, this is a non-crate import (NCI)...
...whereas this is a crate very rare (not NCVR).
See how the first image doesn't have anything under the name, while the second one says the crate? That's how you can distinguish between crate and non-crate items in your inventory. You can do the same trick in trade windows, just note that you'll have to hit the "Show details" button in the bottom left corner of the trade UI.
Other General Pricing Information
Here's just a few things I thought were worth explaining about general item prices before you jump into the world of trading. A lot of these details will probably relate to items in your inventory!
Certifications
If items are from certain origins, they can come certified. All a certification does is keep track of a certain stat when using that item (for example, a Sweeper certified item will keep track of how many clears you get while using that item). In general, certifications don't really effect the price of an item unless it's really expensive/rare, or if it's Striker certified. People really like Striker, and if it's a popular item it will make it worth a bit more.
Blueprints and Limiteds
Most limiteds and blueprints are worth nothing. The exceptions for limiteds are mostly RLCS drops, which are obtained by watching the Rocket League streams on Twitch. The problem with blueprints is that most blueprints cost more to build than the actual item is worth, so you're losing money by building them. If you want to know if a blueprint is actually worth something, look up the item on RL Insider and scroll down. It should tell you how much the blueprint is worth.
Non-crates
We've gone over how to see your non-crate items. In general, you can sell them for the following:
- Non-crate rares (NCR) - 5-10 credits each
- Non-crate very rares (NCVR) - 35-45 credits each
- Non-crate imports (NCI) - 40-50 credits each
- Non-crate exotics (NCE) - 150-180 credits each
Golden Crates
They aren't technically called crates anymore, but when I say it I'm referring to any of the Golden Gifts, Pumpkins, etc. These can be obtained during seasonal events, so watch out for those. These Golden Crates can be sold easily for 150+ credits, and can be a great way to start your trading journey. Sell them instead of opening them!
Scams...
Unfortunately, there are a lot of scammers out there who just want to take your stuff. I'm going to go over a few different types that you may run into, and, of course, how to avoid falling for them.
Phishing Link Scams
This is the scam I see most often these days. The scammer will send you a link, and find a reason to tell you to click it (for example, they might say to "vote up my profile!"). The link and site will probably look really legit, but if it isn't a site that's mentioned in this guide it is most likely a scam. If you click on a scam link, it will either A) immediately still your login info or B) ask you to "sign in," after which it will steal your login info. Then, either the scammer or a bot will log into your account and take all of your things. If you really, really don't think it's a scam, you can google the site. You'll probably find some ancient Reddit thread where somebody is complaining about being scammed by that link.
Swap Scams
This scam happens in the trade window. The scammer will put in an expensive item - I'll use the white Fennec as an example. The item will be certified (this should be a red flag to you - a certified expensive item). The scammer will draw your attention away from the trade window, wait for the certification to be displayed instead of the paint, and swap the white Fennec for a normal Fennec with the same certification. The scammer will then accept, and if you're in a hurry you will too. The key to avoiding this one is just to be constantly paying attention to the paint on the item using the "Show details" button. Double check before you hit accept. Once you hit accept, it will automatically un-accept you if the other person changes their item, so you'll know something is up.
Screenshot Scams
The scammer will say that they're a YouTuber or something, and need a thumbnail for a video. They'll ask you to put in your best stuff and hit accept, but then cancel at one second before the trade goes through. However, once you accept they'll do something to make it so you can't cancel (I still haven't 100% figured out exactly what they do). Avoiding this one is simple - just don't press accept unless you are happy with the trade that is there.
There are many other specific types out there, but most others are simply variations on the ones I mentioned, and can be avoided by taking the same precautions.
Alright, Let's Get Trading!
Now that you are prepared, let's go over how to find people to trade with! There are three main resources that I use, and that I'll go over.
1. Steam
There's a trading community right here on Steam! You can find the forum by clicking this link or by going to Community > Discussions > Rocket League and scrolling down to find the forum labelled "Trading." The Steam forum is nice because it is a much more close-knit community, but it is nowhere near as active as the other two resources I'll give you. However, it might also be a nice place to start out, as it will be less overwhelming, and the people will be more helpful.
2. Rocket League Garage
The most active platform for trading! You can visit the website here. It's at least 100x more active than Steam, as you see many posts every second. A great resource for making profit and finding the trades you want. This is the main platform I use for trading.
3. RL Trading Post
RL Trading Post is a mobile app which you can find in the App Store. It definitely isn't as active as RL Garage, but is also way more active than the Steam forum. It's probably not as good of a choice as RL Garage, but I still use it as a third platform. You should be able to find it pretty easily, but here's the app preview just in case:
Conclusion
That was a lot of information! I hope that you feel much more informed now about how you can get started trading. Feel free to comment any questions you have, things that I didn't mention here, or other guides you want to see.
Guide by Waffles
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