So what is this guide about? Well, some people in TF2 are richer than others. So this guide is recommended for the more poorer people in the TF2 economy. It's about how you can become rich from a few weapons that might be boring out your backpack. If you work hard enough you can get keys and then trade those keys for Earbuds (or even an Unusual hat). BUT, if you're going to try this, please be aware; Key prices are rising. Back in 2012, they would sell for at least 2.55 refined (2 refined, 1 reclaimed and 2 scrap). As of when I'm writing this (28th July 2013), they are now 5.66 - 5.77 refined. So, be careful.

If you have a F2P account, you can find weapons but not trade them. If you have a premium account, you can trade any weapons you find. The Item Drop system is where you can find Weapons, Crates (if you're lucky, Hats and Tools). So lets say you have any craftable weapon in your backpack. Go onto a trade server (and for Gaben's sakes, DO NOT worry about getting killed on trade servers. It doesn't matter.) Type in chat something like: SELLING <NAME OF WEAPON> FOR 1 SCRAP / 2 RANDOM WEAPONS. Copy and paste it by highlighting the text and pressing Ctrl + C (Ctrl + V for paste). When you successfully sell the weapon for 1 scrap or 2 weapons each, you have now doubled your profit! Hooray!

Scrapbanking

One of the most asked questions when it comes to trading is "What is scrapbanking". Well, it's quite simple really:

It's where you have a scrap and you want 2 random weapons for it. For example, if someone wants to craft 2 weapons to a scrap, but they only have 2 weapons that are not of the same class (Lets say, Amputator and Escape Plan). The scrap banker will take those two weapons and give him the scrap.

So now you get it (I hope)

So now that you know the weapon / scrapbanking technique, you now need to know about stranges.

What are stranges?
Stranges can come from crates. They are weapons with counters that let you know how many kills you have gotten. When you get a certain amount of kills, it will change the name

Example:

Strange Reserve Shooter - 0 - 9 kills

Unremarkable Reserve Shooter - 10 - 24 kills

Scarcely Lethal Reserve Shooter - 25 - 44 kills

So now you know what stranges are, you'd probably want to get one to carry on your adventure.

Repeat the weapon / scrapbanking process until you have at least 1 - 2 reclaimed. Then buy yourself a strange that will profit you.

If you are going to lowball, then don't lowball by too much.

I recommend only lowballing by 1 - 2 scrap max, when it comes to stranges.

Also, please don't shark. Sharking is where you buy something really high for a really low price, like a hat worth 1 key for a weapon.

Hats and Miscs

After strange trading, work your way up to a craft hat or a craft misc. 60% of most craft hats / miscs are worth 1.33 (1 refined and 1 reclaimed).