A Word About Trading: 12/19/2014
Posted on: December 20th, 2014 by ObeyTwo things here:
- Some recent changes on Steam about trading
- If you do a lot of Steam trading, you really need to read this post.
- Some minor TF2 patches
- Naughty and Nice 2014 crates started dropping for TF2 players since December 15th. They cannot yet be opened.
[In a serious tone of voice] Some recent changes have occurred regarding items and games gifted on Steam. There are new delays that have been added before certain items can be gifted, because of a myriad of reasons; the main two reasons are dishonest hackers/phishers/botters, and to prevent users from taking advantage of volatile global currencies (such as the recent fall of the Russian ruble, or the riskier currencies of Southeast Asia).
1. Any item(s) that you purchase from the Mann Co. Store or from the Steam Community Market cannot be traded for 7 days.
This has been recently increased from the old three-day limit. So if you’re wondering why you can’t trade something after three days, this is why. So if you’re buying something so that you can turn around and gift it to a friend, you have to wait a full week in order to do so.
2. Any gift copy of a game that you receive from another person cannot be gifted for 30 days.
For example, Kit buys a gift copy of “Castle Crashers”, immediately sending it to me. When I receive it, I must choose whether to add it to my game library, or to add a gift copy to my Steam inventory. If I do the former, the game is permanently added to my Steam account (regardless if it is installed on any computer), and can never be removed or transferred (but it can be hidden from view in the Steam interface). If I do the latter, I cannot trade that copy of “Castle Crashers” to someone else until thirty days have elapsed.
I am not sure the rationale for this, but one of many possible reasons is to discourage players from buying lots of copies of a game while on sale, then selling them at a profit when the sale ends. Then again, taxes also come into play (see below).
3. Steam Guard must be activated on your account for 15 days before you can trade anything on Steam.
This is primarily to prevent phishers and hackers from making a Steam account to immediately use it for nefarious uses. This rule has been in force for several years already.
4. When you change your Steam password, you cannot trade any items for 5 days afterward.
This is a security measure intended to discourage hackers from quickly stealing control of someone’s account to take all of the valuable items.
Changing your Steam password is a good thing to do on a regular basis, and Steam does not want to discourage you from doing so. However, if someone manages to steal your password, the first thing a thief or hacker will try to do is to change the password. This measure does not prevent you from losing access to your account. It does give you a chance to notice that you cannot login, and thus notify Steam so that they can begin to investigate.
If you know that you are going to be away from Steam for a length of time, consider changing your password before you are away. Save the new password somewhere, like writing a note for yourself on your phone or send an email to yourself, since you may forget the new password before you come back to Steam.
5. If you do a lot of trading on Steam, you may be required to declare them on your taxes!
(The following deals predominantly with US users of Steam, but other countries’ regulations may differ, so refer to this Community Market FAQ as a starting point.)
5a. If you exceed 200 sales transactions (where you are the seller) on the Steam Community Market in a calendar year, you may be unable to complete any further sales transactions until you complete a 1099 Tax Form.
Surprise! The IRS requires Steam to report gross sales and provide tax forms of users that both: 1) Exceed 200 annual sales in a year, and 2) Exceed US$20,000 in those sales. Therefore Steam may provide you with a 1099 Tax Form, and possibly suspend further sales pending completion of the documentation, so that they can comply with US law even if you never reach the latter minimum of $20k of sales.
Do not assume that these transactions are automatically taxable, even if Steam contacts you regarding this tax form. However, it is your responsibility to determine any tax liabilities, so you should consult your tax advisor.
Right. Well, let’s get on with the dinky patch notes….
Patch Notes: 12/15/14
- Fixed a client crash related to ragdolls
- Updated Mann Co. Store prices for foreign currencies to current USD equivalents
- Updated
rd_asteroid- Began interior art-pass process
- Reduced respawn times for both teams by 1 second
Undocumented Changes
- Added Naughty Winter Crate 2014 and Nice Winter Crate 2014
- Updated the localization files.
Patch Notes: 12/17/14
- Fixed a client crash related to ragdolls
- Added a one week delay before items purchased from the Mann Co. Store or the Steam Community Market can be traded
Undocumented Changes
Added End of the Line Community Update Medal.
[N] Obey