This is a general help forum for newer users who are unfamiliar or generally unacquainted with the trading system and would like to get started. We will be covering the basics of trading and how you can get a head start on making platinum. This guide is still under construction somewhat so things like pictures, links, and other resources are going to be added in the future. Some things might also be missing as a result of me being very tired, so your additions and suggestions are always welcome!
NOTE: We will not be covering the riven market or how rivens work in this guide. I plan to make a guide in the future to get you started, but that is the best I can do.
Items and Your Inventory: Keeping Stock:
Spoiler
So, you want to start trading, eh? You're going to need some items first.
Tradable items generally consist of a variety of things, from mods to prime parts. Your goal is to farm for these items and build up a stock of items that another player will want to buy.
Here is a list of what IS tradable:
Prime Parts (including Weapons, Sentinels, Etc.)
Prime Warframes (Only Blueprints. Built parts are untradable by default)
Mods (Discluding any primed mods from Daily Tributes, Umbral/Sacrificial mods, Amalgam mods, and Flawed mods)
Weapon Variants (Parts and blueprints, primarily Wraith, Vandal, Syndicate Weapons, Prisma and Mara (Mara Detron to be exact))
Relics (see tip below)
An easy way of collecting is through relic farming, or using a massive amount of relics in order to farm out rare prime parts so that you can sell them.
I will not be going over relic farming in this guide, however there are many other guides out there that can explain it far better than I ever can, and any attempt to replicate them would be plagiarism on a grand scale.
Tip: Like most things in the game, even the relics themselves can be sold! Lith, Meso, Neo, and Axi (sometimes Requiem) are the four tiers of relics that you can obtain. Each can be upgraded with Void Traces to yeild better rewards. Generally the highest rank of a relic is Radiant, often shortened to "rad". So if you see "WTB Any Axi Rad 15p", you'll know that they want radiant Axi relics for 15p. Be smart, sometimes they may ask for more than 1 relic tier!
You can also utilize the wiki or the codex to find out where to obtain certain items and mods (preferrably the wiki, since searching for things in the codex can sometimes be a hassle!)
For primes and weapon variants, I highly suggest you farm out a set of everything for yourself first. Having a set of say Inaros Prime for yourself would mean that you don't have to worry about either buying another set from someone else or worrying about how many sets you have. You can simply farm for parts while yours is cooking in the Foundry.
The big tip I have for newer traders is to diversify your inventory. Having a wide array of items, mods, relics, etc. will help you better in the long run. Having a wide variety of items means you have a wide variety of things to sell or trade, giving you a pseudo-versatility.
Once you have your stock in check, it's time for the next phase, Trade Chat.
Trade Chat:
Spoiler
As some of you already know, trade chat is the general "hub" of where all offers are posted. It can be found right after the 'Recruitment' channel in the chat UI. (chat icon pending )
Here is some common terminology you most likely will see:
WTS = Wanting to sell
WTB = Wanting to buy
WTT/WTTF = Wanting to trade / wanting to trade for
##p = Amount of platinum, designated by 'p'
PMO = "PM offer" or "Private message offer", meaning the person wants someone to message them with an offer for the item they are selling (usually seen with riven offers)
OBO = "Or best offer" (didn't know about that one, thank you comments!)
Asking Price = The initial price an offer is made at
Lowball = Means someone is asking for a drastically lower price than what the asking price was
Generally simple, right?
Trade chat usually moves pretty fast, and to accomodate to this, there is a 120 second timer for every user after they post to the channel. During the timer, you are not allowed to send any messages to the channel unless they are commands. For frequent discord users, think a more lenient slowmode.
Trade chat has a variety of different messages, varying in format and structure. Generally this doesn't matter, but personally here is the format I use for my messages:
- "WTS [insert item here] 50p" / "WTS [item 1] 50p, [item 2] 75p" (WTB follows the same format)
- "WTT [item 1] for [item 2]"
Be warned that sending a message will usually not always net a response, as I said before trade chat is constantly moving, so not everyone will see your message. This does NOT mean you type the max amount of characters for a simple offer. Something you will learn is that No message in trade chat is guarunteed a response.
So what do the bracketed "[]" parts mean? These are Links, or things that you put in your message to better help potential buyers or sellers understand what you want.
When typing links in, usually you can easily find what you're looking for through the auto-search feature.
An example of a link would be [Ember Prime] or [Ember Prime Systems] for a specific part.
You'll commonly see these in trade chat, and help a lot to make your message just that more unique.
The Free Market: Varying Prices:
Spoiler
Warframe's trade system runs on what is known as a "free market", meaning prices are constantly both changing and varying depending on where you go or who you do business with.
For an example:
Person One: "WTS [Excalibur Prime Chassis] 50p"
Person Two: "WTS [Excalibur Prime Chassis] 75p"
Players constantly vary in price, and there is no set or accepted price for an item. Someone tomorrow can sell a filled Anasa statue for 50p while another can sell one for 10p.
This also constitutes a practice known as Bartering, a concept that is covered below this section.
There is some predictability here, however. Usually during a big prime release or an item release that players want, prices will go up for a certain item. Say, I don't know, Octavia Prime and her weapons are released today, the prices for her parts (if you were to buy them) would be quite expensive by assumption. Then, as her parts become abundant and the community becomes used to the influx of parts in the market, her prices will drop, and her parts will be worth much less. Now here's the interesting thing, if and when Octavia Prime were to be vaulted, her parts would begin to gradually increase in price, albeit this increase would be slower.
A tip from me would also be to buy low and sell high. Buying low means you are buying things at their lower or lowest prices, effectively spending drastically less platinum in the process. Then selling high would mean you sell the items you bought at low for a much higher price, making back the plat you lost and much more. It may sound scummy, but this method can be pretty effective given the right conditions and time.
Bartering: The Fun Part of Trading
Spoiler
Let's divulge in another scenario
You want a Rhino Prime Set, but you only have a limited amount of platinum, say 110p. Someone is selling it for 115p, but you really really need this set so you pm the user and attempt a barter.
Now, you can go about this 1 of three ways:
A. You can tell a sob story and beg for it to be lower, constantly spamming the user to give it to you because you really need it.
B. You can ask for a drastically low price because Rhino Prime sells for 50p and you know so because a third party site said so so it must be true. You then proceed to argue with the player about how you're right and they don't know how trading works.
C. You can politely ask if the user can lower the price somewhat, possibly to 110p or 105p.
If you picked anything but C., you obviously don't know how to barter. (C was the correct answer, in case you couldn't tell)
A. is wrong because nobody will take you seriously, and you're better off just not trading if this is how you act when you want to buy something.
B. is also wrong because third party sites are also normally always wrong. Players constantly use sites like Warframe Market to help determine their prices, without understanding that this is a free market. Those third party sites firstly don't go off of trade chat statistics, they go off site statistics. Secondly as I stated in the previous section, there is no accepted "right price" for an item. This essentially says "I don't know what I'm doing" and "I don't know what a free market system is".
Bartering involved both being reasonable and mature. You must be reasonable with your proposed price, consider the seller or buyer and you must treat them with respect. Treat everyone like a client, not some person you can freely insult.
Pro Tip: Showing maturity and being reasonable will also give you better reputation in the community, and more people will be likely to trade with you. The more immature and childish you act, the more people will be warned about you, and the more people will likely avoid you.
Now how does this work in reference to PMOs? Simple, just pm an offer! Doesn't have to be an on point price, either (of course don't say something like '1p', be at least a little reasonable with what you can offer.) More than likely, users will either accept that offer or propose a counter offer, which you can continue to barter off of.
Pro Tip: Don't spend too long bartering. Try to swiftly reach a price acceptable for both parties. For Buyers, you'll swiftly lose the seller, as they will most likely find someone who would buy it for more or at asking price. For sellers, someone will likely find someone who is selling for lower, and you'll also loser that client.
For someone selling, be sure not to be scammed by being lowballed, as newer players or scammers sometimes do this to get items cheaper. I usually try to go no lower than a 25p decrease.
Another thing is if you know you cannot afford an item, you should either make more plat so you can afford an item, or don't reply to the offer at all, especially not with a drastically lowballed price to fit your range.
Trading: Seal The Deal!
Spoiler
So, what now? Your buyer or seller has accepted your offer, where do you go from here?
In order to trade, you need to enter an area that accepts trading. Normally someone would go to a clan Dojo, essentially the "house" of all the people in that clan. Players would then go to a trading kiosk and select the person they wish to trade with. (Alternatively you can set up an offer via the gear selection hotkey, but I don't recommend this unless you plan on sitting in Maroo's Bazaar.)
Once the other player accepts the trade invitation, you'll be taken to the trading UI. Here you are given the option of trading six items, noted by the amount of slots on the screen. Selecting these slots will prompt a side menu to appear, allowing you to select mods, items, or plat into the slot.
For items, ensure that:
- the items you are trading are tradable, this includes blueprints, parts, and miscellaneous items. (Note, base warframe blueprints, built warframe parts, and most resources cannot be traded. These will usually be marked as non-tradable anyway.)
- You have the correct credit count for the transaction. Each trade requires a certain amount of credits, determined by the value of the items and what you're receiving. There is usually also a tax that takes an alotted amout of credits per trade, however clans usually keep this at a minimum since it's really annoying.
You can also view what the other player is putting into their slots, allowing you to also verify that the person is holding their end of the bargain.
Once finished setting up, you both have to accept the trade, and then press the trade button, again verifying what you're trading and what the other is trading for.
Once everything is said and done, the trade should go through and you should have what you asked for.
Congratulations, you have successfully traded!
Manoob's Bazaar, Warframe Market, and Third Party Sites
Spoiler
Interested in other places to find traders?
I know of two likely places that you'll be able to find commonplace traders and easier to access offers.
Maroo's Bazaar, or as I've dubbed it "Manoob's Bazaar" is the first place to find traders. Why did I call it "Manoob"? Well Maroo's Bazaar has a tendency to be full of players who don't necissarily know how to trade, or players who sit there for hours with a single offer, not doing anything but stand around. It's not a place I generally recommend to people, but it works if you aren't part of a clan and don't have access to a Dojo. However having an extra place to sell and buy does have its benefits.
Warframe Market is the second option. It is a third party site that has many offers for various items, recently instituting a riven and kuva lich option for players to better have a chance at finding buyers and sellers. Note that I said it is a Third Party Site, meaning Digital Extremes is not responsible for anything that happens within the site. If you get scammed, that's on you, and more on you if you read this guide. Warframe Market does offer an easier more efficient way to those who want to make plat quicker and find offers easier. All you really have to do is post your offers and use the search bar to search for offers on what you want. They also have a reputation and review system, so you can decide who you'd want to buy from based on their community rep. I suggest it, especially to anyone who doesn't want to sit in trade chat for hours on end. Really diversifying where you advertise can be one of the best things right now, giving you access to reaching more people and the ability to have more places to sell or buy.
Here is the link to Warframe Market, you will need to link and verify your account in order to use it, however!
I'll tell you something I do when I have free time and nothing to farm.
I go to Maroo's, I setup a shop, I advertise everything on trade chat and Warframe Market. Then, I wait. I grab a coffee, I do some work, whatever. Trading doesn't have to be this big mess of a mission, it's not as hard as people really make it out to be. You just have to know how to do it. And with the tri-advert method I use, it makes everything just a tad easier. Just make sure you learn to CTRL+V every now and then so you don't have to re-type your offers every 2 minutes.
I hope this guide helped somewhat! I am aware there are more guides out there, but I haven't seen one here, so I decided to post one out of consideration. At least for me, the market was hard to get in to, and I didn't have any resources to help me get a leg up on it.
If you have any tips, questions, revisions, or things I might've missed, please state them in the comments! I am always happy to revise and edit this guide when necessary. All I request is you don't be toxic, as I'm just trying my best.
Question
MisterYurei
Hello Tenno,
This is a general help forum for newer users who are unfamiliar or generally unacquainted with the trading system and would like to get started. We will be covering the basics of trading and how you can get a head start on making platinum. This guide is still under construction somewhat so things like pictures, links, and other resources are going to be added in the future. Some things might also be missing as a result of me being very tired, so your additions and suggestions are always welcome!
NOTE: We will not be covering the riven market or how rivens work in this guide. I plan to make a guide in the future to get you started, but that is the best I can do.
Items and Your Inventory: Keeping Stock:
So, you want to start trading, eh? You're going to need some items first.
Tradable items generally consist of a variety of things, from mods to prime parts. Your goal is to farm for these items and build up a stock of items that another player will want to buy.
Here is a list of what IS tradable:
An easy way of collecting is through relic farming, or using a massive amount of relics in order to farm out rare prime parts so that you can sell them.
I will not be going over relic farming in this guide, however there are many other guides out there that can explain it far better than I ever can, and any attempt to replicate them would be plagiarism on a grand scale.
Tip: Like most things in the game, even the relics themselves can be sold! Lith, Meso, Neo, and Axi (sometimes Requiem) are the four tiers of relics that you can obtain. Each can be upgraded with Void Traces to yeild better rewards. Generally the highest rank of a relic is Radiant, often shortened to "rad". So if you see "WTB Any Axi Rad 15p", you'll know that they want radiant Axi relics for 15p. Be smart, sometimes they may ask for more than 1 relic tier!
You can also utilize the wiki or the codex to find out where to obtain certain items and mods (preferrably the wiki, since searching for things in the codex can sometimes be a hassle!)
Here's a link to the FANDOM Wiki (Might lag on some older PCs): https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/WARFRAME_Wiki
For primes and weapon variants, I highly suggest you farm out a set of everything for yourself first. Having a set of say Inaros Prime for yourself would mean that you don't have to worry about either buying another set from someone else or worrying about how many sets you have. You can simply farm for parts while yours is cooking in the Foundry.
The big tip I have for newer traders is to diversify your inventory. Having a wide array of items, mods, relics, etc. will help you better in the long run. Having a wide variety of items means you have a wide variety of things to sell or trade, giving you a pseudo-versatility.
Once you have your stock in check, it's time for the next phase, Trade Chat.
Trade Chat:
As some of you already know, trade chat is the general "hub" of where all offers are posted. It can be found right after the 'Recruitment' channel in the chat UI. (chat icon pending
)
Here is some common terminology you most likely will see:
WTS = Wanting to sell
WTB = Wanting to buy
WTT/WTTF = Wanting to trade / wanting to trade for
##p = Amount of platinum, designated by 'p'
PMO = "PM offer" or "Private message offer", meaning the person wants someone to message them with an offer for the item they are selling (usually seen with riven offers)
OBO = "Or best offer" (didn't know about that one, thank you comments!)
Asking Price = The initial price an offer is made at
Lowball = Means someone is asking for a drastically lower price than what the asking price was
Generally simple, right?
Trade chat usually moves pretty fast, and to accomodate to this, there is a 120 second timer for every user after they post to the channel. During the timer, you are not allowed to send any messages to the channel unless they are commands. For frequent discord users, think a more lenient slowmode.
Trade chat has a variety of different messages, varying in format and structure. Generally this doesn't matter, but personally here is the format I use for my messages:
- "WTS [insert item here] 50p" / "WTS [item 1] 50p, [item 2] 75p" (WTB follows the same format)
- "WTT [item 1] for [item 2]"
Be warned that sending a message will usually not always net a response, as I said before trade chat is constantly moving, so not everyone will see your message. This does NOT mean you type the max amount of characters for a simple offer. Something you will learn is that No message in trade chat is guarunteed a response.
So what do the bracketed "[]" parts mean? These are Links, or things that you put in your message to better help potential buyers or sellers understand what you want.
When typing links in, usually you can easily find what you're looking for through the auto-search feature.
An example of a link would be [Ember Prime] or [Ember Prime Systems] for a specific part.
You'll commonly see these in trade chat, and help a lot to make your message just that more unique.
The Free Market: Varying Prices:
Warframe's trade system runs on what is known as a "free market", meaning prices are constantly both changing and varying depending on where you go or who you do business with.
For an example:
Person One: "WTS [Excalibur Prime Chassis] 50p"
Person Two: "WTS [Excalibur Prime Chassis] 75p"
Players constantly vary in price, and there is no set or accepted price for an item. Someone tomorrow can sell a filled Anasa statue for 50p while another can sell one for 10p.
This also constitutes a practice known as Bartering, a concept that is covered below this section.
There is some predictability here, however. Usually during a big prime release or an item release that players want, prices will go up for a certain item. Say, I don't know, Octavia Prime and her weapons are released today, the prices for her parts (if you were to buy them) would be quite expensive by assumption. Then, as her parts become abundant and the community becomes used to the influx of parts in the market, her prices will drop, and her parts will be worth much less. Now here's the interesting thing, if and when Octavia Prime were to be vaulted, her parts would begin to gradually increase in price, albeit this increase would be slower.
A tip from me would also be to buy low and sell high. Buying low means you are buying things at their lower or lowest prices, effectively spending drastically less platinum in the process. Then selling high would mean you sell the items you bought at low for a much higher price, making back the plat you lost and much more. It may sound scummy, but this method can be pretty effective given the right conditions and time.
Bartering: The Fun Part of Trading
Let's divulge in another scenario
You want a Rhino Prime Set, but you only have a limited amount of platinum, say 110p. Someone is selling it for 115p, but you really really need this set so you pm the user and attempt a barter.
Now, you can go about this 1 of three ways:
A. You can tell a sob story and beg for it to be lower, constantly spamming the user to give it to you because you really need it.
B. You can ask for a drastically low price because Rhino Prime sells for 50p and you know so because a third party site said so so it must be true. You then proceed to argue with the player about how you're right and they don't know how trading works.
C. You can politely ask if the user can lower the price somewhat, possibly to 110p or 105p.
If you picked anything but C., you obviously don't know how to barter. (C was the correct answer, in case you couldn't tell)
A. is wrong because nobody will take you seriously, and you're better off just not trading if this is how you act when you want to buy something.
B. is also wrong because third party sites are also normally always wrong. Players constantly use sites like Warframe Market to help determine their prices, without understanding that this is a free market. Those third party sites firstly don't go off of trade chat statistics, they go off site statistics. Secondly as I stated in the previous section, there is no accepted "right price" for an item. This essentially says "I don't know what I'm doing" and "I don't know what a free market system is".
Bartering involved both being reasonable and mature. You must be reasonable with your proposed price, consider the seller or buyer and you must treat them with respect. Treat everyone like a client, not some person you can freely insult.
Pro Tip: Showing maturity and being reasonable will also give you better reputation in the community, and more people will be likely to trade with you. The more immature and childish you act, the more people will be warned about you, and the more people will likely avoid you.
Now how does this work in reference to PMOs? Simple, just pm an offer! Doesn't have to be an on point price, either (of course don't say something like '1p', be at least a little reasonable with what you can offer.) More than likely, users will either accept that offer or propose a counter offer, which you can continue to barter off of.
Pro Tip: Don't spend too long bartering. Try to swiftly reach a price acceptable for both parties. For Buyers, you'll swiftly lose the seller, as they will most likely find someone who would buy it for more or at asking price. For sellers, someone will likely find someone who is selling for lower, and you'll also loser that client.
For someone selling, be sure not to be scammed by being lowballed, as newer players or scammers sometimes do this to get items cheaper. I usually try to go no lower than a 25p decrease.
Another thing is if you know you cannot afford an item, you should either make more plat so you can afford an item, or don't reply to the offer at all, especially not with a drastically lowballed price to fit your range.
Trading: Seal The Deal!
So, what now? Your buyer or seller has accepted your offer, where do you go from here?
In order to trade, you need to enter an area that accepts trading. Normally someone would go to a clan Dojo, essentially the "house" of all the people in that clan. Players would then go to a trading kiosk and select the person they wish to trade with. (Alternatively you can set up an offer via the gear selection hotkey, but I don't recommend this unless you plan on sitting in Maroo's Bazaar.)
Once the other player accepts the trade invitation, you'll be taken to the trading UI. Here you are given the option of trading six items, noted by the amount of slots on the screen. Selecting these slots will prompt a side menu to appear, allowing you to select mods, items, or plat into the slot.
For items, ensure that:
- the items you are trading are tradable, this includes blueprints, parts, and miscellaneous items. (Note, base warframe blueprints, built warframe parts, and most resources cannot be traded. These will usually be marked as non-tradable anyway.)
- You have the correct credit count for the transaction. Each trade requires a certain amount of credits, determined by the value of the items and what you're receiving. There is usually also a tax that takes an alotted amout of credits per trade, however clans usually keep this at a minimum since it's really annoying.
You can also view what the other player is putting into their slots, allowing you to also verify that the person is holding their end of the bargain.
Once finished setting up, you both have to accept the trade, and then press the trade button, again verifying what you're trading and what the other is trading for.
Once everything is said and done, the trade should go through and you should have what you asked for.
Congratulations, you have successfully traded!
Manoob's Bazaar, Warframe Market, and Third Party Sites
Interested in other places to find traders?
I know of two likely places that you'll be able to find commonplace traders and easier to access offers.
Maroo's Bazaar, or as I've dubbed it "Manoob's Bazaar" is the first place to find traders. Why did I call it "Manoob"? Well Maroo's Bazaar has a tendency to be full of players who don't necissarily know how to trade, or players who sit there for hours with a single offer, not doing anything but stand around. It's not a place I generally recommend to people, but it works if you aren't part of a clan and don't have access to a Dojo. However having an extra place to sell and buy does have its benefits.
Warframe Market is the second option. It is a third party site that has many offers for various items, recently instituting a riven and kuva lich option for players to better have a chance at finding buyers and sellers. Note that I said it is a Third Party Site, meaning Digital Extremes is not responsible for anything that happens within the site. If you get scammed, that's on you, and more on you if you read this guide. Warframe Market does offer an easier more efficient way to those who want to make plat quicker and find offers easier. All you really have to do is post your offers and use the search bar to search for offers on what you want. They also have a reputation and review system, so you can decide who you'd want to buy from based on their community rep. I suggest it, especially to anyone who doesn't want to sit in trade chat for hours on end. Really diversifying where you advertise can be one of the best things right now, giving you access to reaching more people and the ability to have more places to sell or buy.
Here is the link to Warframe Market, you will need to link and verify your account in order to use it, however!
https://warframe.market/
So what can't you do?
I'll tell you something I do when I have free time and nothing to farm.
I go to Maroo's, I setup a shop, I advertise everything on trade chat and Warframe Market. Then, I wait. I grab a coffee, I do some work, whatever. Trading doesn't have to be this big mess of a mission, it's not as hard as people really make it out to be. You just have to know how to do it. And with the tri-advert method I use, it makes everything just a tad easier. Just make sure you learn to CTRL+V every now and then so you don't have to re-type your offers every 2 minutes.
Helpful Links and References
All of NeoNess007's Plat videos (some may be outdated)
Farming Relics Fast from Grind Hard Squad (4 months old)
Index Farming (for fast credits) from Grind Hard Squad (1 year old)
Pending Additions:
- Trading Etiqeutte
- Reference Pictures
In Conclusion:
I hope this guide helped somewhat! I am aware there are more guides out there, but I haven't seen one here, so I decided to post one out of consideration. At least for me, the market was hard to get in to, and I didn't have any resources to help me get a leg up on it.
If you have any tips, questions, revisions, or things I might've missed, please state them in the comments! I am always happy to revise and edit this guide when necessary. All I request is you don't be toxic, as I'm just trying my best.
See you around, Tenno!
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