For those who have yet to try Steam Trades (quick tips on not getting scammed)

User with key always go first.

what makes you think that everyone that have a key is trying to scam u? i have traded some keys and didn't scammed anyone

I once traded a guy one tradable item (which I cannot remember) in return for over 40 keys of various bundles.

Was I scammed? nope, but about 4 of them were used.

He already had -rep before. So I think you just made a bad move.

Also not every guy who trades a key for a gift is gonna scam you. I do trade keys for gifts and never tried to scam :/

It really depends on the person. I for one wouldn't dream of scamming someone as I don't want to be scammed myself. Gotta follow the golden rule!

well, i guess part of my luck is related to the fact that i just do small trades for keys. But in all my time on steam trades i've never been scammed, and did arround 30 trades. Most of the times i even gave first, but that was only to people with higher rep than mine.

The BIG problem now are impersonators, did you consider if that was your case?

They copy the nickname, the picture, their profile, and basically almost everything they can from a high rep trader, and start scamming.

Anyway good luck!

keys go first, thats a rule... its odd that you got scammed by someone with 40 rep... i have 45 rep @steamtrades and never got scammed... im just a bit paranoid and do background check for each trade... its easy really

I have 167 rep on SteamTrades, and about 100+ of my trades were key trades. As long as you do your checks and follow standard trading procedure (keys first if "key vs. gift", low rep first if both keys) you should be fine. Check ST rep/SteamRep as well, ignore "profile rep".

Also, make sure the person you are talking to is the actual profile from ST as there are many impersonators out there.

I traded lots and lots of keys and never got any problem at all.
You just have to be cautious and always the one with the key have to go first, if he dont want to go first it's often fishy.
check steamtrades reputation and if its the real person from the steamtrades profile before every trade, though its not an ultimate solution (since there are some scammers with +reps too, maybe hijacked accounts?)
If both of you have keys the one who made the offer should go first or the one with higher reps (depends).
I always trade according to this few steps and like I said I never got any problems.
Trading only for gifts is a safer way but most of the times keys are much cheaper, so you have to wage whether to risk it or not.
Also be sure gifts can be fraudulent too, so you have to be cautious not only when trading for keys.

Im sorry for your bad experience, good luck in further trades

I don't believe in trades.

When I see "Steam Trades" I read "Lowballer Land" in my head now, it's funny.

I never trade and never going to. See no reason y I'd ever trade games. I always buy what I need, not buy what I don't need and trade.

I will left this for you...

Your scammer added me today to trade. He wants my spec ops the line badly. Well, he won't be getting it now that's for sure.

Dejavu

Not everyone trading keys is trying to scam. I traded a Bioshock Infinite key to someone and I went first. I have no rep at all on my profile, not +, not -. At the time my profile here was empty as well, while the person I traded to, had a lot. My going first = Lots of risk into being scammed, by being the one who's trading the key, and going first, the other person could simply call bullshit, and even get away with it, because mine's a key and people would rather believe the guy with a lot of +rep, more well known, and who wasn't trying to trade a key. I fully understand the other side, having gifts and someone wanting to trade you a key for it, you kind of want them to go first, since if you trade them, and they give you a bogus key, you're screwed. However, from the other side, people trading legit keys, it's scary as well going first, especially for bigger titles, and especially if you're trading with someone who's far above your "reputation" level, because they could easily get away with "Yeah, bogus key, this scammer tried to get me with this bogus key!" when really the key is legit, and the higher rep person is both getting away with a scam, and trashing the other person's name at the same time. The trade went fine by the way, just saying.

I've done one trade on Steamtrades and it went well enough. If you're trading inventory items, its painless and almost completely safe. Trading keys are a gamble, though. That's part of the reason people use TF2 keys as currency. It makes for a safe middleman to make sure you're getting something in return.

Of course, most of the keys for trading are from bundles, which means they have limited value to begin with. The fact that they're keys and may not even work anyways adds another layer to the ordeal. People are less likely to want them, which opens trades up to the kind of people that would take advantage of needy sellers.