How to trade in Path of Exile? It seems like such an obvious point to many MMO players. Just whisper a player and buy an item for currency. Since POE has no auction house, and caveat emptor is in effect, there are lots of reasons why people will need help learning how to trade in Path of Exile. Efficient play is a really vital cornerstone in Path of Exile. And just like in any other mechanic, the same is true when buying items. But be careful, there are a lot of ways to get scammed or waste your time when trading. So with that said here’s our guide to trading in Path of Exile.
The process is very simple:
- Use a trade site like pathofexile.com/trade or poe.trade to search for an item that you might want. You can buy any piece of armour, accessory, flask or any other equippable item in the game, and these sites have robust search functions that make finding gear upgrades very easy. The item filters on these sites are super useful.
The first thing to do when trading is to look for an item you want to buy. But be careful, there are tons of scams out there around Unique items, items being listed at low prices as a method for sending spam, and many other issues with trading in POE. Doublechecking the item placed in the trade window can save so much time and many headaches. With that said though, some sellers won’t message you back. The POE trade API will often show a seller online even if they’re in a different league.
Trading for Maps is a bit easier now than it used to be. When you’re doing Maps in POE, you’re bound to get duplicates of the lower tiers. With the importance of Atlas completion still being a core part of the endgame, there’s an incentive to complete Maps as quickly as possible. You will want to use a service like poemap.live to trade your unneeded Maps in a tier for ones that you do need.
Once you have found an item you want, press “Whisper” next to the seller’s name, this will generate a whisper message for that player that you send in-game. Once the message has been sent, wait. If the seller is available, they will invite you. Be sure to have the Currency ready and wait for them to initiate the trade
Once the trade window opens and the currency and item(s) being purchased have been placed inside, both players must hover their mouse cursor over the item(s) they’re accepting to validate and accept the trade. Take a few seconds to read the stats and check the links (if applicable) of the item you’re buying to be sure it’s the right one. Sellers should also take the time to count the Currency. Once you’re comfortable with the item and the price, accept the trade and go enjoy your new gear. Make sure to whisper the seller a quick thank you after trade as s simple gesture. a “GLHF” will do.
Basic Trading Tips
- Don’t spend currency as soon as you get it. There may be some leveling items that you may want to grab at the start of the league, just keep in mind that these common items fetch a premium in the first week or so of a trade league.
- Don’t constantly buy gear at low levels. The best thing new players can spend their currency on is leveling Uniques for their build, don’t buy rares until the endgame. Focus on leveling first.
- PRICE CHECK. The knowledge of how to price items, especially Rares, comes with time and meta-game knowledge. Most Rares aren’t worth selling, even in the endgame. So if you really want to focus on farming Currency, focus on learning what drops are valuable in a give league.
- ALWAYS CHECK THE ITEM BEFORE ACCEPTING TRADE. Scammers exist in this game, and will take advantage of your haste.
- Ctrl+LMB will move an item or stack right to the trade window when it’s open, saves time over dragging and dropping.
Some Basic Etiquette
- Always go to the seller as the buyer. When you message someone to buy an item from them, the seller should invite the buyer, and the buyer goes to the seller’s hideout.
- Wait for the seller to send a trade request, inventory management is hard sometimes. And if multiple buyers are lined up, the seller will want to control the chaos.
- Don’t pester sellers too much. Trading for certain items is always going to take time. You may have to whisper a seller a few times to get them to respond. If they don’t respond after a couple of whispers over the course of a minute or two, move on to the next item on your shopping list.
- Always have EXACT Currency ready before whispering a seller. If you lack the right kind, use the Currency market on poe.trade to exchange it first.
- If you want to haggle or pay with alternate currency, message the seller first and ask before simply altering the trade message.
- Once the trade is done, leave the party and hideout ASAP.
- Don’t waste your time with trade chat, the amount of spam and scams there make it a complete wash for getting the items you want.
- Patience is the key to trade in Path of Exile. Always double-check the item you’re trading for versus the listing, various scams exist that rely on the buyer rushing and not checking the item for minor details like the number of links and stat differences.
- Don’t be a scammer. Also, learn common scams. There’s a running joke in the community about “you profit 35c” for a reason. (To explain, a common scam is to buy up a worthless Unique item on the market, then relist 1-2 at a much higher price. Then the scammer will insist on trading said worthless Unique for a much more valuable item from a seller. Never take item-for-item trades as a new player.)