The Case for an In-Game Auction House in Path of Exile
Alright, Exiles. Let’s talk about (one of) the elephant (s) in the room.
After yesterday’s two-hour announcement stream from GGG, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about the future of Path of Exile 2. They’re clearly listening to feedback and trying to fix some of the biggest pain points — endgame rewards, crafting improvements, visual clutter, minion AI, armor scaling... the list goes on.
But there’s one thing that still feels stuck in the past.
Trade.
Yeah, I know. We’ve been screaming about this for years. But it’s honestly baffling that with all these big changes on the way, GGG hasn’t even hinted at improving the outdated, frustrating, third-party-dependent trade system.
So, let’s talk about why an in-game auction house (or at least something better than what we have now) would make PoE 2 a better experience for everyone — and why GGG’s old excuses from the 2018 Trade Manifesto don’t really hold up anymore.
1. Trading Right Now Feels Like a Full-Time Job — and Not a Fun One
Be real for a second. How do most of your trades go?
For me, it’s like this:
- 90% of the time: No words. They come, take the item, leave.
- 9% of the time: "ty" or "t4t" and we’re done.
- 1% of the time: Maybe there’s a short convo if someone asks about another item.
Where’s all that player interaction that GGG supposedly wanted to preserve by avoiding an auction house? It’s basically nonexistent. And let’s not even get started on the people who ignore trade requests or the joy of copy-pasting prices into a third-party site for hours just to make a few chaos.
The truth is, most of us just want to buy and sell our items efficiently so we can get back to actually playing the game. The current system feels like busywork — and frankly, it’s a scammer’s paradise.
I’ve seen everything from price manipulation to phishing attempts to people listing items they don’t even have. It’s a mess.
2. "But It’ll Trivialize Item Acquisition!" — Will It, Though?
Let’s address the big argument GGG made back in the 2018 Trade Manifesto.
They said an auction house would trivialize item acquisition and turn PoE into a game where you just buy your way to victory instead of working for your gear.
Honestly? I don’t buy it.
Right now, we already have third-party trade websites that let you find items in seconds. The only difference is that you still have to go through manual trades, which just adds friction and opportunities for scams.
If anything, the current system already trivializes item acquisition — it just makes it annoying. So why not streamline the process and make trading safer and more accessible for everyone?
Also, if GGG is really worried about flooding the economy with items, there are ways to prevent that:
- Limit the number of active listings per account.
- Add a bidding system or cooldowns on listings.
- Make certain items bound to the player once equipped.
There are plenty of ways to keep the economy healthy without forcing us to use a system that feels like it came from 2005.
3. GGG Is Fixing So Many Other Systems — Why Not Trade?
Yesterday’s stream showed me that GGG is willing to evolve. They’re not afraid to make big changes, even if it means reversing some of their past philosophies.
For example:
- Endgame is getting more rewarding.
- Elite monster detonation mechanics are being removed.
- Crafting is getting better, with fewer bad affixes.
- Minion AI is being improved.
All of these changes show that GGG wants to make PoE 2 more fun and accessible, especially for newer players. But trade — one of the most important systems in the game — is still stuck in the dark ages.
How can we have a more accessible, streamlined endgame without also improving how players access the gear they need?
4. Scams Are Everywhere. An Auction House Would Fix That.
One of the biggest problems with the current trade system is the constant scams.
- Fake listings with hidden drawbacks.
- Phishing attempts through trade messages.
- People listing items at a lower price just to bait you into messaging them, then jacking up the price.
These scams wouldn’t exist in an in-game auction house where items are verified by the system and transactions are automated.
Honestly, GGG already protects players in other ways — like preventing accidental item deletions. So why not apply the same logic to trading?
5. Trading Is Already a Barrier for New Players. Let’s Not Make It Worse.
One of the things that really stood out to me from the Q&A was how much GGG is thinking about new player accessibility in PoE 2.
They talked about making the transition from the campaign to endgame smoother, with better objectives and more guidance. They also acknowledged that many new players get lost after finishing the campaign.
But you know what’s really intimidating for new players?
Trade.
Imagine you’re a new player who just finished the campaign. You finally drop a valuable item, but now you have to:
- Figure out how much it’s worth.
- Go to a third-party website.
- Manually copy-paste trade whispers.
- Hope the buyer doesn’t scam you.
It’s a terrible first experience that drives people away from the game. An in-game auction house would fix that by making trade simple, secure, and accessible for everyone.
6. TL;DR: GGG, Please. It’s Time for an Auction House.
Look, I get it. GGG has always been protective of PoE’s player-driven economy. And I respect that.
But the current trade system isn’t fostering meaningful interactions. It’s just frustrating, time-consuming, and riddled with scams.
With PoE 2 introducing more complex crafting systems and a more rewarding endgame, an in-game auction house makes more sense than ever.
We don’t need a buy-it-now button that trivializes the game. We just need a modern trade system that’s secure, efficient, and accessible.
Final Thoughts: We’re Not Asking for Easy Mode. We’re Asking for a Better Game.
PoE 2 is shaping up to be incredible. The recent changes show that GGG is willing to listen to feedback and evolve the game.
All we’re asking is that trade gets the same treatment.
Let’s make trading better for everyone — from hardcore veterans to brand-new players.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!
Comments
I play trade league but never really used the system because it seems like such a chore, I can't be bothered to use the website, whisper to players yadda yadda.
But would have definitely used an auction house if there was one, so I hope it gets implemented down the line.
Another W for the AH would be u dont need to stay online to sell items 😅 just price it up, go offline and the other Day u get online and its Sold the exalted or whatever are in your inventory or the soldout Tab.
The game should seriously add a good trading hub. I want to browse for items ingame not website. Will also be a way for players to spend gold for items from other players.
i fully agree with this.
give us an auction house GGG... pretty please.
I actually like the website. With searching by filters (can type the thingies), I can find the upgrades/gear easily. And with widescreen it’s easy to compare side by side.
Well written, exactly my thoughts.
Website is fine for me as a casual. This seems to be an issue for the 1%-2% who spend time trading.
I swear I don't know if it's real, but if the Chinese client has an auction house, that is seriously fucked up that we don't and honestly makes me not want to play. Trading is dog shit at the moment, and if it's literally already there, that's fucked because I have wanted that forever in poe1.
GGG is 100% right about point 2: Convenient access to item upgrade will 100% make items feel trivialized
The entire reason they have this stance is because they have experience in d2 trade as well as d3 auction house. The amount of friction they added to poe trade is a direct reaction to that.
You can argue if it’s an overreaction and too much friction or not. But you can’t argue that it won’t trivialize gearing and item acquisition. It’s already been scienced and d3 items felt like absolute weightless stat sticks because of this problem.
You don’t need to write a manifesto on why the game needs and auction house. Any sane person knows the current system is completely ridiculous.
PoE 1 on console has an auction house, and by all accounts the Chinese client for PoE has an auction house as well as other quality of life features that the version of the game that the rest of the world gets does not have.
It’s not ok and they need to fix it. There’s nothing else that needs to be said.
I'm exhausted with endgame.
Because a lot of the loot is gear.
I don't really want to deal with interruptions of whatever I'm doing for 1-5ex. I only really bother if it's worth more.
Managing items trying to guess prices (not going to look them up for every remotely good item) is a chore. I've been looking for virtually any other activity other than endgame.
Breach is good loot but so much item filtering. And it constantly gives .5 FPS during breaches then zoomy mode after the breach end. Why do I need insta kill everything build if my build can handle breaches, just because of dumb FPS issues, all to get useless loot that isn't worth trading off?
No
Just remove trade leagues and force everyone into SSF tbh
Point 2 is the biggest one and I think you answered it yourself. Yes, there is friction in trading, that is literally what keeps it from completely trivialising item acquisition, it's the whole point. Players will take the path of least resistance, you need to have that friction from stopping it being far and away the best way to gear up.
Think about this; you're running the campaign for the first time in a league, the act 2 boss in cruel is eating you alive. Now, you could grind some levels in another area, adjust your passive tree, buy loot or gamble at vendors, try and craft a new item or you can spend 10 minutes on the trade site, whisper and have to go warp to another player to finish that trade and come back. Now, the trade option will almost certainly work and give you the best long term results, but that friction in trading means that lots of players will pick one of the other options instead. Now, imagine that trade was a simple look at the auction house and pick the best you can afford and instantly get it, let's say 2 minutes tops. That instantly becomes so far and away the best thing to do that everyone will do it. Suddenly player power becomes much stronger, much earlier. The campaign becomes trivialises because players are near perfectly geared all the time, so GGG has to up the difficulty to account for that. Now players who didn't want to engage with the AH are practically forced to because it's the only way to get gear good enough to do the boosted difficulty in content. It's an arms race.
This AH discussion is not new for ARPG's, it was an abject failure in D3, has been discussed by GGG multiple times and was even part of a GDC talk labelled "cursed problems". An ARPG is not your typical MMO, they have different design philosophies that often mean certain systems just don't translate well, an AH simply goes against this core design philosophy of an ARPG. Now, do I think it'll be improved? Yeah, absolutely, but players have thought about the actual consequences of what an AH will do to the game and why GGG have been (rightfully) hesitant to add one.
I want to sell and buy and not waste time. And go to sleep and still sell things. There is no trading experience. The only trading experience is the guy that haggles you for -3 exalted on a 10ex item or the SCAMMERS that insta swap the item! GIVE US AH!! It's 2025!!
This post is thoughtles masked as thoughtful.
You used too much bold
We're 5 weeks into this league and we already have the double confluence of trade currencies being devalued into the ground and extremely good or build enabling items getting extremely expensive and all other items trending to 1 ex. AH is going to both take more time and make this worse.
We could improve the site / get it in game, generally continue to smooth things out but auctions are not the move.
Also literally can't think of anything more toxic than bind on equip lol
I tolerate it. Any design that needs to use a third-party app outside of the game is just straight up bad.
Maybe the caravan moves on magic and the ones pulling it are more for show. Like flame decals on a car. Sure it doesn't go faster but looks bitchin'.
My fear is an explosion in bot usage to snap up good items with little friction.
I would argue that majority of trades have players negotiating or bartering which is good and what I think GGG means by trade friction. I’ve save at least 30 div in all my trades just by negotiating a price and it’s not just me lowballing people most items are just overpriced and the seller usually realizes that I’m offering them a way out of waiting 5 days to see if they can get there asking price
I was shocked that they haven’t mentioned anything about the auction house.
Automated Gear Trade, but:
-you submit your currency and gold and it's locked away for 1 hour until the "auction" is over
-you can only receive 1 item an hour
-you can only sell 1 item an hour
Remove item rarity from trade leagues, add auction house. Buff/add more item rarity in SSF leagues. Problem solved. (similar to what Last Epoch did) Edit :typo
NO
You could publish the most peer reviewed study every conducted, cited over a trillion times, even by God and John exile himself and they would still go "nuh uh, trade friction is good". So... yeah... but also I really hope to see some change/improvement in this lifetime.
They could make it so that the auction house becomes available after the campaign. That way new players can't pay to win that easily.
"Thanks!"
"Nice hideout btw lol"
I didn't get a reply 🥺
In poe1 i played sc trade foe a long time. At the beginning i traded everything and got burned out very fast. I switched to ssf but didnt have the experience, so that didnt work out well....
Back to sc trade but limited myself to currency and uniques only (but selling everything). Kept me around for 2-3 weeks every league.
In poe2 i started sc trade and now im hc ssf and let me tell you its the most fun i have ever had.
Imo trading with friction is something people think they dont want, but an auction house would probably speed up the gearing process by 50% if not more and burn out people very fast.
While I think a lot of people have good points on both ends of the argument, but as a humble casual who's closer to 40 years old, I would personally love to have some kind of auction house system.
The argument of trivializing gearing is barely an argument for someone like me. I want that item and I need those stats regardless. If I spend 30 minutes to an hour just trying to get specific items and I only have a few hours of free time to play, I'd rather just play something else then. This obviously doesn't apply to players who play the game way more than I do, but I feel like trading is a huge issue especially in the lower end of the game. Obviously if you're buying items worth tens or hundreds of divs people are more likely to reply to you and trade with you. It's the gear bought with bubblegum currency that's hard to get.
Perhaps the solution would be to have auction house where the cost cap would be somewhere in the low divines. It wouldn't affect gearing and trading of mid to high end of the players.
I strongly disagree. The issue of not receiving a response is a player problem, not a game problem. Not getting a "thank you" when trading – is it really that bad? There are countless reasons why people might not say anything: they may not be fluent in English, be playing on a console, or simply be rude. But to suggest that the lack of acknowledgment should be replaced by a system that offers no recognition at all seems odd.
As for scammers and price fixers, have you ever opened the Auction House in any game?
Regarding new players, I don't think it's too much to ask them to watch one of the hundreds of videos on YouTube about how to price items, use the trade website, or use third-party software. I really dislike the "Won't someone think of the new players?" mentality. These are tools you need to learn. Yes, it might not always be easy, but that's part of what makes a complex game enjoyable.
We can't have instant trading auction houses or all the good deals will get sniped by bots. Also, automation of market manipulation.
Funny thing is that Console in their own economy (poe1) had an auction house and now in poe2 they dont have one. in Poe1 it felt like 90% of the players or more were not using the tradewebsite (we did get that in like 2022/23 i think) but were still used to the old system where they did not need a 2nd device to even use it.
i wonder what those 90% do now. most of them dont have a PC or laptop so they are forced to trade with their mobile phone :D cant imagine how much that sucks
Id like to add 7.) Have both ingame AH and Tade site.
I understand there is a minority that wants to only do this via trade site so they can continue to reap the benefits, whatever they maybe.
We can have both systems co-exist, items listed on the trade site cannot be on the AH and vice versa, this allows the vast majority of player that want a smooth transaction continue slaying monsters and progressing characters, trying out different builds, spending MORE time playing the actual game.
Those that prefer to stick with the trade site can also continue to do so.
the point about trivialising items is fair. but if you allow trade, and as the case is in POE2, make trade a very important part of t he game for most players, then the current implementation just isnt good enough.
Having to browse a website, sending out 10 whispers, not getting replies or getting scammed just is in no way enojyable.
Id much rather have the current system then a system with any of these things
"Also, if GGG is really worried about flooding the economy with items, there are ways to prevent that:
- Limit the number of active listings per account.
- Add a bidding system or cooldowns on listings.
- Make certain items bound to the player once equipped."
Sorry but AH is trash. You may not like it, but current model is far superior. You will get used to it.
The buyer experience is so damn terrible. Just dealt with that all night long trying to purchase my first headhunter
Going rate was 10-11d until people started getting off for the evening. Then it went up to 12d whom didn't receive any offers and were days old (I only have 11). Aaaaand when new ones got listed for 11 they were flooded with offers from flippers
It would be much better for everyone if I could just put in a buy order for 11 and wait my turn or people would post for that amount and I wouldn't have to deal with pricefixing. I literally wasted about 30 minutes tonight just going back and forth between whispers and the trade site. When I finally got my belt I wasn't as elated as I imagined since it was such a dumb ordeal
Having an AH would ruin the game. D3 tried to have one and it was eventually scrapped
As a new player, with some limited POE1 experience. I would say that 1) I dont understand trade, 2) dont get the jargon of trade, 3) do not feel comfortable using trade to buy/sell anything
Agreed
4
These posts keep coming. They present augments, pleas, and begs. They ask for some type of quality that buffs player power - ya easy trade does that. This one even identified why trade needs friction. Yet they do not offer a suggestion of how to solve the trade friction necessity
I’m so tired of these low quality posts. If you ask for a buff to the system, at least identify somewhere to compromise. This case misses the core issue entirely
Does Auction house really fix the issue of scams? I’m pretty sure you can bot an auction house too. Anything that is godly and on the market will be snatched in matters of seconds by bots which is a far worse problem than avoidable scams.
Thanks but I'll pass, less friction to gear up sounds terrible. I like having the option, but Im glad it's annoying.
They said an auction house would trivialize item acquisition and turn PoE into a game where you just buy your way to victory instead of working for your gear.
This is how the game ALREADY works....
There are many people, like myself, who couldn’t be bothered with the current trading system. This is one of the reasons which drives the prices up because you just salvage or disenchant the equipment you won’t need. If you could put it in the market easily, you would create more supply to meet the demand and thus, reducing the prices.
I know all of the more casual players seem to think that a auction house and instant buyout will solve all of their issues but what they are missing is that the very richest players will almost instantly consolidate the market own all of a given build defining item and then resell at a prohibitive expense for the average player. I have done this for uniques in POE 1 and 2 I have captured a market before a video comes out from one of the usual suspects and then set the price to extremely higher than it typically is and profited massively.
If I was able to do this without having to go to hide out and trade I would be able to do this on an absurd scale and almost single handedly destroy the games economy for multiple items. Their will be no completion the biggest blasters and fastest traders will completely dominate the market and you the average player wanting to not spend 2-3 minutes finding and item and trading for it will lose out more than anyone else.