Have you ever wished you could trade items with other players in Rocket League to get the ultra rare Black Market decals and exotic wheels you’ve always wanted? I’ve got great news for you!
Trading unlocks amazing new customization possibilities by letting you directly exchange items with other players. And you can unlock trading 100% free by following this detailed guide.
I’ll walk you step-by-step through everything a new player needs to know to start trading for the first time. You’ll learn:
- Why trading is so popular and beneficial
- Exactly how to unlock trading as a free player
- Tips to meet requirements fast and painlessly
- Where to find the best trade partners
- How to value items and negotiate fair deals
- Common scams to avoid
So strap in and get ready to open up a whole new world of car customization through trading!
Here’s Why You Want to Unlock Trading
Trading brings some major benefits that really enhance the Rocket League experience:
Access Awesome Items You Normally Can’t Get
Certain especially rare and coveted items have VERY low chances of randomly dropping after matches. We’re talking like 1% or less for the most elusive Black Market decals, exotic wheels, and goal explosions.
You could play for months and never see them as random drops. That’s no fun!
Trading gives you a reliable way to get coveted items without relying on tiny drop odds. If you want a Glorifier decal or Crimson Dracos NOW, you can get them through trading without waiting forever for pure chance.
Express Yourself With More Customization Options
Maybe you really want a car design with a specific matching boost and wheel combo. Like using Golden Cosmos boost with Huntress decal and Sovereign Pro wheels for an epic gold theme.
Without trading, you‘ll often fall just short of the ideal car vision in your head. The right colors and items don’t all randomly drop for the same preset.
Trading allows you to hand pick exactly the items you need from others around the world to bring your designs to life.
Give and Gain With Friends
Have a duplicate of a sick goal explosion your buddy has been dying for? Or often play with someone who has that perfect topper to complete your look?
Trading builds a collaborative experience where you can easily gift spare items to friends to surprise them with their dream items. And they can hook you up in return when you need something yourself!
Show Off Rare and Retired Items
Certain items like the Alpha Boost or ear-damaging Striker Titanium White Apex wheels have prestige from their rarity and age in Rocket League history.
Owning and showing them off gives you major bragging rights. Trading offers a route to earn these status symbols without playing since literal Season 1.
Even Profit Through Smart Trading
Savvy traders can take advantage of supply and demand trends to buy low and sell high.
Investing in rapidly rising items early or trading high-value goods can turn tidy Credits profits. We‘re talking hundreds of thousands to millions in profit on rare items!
According to Rocket League trading expert Ethan "Mock-it eSports" Bethea, "Top traders can make a couple hundred dollars a day if they really optimize trading."
So trading offers financial opportunities if you get really into it.
With benefits like these, hopefully you’re excited about all the potential trading offers!
Now let’s look at how to unlock it…
Here are the Requirements to Unlock Trading
To trade items directly with other players, your account needs:
Reach Profile Level 30 – You need to reach XP rank 30, which takes around 50-60 hours. Playing matches and completing challenges will get you there.
2FA (Two Factor Authentication) – 2FA must be enabled on your linked Epic Games account for security. Set this up in Epic account settings.
A Verified Email – The email on your Epic account must be verified to activate trading. Click the verify link sent after registering your email.
50 Minutes of Online Playtime – You need at least 50 minutes spent in online matches before trading unlocks. Any online playlist counts.
500 Credits or Equivalent Acquired – To deter fraud, you must buy at least 500 Credits or receive an equivalent DLC pack. This is waived if you played Rocket League before free-to-play.
That covers everything needed to unlock trading and start connecting with other traders. Most requirements just take a bit of regular playtime to fulfill.
Now I’ll share some tips to speed up meeting them…
Tips to Unlock Trading Fast and Free
No need to stress about requirements – just stay consistent with these tips and you’ll unlock trading quickly and easily:
Play an Hour a Day
Getting to Profile Level 30 is a breeze if you play Rocket League semi-regularly.
Aim for at least one hour of playtime daily if possible. One hour sessions will have you exceeding Level 30 in under a week.
Consistency is key! Trading will unlock before you know it.
Grind XP Challenges
Challenges are XP goldmines you should always capitalize on.
Things like “Get 5 goals” or “Play 3 games in Snow Day” offer big XP payouts for simple objectives.
Check challenges often and actively try to complete the quickest/easiest ones first. This will skyrocket your Profile level.
Vary Your Playlists
All playlists add progress to unlock requirements, so mix up what modes you play.
Swap between competitive modes, casual modes, and extra modes like Snow Day, Rumble, and Dropshot. More variety equals faster unlocking!
Activate the Free Rocket Pass
You can access the Free path of the Rocket Pass just by having Rocket League. It offers XP-boosting Premium Challenges.
Knock out Rocket Pass challenges to squeeze out even more XP from your normal playtime.
Watch Streams for Free Drops
Link your Epic account atrewards.rocketleague.com and watch eligible streams to get Fan Rewards item drops.
Sell unwanted drops for Credits until you have the 500 Credits needed. Easy!
Buy 500 Credits When They’re Discounted
If you want to speed up hitting 500 Credits, watch for when Credits go on sale in the item shop.
Sales like 33% off make it cheaper and faster to buy Credits and meet the requirement.
See – a bit of diligence pays off! Just by sticking to this advice, you’ll hit Level 30 and 500 Credits within a week or two.
Where to Find the Best Rocket League Trade Partners
Once trading is unlocked, it’s time to network and find players who want to trade items. Here are the top places to connect with traders:
Head over to the RocketLeagueExchange subreddit. You’ll find thousands of active traders posting haves/wants and discussing values.
Reply to listing posts where users have items you want and are seeking items you have. Reddit is a trade hub!
Discord
Join some trading Discord servers like Trade Central and RL Trading Post.
Network in the channels and set up trades with all the eager traders in the community.
Facebook Groups
Search Facebook for groups like Rocket League Trading and More with 10K+ members posting items and trade invites daily.
Reply to any listing matching your trade wants to exchange contact info and party up in-game to trade.
Steam Forums
For PC players, check the Steam Rocket League Trading forums. You’ll see players actively looking to buy, sell, and trade.
Reply to relevant posts and friend promising traders on Steam. Quality trading partners await at your fingertips.
Websites
RL Garage and Rocket Planet have huge userbases of traders making posts. Set up a trade listing or browse posts to find what you want.
Sites expand your trade reach since you’re connecting globally beyond in-game interactions.
Friends
Talk with friends to see if they have items you each want! Community trading builds bonds.
Nothing beats hooking up friends with their dream items and getting coveted goods in return.
By tapping into these trading hotspots, you‘ll have no shortage of potential trade partners proposing deals.
Now let‘s make sure you know how to value items and negotiate fair trades with them…
Tips for Valuing Items and Getting Good Deals
When trading, you want exchanges that feel equal and fair for both sides. But item values can be tricky to pin down.
Here are some core tips for assessing item worth:
Consult Pricelists
RL Insider and other sites have extensive pricelists updated daily based on real trades.
Use them as a baseline for ballparking values before negotiating trades.
Factor Rarity
An item‘s rarity heavily impacts value. Black Markets and Exotics are far pricier than Common and Rare items.
Daniel “Joyo” Joyaux, veteran Rocket League market expert, notes "With Crate items especially, rarity tier hugely affects perceived value and demand."
Watch for High-Demand Items
Popular items that are sought-after and traded frequently tend to be worth more.
The Fennec and Dueling Dragons goal explosion, for example, consistently sit at higher values because so many players covet them.
Consider Certifications
Certified items (tracking stats like goals or saves) multiply an item‘s base value based on cert tier.
Striker and Tactician certified items can be worth many times more than uncertified versions.
Note Paint Colors
Painted attributes like Titanium White and Crimson garner significant price premiums.
Even mid-rarity wheels become far more valuable when sporting trendy paints.
Review Item Shop Costs
The Credit price of featured Cars and other items when directly purchasable gives a general sense of relative value.
If one costs way more in the shop, it‘s likely similarly pricier when trading.
Watch Recent Sale Prices
Scope out completed sales for an item on trading sites to gauge real street value based on what buyers are currently paying.
Recent trade prices generally give the clearest sense of true market value.
Factor in Bulk Discounts
When selling multiple items bundled together, expect to lower per-item prices slightly compared to selling individually.
Bundling introduces volume discounts, but can help move stagnant inventory.
As you gain experience, you’ll get a strong instinctual feel for items‘ worth in the Rocket League economy. Stick to trades that feel fair based on these valuation factors.
Avoiding Scams When Trading Items
Because trades involve valuable goods changing hands, you must protect yourself from scams by dishonest traders.
Some common tricks to watch for include:
Bait and Switch
A scammer agrees to a deal, then rapidly swaps the item to something of lower value after you already hit Accept.
Always re-inspect immediately before actually hitting Accept in case they pulled a sneaky item swap.
Fake Certifications and Colors
Shady traders may try fooling you by modifying name text to falsely indicate a certification like Striker or brighter color like Titanium White.
Personally re-check certification icons and color indicators before accepting to guarantee legitimacy.
Bogus Middlemen
Scammers will pretend to do a middleman-assisted trade using an “official MM”, then run off with your items.
Only use real, verified Reddit MM who can provide extensive vetting rep.
Pressuring You to Accept
Dishonest traders may pressure you to blindly accept a trade quickly before you have time to re-inspect it.
Feel free to slowly re-check trades or even bail out entirely if anything raises red flags. Your items will still be there later.
Upsetting the Agreed Terms
Some traders may "forget" part of the agreed deal or guilt you into accepting less than originally negotiated.
Politely but firmly stand your ground if a trader BACKS OUT of the original terms you both committed to. Cancel the trade if needed.
By keeping your guard up for tactics like these during trades, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of scams. Don‘t worry – the vast majority of traders out there are friendly folk who just want to help each other out!
Useful Items to Trade When Getting Started
As a new trader with a limited inventory, focus on building up and trading these generally high-demand items:
Non-Crate Items
Common and Rare items dropped with plain "NC" tags (like NC Toppers) are super easy to trade away. They hold a steady baseline value for new traders.
NCI and NCVR
Non-Crate Imports and Very Rares are coveted by players doing trade-up gambles, so they consistently circulate among traders.
Player‘s Choice Items
Items from the Player‘s Choice Crate are popular to trade up. Easy to flip for other goods!
Fennec
This extremely popular Car Body is liquid gold in the trading world – hang onto any you get!
Octane Decals
As the most used car, any colorful or certified Octane decals trade lightning fast.
Standard Boosts
Painted versions (especially Crimson) are very desirable for their clean audio, making them stable trading stock.
By dealing in these constant staples as a newcomer, you’ll be equipped to gradually trade up into more prestigious items.
Before you know it, your inventory will be full of beautiful Black Markets and jaw-dropping wheels!
Get Out There and Start Trading!
You made it to the end of the guide – so now you have all the knowledge needed to unlock trading fast and dive in using your new expertise.
Trading opens up a whole new world of customization possibilities and rarities in Rocket League. There‘s almost nothing you can‘t eventually obtain from fellow players.
Remember to engage ethically, stay safe from scams, and have fun connecting with the amazing Rocket League community worldwide.
I hope you‘re as pumped as I am to unlock your first trade and watch your inventory grow. Enjoy all the awesome new item possibilities, and be sure to pay it forward by helping out newer traders in the future.
Now get out there, start trading, and let your wildest car customization dreams become reality!
