RotMG Avoid Trade Scams Guide

RotMG Avoid Trade Scams Guide by Dethscythe

A lot of new players show frustration at being unable to trade more than 8 items at a time. This is a major limitation which allows scammers to take advantage of honest players. This guide will explain how to make trades of shapes and sizes safely for all parties involved.

First of all the general currency that is currently being used by most traders is stat potions. When trading for items worth more then 8 defense it is often simplest to buy life potions at the current market value. For example instead of selling “Staff of Astral Knowledge” for 11 defense usually it is safer to ask for 1 life and 4 defense. You might incur small losses in the conversion of the life back into defense, but this is often a price players are willing to pay to make secure trades. For larger trades players often convert life potions into Wine Cellar incantations. Asking for “incs” instead of pure def will go a long way towards putting more value into a single window.

The second thing to be wary of is trade deselectors/item swaps/false advertising. Always mouse over each item to confirm that it is correct and selected on your screen before you click accept. One common example is people selling wisdom pots disguised as life pots. Generally you should always be cautious of those asking for prices to good to be true. They prey on those who are too quick to accept before they confirm. They deselect/swap items when your attention drifts. Never assume the item is what they claim it to be.

Unfortunately there are always situations where it is impossible to trade in one window. In these cases it is very important to know that you can trust the other party. Players that scam will always say that they are vouched for and often provide fake vouches even taking pictures of phony vouches. Often they use a known well respected member of the community without their permission or they will create alternate accounts to make vouches or use other known scammers for vouches. If you do not trust any of the people that vouch for the person in question, take a step back and reconsider if they really are trustworthy. It is always prudent to go down the list and pm people (who you think are trustworthy) to ask them why they are willing to vouch. Even scammers can get legitimate vouches by trading with well trusted members and using those vouches to scam, so it is best to err on the side of caution.

In cases where you do not feel comfortable trading with the other party, you consider looking for a middle man. Who makes a good middle man? Someone that you can both trust. This can be either a mutual acquaintance, someone well vouched on the forums, someone well respected by the community, or perhaps someone you often see on the servers you play on and has a good reputation. Often scammers will ask for a middle man that is someone working with them to scam you. Do not accept any middle man that you would not trust with your items.

A very good alternative to using a middle man is to use collateral in your trades. Make sure collateral is fairly valued and easy to trade. You trade an item for other items and eventually trade them back down to items that you actually wish to trade. Make sure the other party understands what will be used for collateral and what the final trade will be. For example if you wish to sell an ammy for 17 life. Ask if they can provide collateral. In this situation they would provide items with a higher worth than 1 life to make the trade one window. A fair trade might be your ammy for their cosmic (6 life), gsorc (5 life) and 6 life. You would then trade their cosmic back to them for the specified amount. In the event they bail on the trade you can consider them a scammer, but you can still sell the collateral to recoup your losses.

And as always, consider using Kazansky’s Price guide to give you an approximation of the value of the items you are trading. Please understand that Kazansky does not determine how much you should pay for items. Its simply a reference to make sure you are getting approximately “fair market value”. To determine fair current pricing, you can often consult other traders or head to US West where the majority of traders like to trade.