9 ms·

Alternatively, you can now rent a blockbuster film using money you have made while playing games. Trading cards, skin drops, crates/cases etc can all be acquire

Alternatively, you can now rent a blockbuster film using money you have made while playing games. Trading cards, skin drops, crates/cases etc can all be acquired without putting money into the system but can be sold for credit on the steam marketplace. Personally, I have used profits from selling trading cards and unwanted tf2 weapons to buy games, why not rent films?

tronje 10y ago
Oh yeah, that's a good point I hadn't considered. I supposed it remains to be seen if enough people use it that (or another) way to make it a profitable endeavor.
TeMPOraL 10y ago
> Alternatively, you can now rent a blockbuster film using money you have made while playing games. Trading cards, skin drops, crates/cases etc can all be acquired without putting money into the system but can be sold for credit on the steam marketplace. But where you can earn enough money? The total value of all items I've earned on Steam probably doesn't even sum to 1 Euro...
- jon-wood 10y ago
  You might be surprised, when I first discovered you could sell trading cards I listing all the ones I'd collected and made ~£30.
  - cmrx64 10y ago
    I had a similar experience, and over the years I've bought 3-4 games using trading cards that I'd gathered.
- knd775 10y ago
  Well, I guess it depends on how you use steam. If I sold all my CS:GO skins, TF2 items, and trading cards, I'd have several hundred USD.
  - etimberg 10y ago
    Yeah, with enough time and consistent playing you can make some money. I play CSGO pretty consistently and I've made enough to cover all the DLCs so far. Usually my strategy is: buy the DLC and play a lot right after it comes out. You're bound to get a few drops from the new set. Selling those immediately can easily make some money.
- levemi 10y ago
  > The total value of all items I've earned on Steam probably doesn't even sum to 1 Euro... You aren't idling Bad Rats then, if you just idle the game you'll earn $0.20 cards every so often. There's a really weird underground economy in steam around cards. I don't really understand the market, it seems akin to smokes in the joint. There are farmers (people idling games), scammers (people taking more value than they're getting), there are arbitration scripts always running for the various steam and third party market places. A lot of the value I think comes from people who want to have a really nice Steam profile. With enough cards and xp you can get a nice background and a high level. I haven't really looked into it but some people take it really serious and are willing to pay for it.
  - firebird84 10y ago
    Does idling Bad Rats produce more revenue than the cost of the power consumed by doing so?
    - Spellman 10y ago
      My guess: nope
    - hiou 10y ago
      It does when you live in a dorm or your parent's house. Same as a pizza delivery driver using their parent's car. Or Uber drivers unable to do the math on their costs. There a lots and lots of markets where the seller almost always loses. Look at art and music.
      - yarou 10y ago
        You didn't answer the parent's comment, though. The answer is that the cost of electricity is greater than running this game, even if it's run in the background. It's irrelevant if you live in a dorm or your parent's house - you just pass on the cost to whomever is the responsible party. And you finish with a rather bizarre statement about markets where the seller loses. There are markets where a large number of sellers compete for a shrinking amount of market share with an undifferentiated product. But it's irrational for someone to sell something at a loss in the medium to long term, overall (unless they are a monopolist).
- math0ne 10y ago
  Dota and CS go tend to be where the items at.

tronje 10y ago

Oh yeah, that's a good point I hadn't considered. I supposed it remains to be seen if enough people use it that (or another) way to make it a profitable endeavor.

TeMPOraL 10y ago

> Alternatively, you can now rent a blockbuster film using money you have made while playing games. Trading cards, skin drops, crates/cases etc can all be acquired without putting money into the system but can be sold for credit on the steam marketplace. But where you can earn enough money? The total value of all items I've earned on Steam probably doesn't even sum to 1 Euro...

jon-wood 10y ago
You might be surprised, when I first discovered you could sell trading cards I listing all the ones I'd collected and made ~£30.
- cmrx64 10y ago
  I had a similar experience, and over the years I've bought 3-4 games using trading cards that I'd gathered.
knd775 10y ago
Well, I guess it depends on how you use steam. If I sold all my CS:GO skins, TF2 items, and trading cards, I'd have several hundred USD.
- etimberg 10y ago
  Yeah, with enough time and consistent playing you can make some money. I play CSGO pretty consistently and I've made enough to cover all the DLCs so far. Usually my strategy is: buy the DLC and play a lot right after it comes out. You're bound to get a few drops from the new set. Selling those immediately can easily make some money.
levemi 10y ago
> The total value of all items I've earned on Steam probably doesn't even sum to 1 Euro... You aren't idling Bad Rats then, if you just idle the game you'll earn $0.20 cards every so often. There's a really weird underground economy in steam around cards. I don't really understand the market, it seems akin to smokes in the joint. There are farmers (people idling games), scammers (people taking more value than they're getting), there are arbitration scripts always running for the various steam and third party market places. A lot of the value I think comes from people who want to have a really nice Steam profile. With enough cards and xp you can get a nice background and a high level. I haven't really looked into it but some people take it really serious and are willing to pay for it.
- firebird84 10y ago
  Does idling Bad Rats produce more revenue than the cost of the power consumed by doing so?
  - Spellman 10y ago
    My guess: nope
  - hiou 10y ago
    It does when you live in a dorm or your parent's house. Same as a pizza delivery driver using their parent's car. Or Uber drivers unable to do the math on their costs. There a lots and lots of markets where the seller almost always loses. Look at art and music.
    - yarou 10y ago
      You didn't answer the parent's comment, though. The answer is that the cost of electricity is greater than running this game, even if it's run in the background. It's irrelevant if you live in a dorm or your parent's house - you just pass on the cost to whomever is the responsible party. And you finish with a rather bizarre statement about markets where the seller loses. There are markets where a large number of sellers compete for a shrinking amount of market share with an undifferentiated product. But it's irrational for someone to sell something at a loss in the medium to long term, overall (unless they are a monopolist).
math0ne 10y ago
Dota and CS go tend to be where the items at.