Path of Exile Trade Etiquette 101

Path of Exile 2 has had some of the worst trade etiquette I have ever seen. This, I imagine, has a lot to do with the stream of new players who have never played PoE 1 for any substantial period of time. This post is here in an attempt to give the new players, and perhaps PoE 1 veterans too, an intro to Path of Exile trading etiquette in order for peoples trade experiences to streamline and improve.

This non-exhaustive introduction to PoE trading has been written specifically for the buyer. Seller etiquette can be a problem as well, but for now, this guide is only addressing buyer etiquette.

What to do:

1. Whisper the seller your intent to buy. Preferably by use of the "Direct Whisper" button on the official pathofexile.com/trade site.

2. Wait for the seller to invite you to party. This means the trade has been accepted. If you have not been invited, this means the seller is either busy or AFK. Wait a few mins and whisper again.

3. After seller has invited you to party, get your currency out of your OWN stash and teleport to their hideout (or campaign act town) and do not move.

4. Wait for the seller to initiate the trade window, insert the correct currency type and amount then inspect the item to verify it is exactly the item you want, then accept trade. Try to do this as fast as you can, making sure the item is indeed the item you want.

What NOT to do:

1. Do not spam the seller with messages to buy.

2. Do not invite the seller to your party. The seller is in control of the interaction at all times.

3. Do not enter the sellers hideout, then run around like a chicken with its head cut off, or proceed to spam your skill abilities in a display of impatience.

4. If the sellers item, that you messaged for, was listed for 5 exalted orbs, you must put in 5 ex. Not 4 ex, not 3 ex and 2 alch. ONLY 5 ex. The only exception to this is a communicated arrangement ahead of time.

5. When whispering the seller for an item, do not change the value of their listed item before sending the message. This will be seen as a scam attempt. If you want to negotiate, that is a completely fine thing to do, but you must send the wtb message UNALTERED first, then proceed to negotiate.

6. When you arrive to the sellers hideout for the trade, do not immediately initiate the trade yourself as the buyer. Wait for the seller to initiate trade. There are many reasons for this, but their are two main reasons:

a) If the seller has come from their map to make the trade, and has full inventory, then your request for trade will cover their inventory screen not allowing them to arrange their inventory first to make the trade.

b) This is just plain rude, and is a display of impatience and contempt. Just chill out and wait. If they are taking too long, then feel free to leave.

7. When you put in your stacks of currency for the trade, do not put in one stack then wait for a few seconds before putting in another. This is one of the oldest scams in the book, praying on an impatient and complacent seller, hoping he will accept trade for less than the listed amount in his haste. Have your currency all ready to go smoothly and not spread all around your stash as to make finding the right stacks difficult and adding to wasted time for you and the seller.

8. After completing the trade, say thank you, then immediately leave party, then leave hideout. This is especially an appropriate thing to do if you are a minion build. Nobody likes a swarm of minions hanging out in their hideout.

For me, and I would guess for a lot of other players aswell, breaking some of the above etiquette rules will lead to an instant kick from party abruptly ending the trade.

Stay safe new Exiles

Okay, I don't disagree, but maybe you could add some proper etiquette for the seller too, because I've seen rudeness on both sides.

>get your currency out of your OWN stash and teleport to their hideout (or campaign act town) and do not move.
What even is the reasoning for this?

Same. I was relisting an item because it wasn't selling. I lowered it and it sold. then a guy who wanted it msg me and said he was going to report me because I was manipulating the market. I lowered the price of the gear. So rude, I just ignored him and reported him for harassment.

I like when you get the whisper for an item for sale, as soon as the whisper has gone out the party invite has gone out with whisper what's next?

Guild Invite, Discord Invite, FB Friend Invite, Wedding Invite then followed by being asked to be the Best Man.

"

AliquamGames#5952 wrote:

>get your currency out of your OWN stash and teleport to their hideout (or campaign act town) and do not move.
What even is the reasoning for this?

Couple reasons for this:

1. For speed. You know where your own stash is, and your ping is low in your own hideout. Accessing your own stash is fast. Often you could be faced with a high ping when in someone else's hideout, making it difficult and slow to retrieve your currency.

2. Often people can place their stash and waypoint too close to map portals. Having to run around and find their stash is not only slow, but can lead to accidentally entering their map.

IF the trading system worked correctly then alot of this would be fixed easily bu etiquette.

I especially like that part where the buyers invite themselves to my hideout (they party me). Usually I accept that and let them sit in my HO. Then I come back from the map, unload, and go back in again. If theyre still there when I return, then I know they are beginners and I politely tell them how trading works and give them the item for free if its low value for their "patience". If theyre tradespamming me, I tell them where my waypoint is located so they can lead themselves out of my hideout again, too.

And there are the tradespammers or those who negotiate wayyy after they arrived in my hideout (and I already left my map for them, thinking, they agreed on my price). if theyre super annoying, I link them the item, link them a vaal orb and brick that f*in thing in front of their eyes.

While I fully understand that there are a lot of newcomers to the PoE genre, people should follow "common sense" how they should behave (dont annoy people!!); especially if they are new to the game and need some help to get their trade done. Ive encountered some people who admitted they were trading for the first time- thats totally fine! We have a chat and go apart with a laugh. But there are also the rude dudes, who only care about themselves and their greed for my stuff, and sorry, thats not okay. I can do without that handful of ex the trade might have net me as a tradeoff to teach those rude guys a lecture.

Yup, I would also vote for an improvement of the current system if there would be any poll around for it.

Saying thank you is unnecessary. I assume you're already grateful having done all the other steps correctly.

With regards to the order, you should get currency ready before you port because it violates the other rule about running around like a headless chicken in someones hideout. Its annoying.

Also it gives the seller some time to locate the item.

Would also like to mention its much better to use the Direct Whisper link on the website instead of copy paste especially for 1 cell items its hard to find them. Using the Direct Whisper puts a nice purple border around the item when you join the party.

Off topic what do people think about those who leave the party just as they join your hideout? Do you still accept those trades? Maybe its fine but it rubs me wrong.

"

3. Do not enter the sellers hideout, then run around like a chicken with its head cut off, or proceed to spam your skill abilities in a display of impatience.

Me, sitting in the throne, watching literally every witch build walking around, driving me crazy, not having the currency ready and not being able to interact at all. Bonus points to the insanity rating for minions flooding my hideout.