Trading in Path of Exile can seem complicated, much like many of the game's systems, but after you understand a few things about it, it makes a lot of sense. While you generally won't be finding valuable items to sell until much later in the game, when playing in Leagues you'll quickly reach the point where you could benefit from buying stuff. So, in this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about trading in Path of Exile when looking to buy.
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How Do You Trade in Path of Exile?
When you're in a party in PoE, you can approach a party member and initiate a trade. You can trade whatever you like, but be aware that most gear in PoE has a level, and not just are the most powerful items generally higher levels, a new character won't be able to equip high-level items, so you can't trade your friend a bunch of gear to get him through the campaign fast.
Then, there's a Path of Exile trading marketplace. You can check out the official one on the PoE site or the PoE Goods site which works similarly. How it works is sellers will choose what they'd like to sell, and then on the backend, the PoE servers will scan for these items and they'll appear on the site, alongside a price and whether or not the seller is currently online.
You can search for whatever items you'd like on these sites, searching by sockets, colors, links, damage, modifiers, level, or anything else, and you're free to price things however you want. Once you find an item you want, you message the person selling the item in-game, and if interested, they'll invite you to a party so you can trade.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Leagues in Path of Exile Explained
Generally, the refresh speed of the PoE marketplace is fairly slow, so you might get caught in the situation where somebody isn't selling something listed anymore, or you'll see people who're offline appear online and vice-versa. This is generally more of a problem with the PoE Goods site, but this can happen.
All trading in PoE is done within the context of a League, either the current League or Standard, and it's important to understand that when trading in Standard, items will be significantly more expensive. The Standard League has characters many years old with builds fine-tuned over the years able to accumulate resources fast, so higher-value trades are much more common.
What Do You Trade With in Path of Exile?
There isn't gold or a primary currency in Path of Exile, so you might be wondering what people buy and sell with. Well, fundamentally, PoE is a barter system, meaning that anything you pick up in-game can be traded. Since there are a ton of different orbs and in-game currencies you use to do different things, basically anything can be a currency.
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However, most trading in PoE is done with Chaos Orbs or Exalted Orbs. Chaos Orbs are like the $1 bill of the PoE world. If you're broke, even something that costs a couple bucks seems expensive, like cheap gear on the marketplace that costs a couple Chaos, while big-ticket purchases that cost 50, 100, or even 150 Chaos might seem intimidating.
Trading in Chaos, for endgame players, is rarely done though, because remember, Chaos Orbs are the $1 bill of the PoE world. Exalted Orbs, on the other hand, are like the $100 bill, though Exalted Orbs are worth more than 100 Chaos Orbs, usually. This is the currency you'll be using when doing activities like mapping where you'll get the best rewards and find the gear worth the most in trading.
You can trade in other orbs, and this will probably be very useful as you make your way through the campaign, but generally speaking, the other Orbs in PoE will take quite a few to exchange for even a single Chaos Orb, making these lesser orbs like the coins of the PoE world. Even rarer, more valuable Orbs like Vaal Orbs or Regal Orbs are worth less than a Chaos Orb.
The Buying Process in Path of Exile
So, say you want a weapon. Open up the marketplace, on either site mentioned above, and search for the weapon you'd like. Make sure you're searching within the League you're playing in.
You can choose to search for weapons based on essentially any characteristic, so you'll want to do some thinking or consult a build guide first, if you don't already know what you want or need. Then, go ahead and search for your item.
Results will populate, and you'll see your options. Try looking for a seller that's online, and, of course, look for a cheap option. As a rule, if you see one listing for an item much cheaper than all the other options, this is probably bait to get newer players to list items at that price so more experienced players can buy and resell them. treat something too good to be true with suspicion.
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Once you find your weapon, copy your whisper message to your clipboard and paste it into the in-game chat. This will notify the other player you want to buy, and usually, if they're interested (and around) they'll immediately either message back or they'll send you a party invite.
Once you join their party, travel to their hideout. Wait a moment, and they'll trade you. Input your items, accept, and enjoy your new weapon!
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