Reference: https://www.steamtrades.com/trade/mFWlQ/a-beginners-guide-to-safe-and-smart-trading
TL;DR
Six days after I traded my Remnant II for this user’s Stardew Valley, it turned out the key had already been used. When I tried to reach out, I found that his thread was closed, all comments had been deleted, his profile was set to private, and he had even changed his Steam username. I waited eight days for him to accept my friend request so we could resolve the issue, but nothing ever came of it.
Steam support later confirmed what I feared. Here’s concrete proof.
I’m also including screenshots of our conversations in the hope they’ll provide more context.
Initial positive review
Excellent trader! It took us a while, but we finally wrapped up our first trade, and it was great! We patiently worked out a deal that was fair and made sense for both of us, and everything went absolutely smoothly! Great communication and friendly vibes. Highly recommended! +1.
P.S. Welcome to Steam Trades!
See screenshots here.
Edit #1 – May 6, 2025
I traded my Remnant II for his Stardew Valley. Six days after the exchange, I found out the key had already been used. Throughout the process, he was kind, seemed genuine, and we had a number of pleasant conversations. There was nothing to suggest that he wouldn’t follow through, and I trusted him enough to go first even though he had no reputation. He activated my key and sent me his along with a screenshot, which felt reassuring. I did clarify beforehand that I wouldn’t be redeeming his key right away. The terms were clear, honest, and fair.
After his trade with Zwei, he mentioned that he was done with trading, said goodbye, and unfriended me. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But now, after realizing
- the key was used
- seeing Zwei’s negative experience
- his profile is now private
- and all of his comments have been wiped
I’m feeling a bit uneasy. Still, I’m choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ve added him back on Steam in hopes that we can clear this up.
I’ll update my review soon.
Edit #2 – May 14, 2025
After over a week of my pending friend request, I’ve finally decided it’s time to count my loss. I believe eight days was ample time for this person to reach out and resolve the issue. While I was waiting for him to add me back, he accepted a request from a friend of mine and briefly spoke with him. Even though he was asked to accept my request so we could talk, he continued to ignore and avoid me.
Before I get into the full story, I want to note that this is the first time I’ve ever had to do this, and it truly breaks my heart to change my highly positive review to a negative one.
I first came across AltiarLio’s thread on April 29, 2025. I warned him about scammers, as I often do when I see newcomers, and he told me his very first experience on the site involved an impersonator trying to scam him. Fortunately, my guide helped him avoid a major loss.
Over the course of our brief interaction, he ended up dodging two more scammers. He kindly mentioned this in the review he left for me, which I really appreciated:
the bro messaged me when i first joined with some great advice which stopped me from getting scammed not once, not twice but three times in the space of a few hours. He is very helpful at explaining things and how it works on this website and has the best vibe. would rec anyone just interact with him and of course buy/trade with him. Super fast, super easy to deal with and genuinely such a nice, funny, kind person. a walking W on this site.
Later, he expressed interest in four of my games in exchange for Stardew Valley:
- Trepang2
- Remnant II
- Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
- Katamari Damacy Reroll
to which I replied,
I can do Remnant II for Stardew Valley, if that works. Feel free to add me on Steam, and we’ll sort out the details.
After he added me and just as we were confirming details for the trade, he wanted to change the deal and replace my game with the other three, which I politely declined. We went back and forth a little, and I assured him he had no obligation to go through with the deal if he didn’t want Remnant II, but he eventually accepted. Looking back, that might have been a red flag, but I always give people the benefit of the doubt and try to make every interaction as pleasant as possible. I never want the other party to feel pressured, as I often did in trades when I was just starting out.
We moved forward with the deal, exchanged keys, and he even sent me a screenshot of his key at my request, which I appreciated. All good. I left him a glowing review, he wrote something nice for me as well, and that was that.
Conversation during our trade: gallery #1
We still kept in touch for the next two days, where I helped him with trading in any way I could, answering all his questions, and making him feel welcome. I did so gladly because I genuinely want everyone’s first impression of trading to be positive. During that time, he was in talks with Zwei, and when he finally wrapped up their trade, he said he was done with trading and wanted to part ways. However, before he did, as a thank-you for all the help I’d given him, he surprised with a gift—a key for Slime Rancher. (gallery #2; skip to the end for the key) This was completely outside of our deal, and I truly appreciated the gesture. Afterward, I didn’t expect him to unfriend me, I thought we’d become friends, but I understood. Even after this, I never thought once that his key wouldn’t work. After all, he’d reassured me and sent me a screenshot. I had no reason at all to doubt him. I still believe there could be a chance that Humble Bundle messed up the key and that we could’ve resolved this if he’d accepted my friend request, but now I have no choice but to switch my review to negative because I’m out a copy of Remnant II and still don’t have Stardew Valley. More than anything, I feel disrespected and mentally drained from spending time and energy thinking and rethinking about this issue.
Giving Stardew Valley to another trader and finding out it was already used: gallery #3
While my friend request was pending, ricardobrat, a dear friend of mine, added him. He accepted, and Ricardo kindly told him about the situation. His response, while seemingly kind in spirit, unfortunately didn’t resolve anything.
Brief conversation between Ricardo and AltiarLio: gallery #4
AltiarLio sent Ricardo Persona 4 Golden that he received from Zwei (who later confirmed this to me when I showed the key) and told him that both Slime Rancher and Persona 4 Golden should cover my loss. However, Slime Rancher was a gift (which I ended up activating for myself), and I have not touched the Persona 4 Golden key, as our agreement was specifically for Stardew Valley, and I have no way of knowing whether that key even works.
I think it’s also important to point out that he not only set his profile to private, but also changed his Steam username from Tyron3L1o
to Eziob
. (gallery #5) All of this paints a fairly clear picture of suspicious behavior. When someone suddenly goes private, wipes their comments, and changes their handle, it’s hard not to feel like they’re trying to cover their tracks. That may not be the case at all—and I truly did my best to give him the time and opportunity to prove otherwise—but I hope it’s understandable how someone in my position might come to feel this way.
In the end, it was just a video game, and honestly, I don’t mind the money. I’ve never cared much about that. What weighs on me is that it had to come to this. I treat everyone with respect, and I truly hoped for the same in return.
Edit #3 – May 15, 2025
Even after spending two hours putting together this detailed review, a part of me still hoped it was all just a misunderstanding. But with the confirmation from Steam support, I finally have the last piece of evidence I needed: gallery #5. Now it’s clear what happened.
Edit #4 – May 17, 2025
The person’s Steam Trades profile disappeared three days after my review. It seems to be permanently removed now. I suspect one of the Steam Trades admins did it, so thank you.