New/returning players be aware of POE 2 trade scams

I'm mostly just concerned about the inflation. The only time I've seen prices rise this fast was during the Sonic Inflation that the US went through in '34. For more information on that, check our Rule 34 Sonic Inflation.

Also:

Listing Scam: I list Good Item for 5 Exalts and never sell it. When you list Good Item for 4 Exalts, I buy it and then list for 1 Divine. If you list something and are swarmed with 100 whispers instantly, that's a pretty big clue

Trade Scam: I list Garbage for 5 Divines. I offer to trade you Garbage for your Good Item. You check Auction House, see Garbage is 'selling' for 5 Divines and Good Item is only worth 1 Divine.

Rule of Thumb 1: If someone cancels trade and reopens or takes an item in and out, it is probably a scam.

Rule of Thumb 2: Don't trade item for item.

Ive been wondering who should lock in first. The seller or the buyer?

they need to make the weapon skill visible when hovering in trade as well. guy kept trying to get me to trust him and give him item to make sure it has the right skill for like 10 mins today.

How do you figure out values without spending ages comparing? It seems like so much hassle!

I assume it’s not worth the time until maps?

It’s so weird that a game in 2024 with trade between hundreds of thousands of players doesn’t have an auction house.

I feel like I’m back in high school playing maplestory with basil-market.

Honestly, just play self-found mode unless you're playing with friends.

The fact they haven't, and most likely won't implement an auction house is pathetic, and the current trading system is dogshit. There's zero repercussions for scamming people, so of course there's going to be a massive rise in it.

I accidentally almost scammed someone. I saw an item on the trade site, listed as 8 Ex, but I only had 6 Ex. So instead of using the auto whisper, I copied the message and put it into the game, and just adjusted the number 8 to say 6, as that's what I could pay.

We are in the trade window, and he called me a scammer. I defended myself saying I clearly did the price hmI was paying, and that he should have read it. That's when I reread the message and saw I had adjusted it to say "listed for 6 8 ex", so I had in fact accidentally tried to scam him. I tried to whisper to apologise and explain, but he had understandably blocked me :(, sorry friend, my bad.

Man I sure am glad we have to have posts like this instead of a proper trade/market system...

Another common one is people trying to buy Divines cheaper than the currency market. Always check the currency market to see the value of each currency.

Damn I tried to give a dude an exalt instead of a divine when I was sleep deprived yesterday….couldn’t understand why his wasn’t accepting the trade, but he whispered me and then it hit me lmao

I remember being scammed out of my Tal Rasha chest in Diablo 2 when I was like 10 years old. It's funny how the same scams are still being used almost 20 years later in ARPGs

buying a corrupted item is not a scam.
having not full knowledge about things as a buyer is no scam too.

it may hit the same feels but its not scam.

I sold a scepter on poe trade site with +16 skeleton warriors, 40%+ damage and +3 to all minion skills. When the guy joined my party I put it in the trade window and it didn't display the +16 warriors. The guy closed the window and left. I thought wtf I swear it had +16. Checked again and it did! But when I put it in trade window or linked it in chat it didn't show it. I whispered him explaining and he blocked me. I knew he thought I was scamming. 5 minutes later he rejoined the party and traded, after he got the item I asked if he could see it now and he said yes. Lol.

I was scammed the other day, i didnt propoerly check coz i though thinga were something of the past. I do not understand how ggg alow this to happen. To me this is something of a game of the 90s or early 2000s.

When i spel to them the awnser was i he do It múltiple times and It is very bad behaviour we Will punish.

I get the feeling that i should scam too. And thats a really bad feeling.

Also ignore any offer made in the trade chat channel.

Also don't party invite as buyer. I already have a few ppl blocked because of that.

Yoy're right to make people aware of scammers but also you should metion that not every person who delays or cancels the trade or behaves a bit strangely to you, is a scammer. Some people are new and don't know how this works and what to do. It takes a few trades to get used to this.

Be careful and vigilant but don't be a dick is basically what I'm trying to say.

Fck POE Market , I'm goin to play WOW Anniversary :D

lmao who are these people who buy their way into early access, then setup a scam business in a server that wont be the main one when 1.0 comes out

Also a word of caution if you do lots of quick trades to help out a friend with free items - don't let insta-accepting become muscle memory. One buyer was very happy to take a 7ex item for free and instantly leave the party.

Hopefully that's a mistake I only make once.

you also can shift click stacked items while the trade window is open to split them. That way you don't have to close the trade window and look like a scammer lol

Not really a trade scam but people in global chat who are super eager to help new players with bosses are only doing it so they can take the first time boss loot from you

People actually get scammed in this game. D2 has taught me about alot of stuff back in the day.

Isnt there a lock in system with trading? I havent made a trade yet (or maybe never will) cuz Im too scared something happens like this.

Just play SSF and not only avoid scams but have a 150% more fulfilling experience!

This is the worst trade system I’ve ever seen in a game…

Don't forget to avoid currency trades in the trade chat. Last night I saw guys trying to buy divine orbs for 10-15 exalts. Always check the rate at the exchange.

Is it common for people to change the bid amount after you whisper?

Had someone ask my offer (it was listed for 1 exalt) so I said 1 exalt and he said no?

Happened to me the other night, whispered someone for an item, traded 5x exalted orbs for a botched corrupted version of that item

Also if you get instant whisper after listing an item or changing zone after listing an item, wait 5-10 secs before inviting/trading that person. People use a lesser known Auto-whisper trading trick, it is 5-10 secs faster than everyone running live searches as it's a macro to auto message last notification on browser(which is coming from trade site or scraping) which cuts the time of alt+tab to trade tab then click whisper/trade message button.

This is the reason even if you are staring at live search tabs, items get sniped before you even message the seller.

Can you explain the qty change whisper thing?

Thats why i only play solo self found. Trading is such a pain.

A few days ago I got an unique ring drop, and went to sell it for 7 divines, someone whispered "Hey, is it okay if I pay in exalted?", and then we went to do the trade. I had been trading a lot, so I was doing it out of muscle memory, and did not realize that he had put in alchemy orbs instead of exalteds...

That was a nice way to lose 200 exalteds lol.

I bougth a item yesterday listed for a alc and trace with the guys. He said no a EX sure àc worth more Who i am to argué. Put the ex in and he said report nice try. Try to explain to the guy he Block me saying i try spamming him.

My first trade I was playing on my phone and couldn’t remember how to split and it was covered on my screen I backed out the trade dude was about to get 5 exalts for a death harp that I didn’t even use

Trimming Armour, 10 exalted!

Last night someone came to trade and canceled the trade twice - let me break orbs, sorry don't have space etc. I was so primed to rigorously check at the currency amount because this is a classic scam technique in poe1.

I said accept or get out because he was hovering the trade window for like ~5 sec, and the guy said sorry its my first trade I'm new to PoE. My bad, guy.

I had to go on a family trip the last couple of days. Was gonna sell a decent quarterstaff for about ~10 exalted but now it's 1 divine orb for endgame weapons at least. I'm scared ppl might not buy it anymore because it's more early endgame than late endgame.

I have been trying to buy a unique helm for the price listed over and over and I am not getting responses.

The fact we still have to go OUT of game, to a website, to sell and buy shit IN game in 2025 is by far the worst mechanic GGG refuses to let go.

Can you tell me why some people intend to buy my item, whisper, enter the PT and leave?

Can't be scammed if I don't have the div to try buy stuff with :( All seriousness great post though!

Wouldn't people have a better way to optimize commerce? Many people don't know what an item needs to have value, we resort to third-party programs full of bugs and dubious. Would it be so difficult for ggg to create an official program or improve the way we view an item with potential value?

Keep in mind for console players trade ui is very clunky and shit compared to poe1 as well as messaging so sometimes trading is slow for me even as a experienced player to where I try to be more prepared when the trade happens but even then I'll try accepting trade and it will have me trying to split my wisdom scrolls smh

Yep. First sale I ever made for scammed on. My fault for not paying closer attention.

The exalts and alchs look a bit alike at a glance.

If you dont check the offer then its a good lesson when that happens.

And it’s even worse with the greedy community and their ever climbing prices. About to uninstall.