Many people struggle with trading on Steam after the mobile authentication and escrow was implemented. I have written an informative guide to help those that are struggling to remove their 15 day trade holds. By following this guide, you will no longer have trade holds for items from any games, including but not limited to: TF2, CSGO, DOTA 2, PUBG, KF2, and more!
To view this guide with pictures visit:http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi...=562532251
What is Steam Guard Mobile Authentication?
Steam Guard has changed much recently, with the prior change being email codes when logging into new devices and email confirmations for trades. Now Steam is pushing for Mobile Authentication. This is similar to the emails, except it is all done within the Steam Mobile App for iOS and Android devices. When you click the Steam Guard Tab in the mobile app, you will see a code with a bar that reduces in size and then changes to red as time passes. You have 30 seconds to put this code in when you login with your account credentials. After 30 seconds, a new code is generated.
To enable Steam Mobile Authentication, simply login to the Steam Mobile App, select Steam Guard, select Steam Guard Settings, then choose Steam Mobile Authenticator. If you need additional help with setting up Steam Guard Mobile Authentication, visit the official Setup Guide.
Note: The Steam Mobile Application is only available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
What is Escrow (Trade Holds)?
Escrow by definition is a bond, deed, or other document kept in the custody of a third party, taking effect only when a specified condition has been fulfilled. Steam has begun to call their new Escrow feature "Trade Holds".
So what are these trade holds exactly? Essentially, Steam is forcing Mobile Authentication on everyone. For those that cannot use or choose not to use Mobile Authentication, your trades will be subject to trade holds. This means that once you enact a trade with another player, the items in the trade will be held by Valve for up to [strike]3 days[/strike] 15 days. This gives both users time to cancel the trade. After the cooldown period, the items will delivered to their recepients. For more information on this visit Steam's official Documentation.
What will trading look like NOW?
Here I will explainhow trading will look like with the use of Steam Mobile Confirmation.
First you will Trade someone or use a trade offer.
Upon accepting the Trade or Making the Trade Offer, you will be prompted with a dialogue telling you to confirm the trade with the Steam Mobile App.
After opening the app on your mobile device and navigating to the Confirmations page, you should see a pending trade to confirm.
After clicking this pending trade, you will see the contents of the trade, and you will have the options to "Cancel" or "Send Offer" (confirming the trade).
After you confirm the trade and you have no other trades to confirm, your Confirmations page will say "nothing to confirm".
Steam Community Market (SCM) Holds
Similar to trade holds, Steam is now implementing market holds. A user must have had mobile authentication enabled for the past 7 days to avoid trade and market holds. Market holds will be held by Steam before they are listed on the market. These holds can last up to 15 days. Once the hold period is over, the item will be listed on the market. If you cancel a listing that is currently on market hold, you will NOT be subject to a trade or market ban. Steam Community Market holds will started on March 9, 2016.
Read the Steam blog post about account security for a detailed explanation on why Steam implemented holds: http://store.steampowered.com/news/20631/
How Do I Avoid Trade and Market Holds?
The simple answer is:
- Download the Steam Mobile App on your Android, iOS or Windows Phone device
- Enable mobile authentication
- After 7 days you will no longer be subject to trade holds
- Avoid trading with users that do not have mobile authentication or you will be subject to a trade hold with them.
- Some users in the comment section of this guide have recommended trying Android emulators.
- The most common recommended emulator is BlueStacks 2, which is free.
As of March 9, 2016 several changes came:
- The first change is that trade holds with new Steam friends will now last 15 days instead of the original 3 days.
- Trade holds with long-time Steam friends will last 1 day.
- Listing on the Steam Community Market will have a hold of 15 days before an item can be sold. See the section on SCM for more information.
- Steam Support will no longer restore items that have left accounts following a successful trade or market transaction (a process that previously created duplicates of original items)
- OnDecember 9th, 2015 Trade Holds (escrow) began for users that DIDN'T enable Mobile Authentication. Trade holds with new Steam friends last 15 days. Trade holds with long-time Steam friends last 1 day.
- OnMarch 9th, 2016 Market Holds (escrow) began for users that DIDN'T enable Mobile Authentication. Market holds can last up to 15 days (360 hours).
- SinceMarch 9th, 2016 Steam Support no longer restores any items that have left your account. This means an end to dupes, unless some bug allows for the creation of more in the future.
- a) You are forced to use the Steam App mobile authentication if you want to avoid Trade Holds
- b) If you trade with someone who isn't using mobile authentication, you will then have your items on Trade Hold
- c) If you do not have an iOS, Android, or Windows Phone device you cannot download the Steam Mobile App and will be subject to Trade Holds
- d) If you are using mobile authentication but your device runs out of power, you cannot confirm trades until you charge it
Read the Steam blog post about account security for a detailed explanation on why Steam implemented holds: http://store.steampowered.com/news/20631/
To view this guide with picturesvisit:http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi...=562532251