Steam has seemingly implemented a policy that will hold the sale of community market items if they're being sold for notably higher than market value. This new policy was not published, but it appears to be an attempt to crack down on illegal activities on the world's largest PC gaming platform.

Reddit user 8_bit_bear posted a message they received after selling two Team Fortress 2 items for an "unusually high price." The two items were the "Strange Killstreak Vaccinator," which nominally sells for $4.11, and the "Strange Scorch Shot," which sells for $1.28 as of the time of this writing. However, 8_bit_bear sold their Vaccinator for $6.44 and their Scorch Shot for $2.05.

"The purchase price for this item is unusual. Funds received for this sale will be held temporarily," wrote Steam, "Funds from this sale will be held by Steam for up to five days. In the meantime, the funds will be included in your pending wallet balance. If necessary, the transaction may be reversed and the item returned to your Steam inventory."

Steam may be implementing a new policy with selling items for a higher than usual price
by u/8_bit_bear in Steam

Why might Steam want to hold a transaction if the sale price is higher than market value? This is just speculation, but it seems likely that Steam is taking a closer look at transactions with an eye toward preventing illegal activities. One of the ways scammers will "cash out" a stolen Steam account is by selling whatever items they have handy for an extremely inflated price and then using the stolen account to purchase that inflated item. This sends the stolen account's Steam Wallet funds to the thief, while leaving the victim with a useless digital trinket.

The new policy might also be used to prevent large-scale money laundering. Steam's open market means it's easy for anyone to join and start buying and selling, which makes it a possible venue for money laundering for other illegal activities completely unrelated to Steam. Purchasing items for higher than market values ensures a quick transaction, which is something criminal gangs would want to cover their tracks.



The policy could also be there to prevent users from cashing out their Steam Wallet. Once you put money into a Steam Wallet, it cannot be converted back into cash. To get your cash back, you’d have to seek a fence that would agree to pay real money for your Steam Wallet account. These fences would sell the user a Steam item for an inflated price and the Wallet seller in real funds--usually slightly less than what the Wallet was worth as payment for their services.

All of these hypothetical situations are against Steam’s TOS and can get your account banned. And with Steam taking a closer look at suspicious transactions, scammers and money launders are much more likely to get caught.

Posted: May 01, 2023 8:40 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/steam-delays-community-market-sales-unusually-high-price/