When we added the Marketplace.tf API, we included an endpoint to set the price of one of your items. We did this so that people could more easily control their stock and adjust their prices if necessary. At the same time, we intentionally provided no endpoint that would allow a user to find the lowest price of an item they're selling -- specifically to prevent users from writing scripts to automatically undercut other users by very low amounts.
Nevertheless, users are writing scripts to automatically undercut other users. In retrospect, this is partly our fault; the inclusion of the SetItemPrice endpoint clearly sent the message that automation in this way was okay, and we haven't publicly stated elsewhere not to do so. So today we've removed access to the SetItemPrice endpoint.
Moving forward, users attempting to use scripts to automate undercutting of other users will be banned from selling on Marketplace.tf.
Today we're making a slight change to Shop URLs for sellers. Simply put: they're now shorter, so you can fit them more places!
All Shop URLs are now in the form of https://mplc.tf/s/{shopurl}, or just mplc.tf/s/{shopurl} if you want to make it even shorter.
For example, Bobsplosion's URL will change from marketplace.tf/shop/bobsplosion to mplc.tf/s/bobsplosion. Much shorter!
Of course, if you prefer the longform version, you can still use it -- in fact, your new shop URL will simply redirect to the longform version automatically.
You can find your new shop URL in your account settings page. Enjoy!
If you're like us, you like discounts. Now that we know that about each other, let's talk about this "5% off all unusual items" business. What does it mean? What are the implications? We'll tell you!
On July 4th -- and only July 4th -- save 5% on any unusual item by using the coupon code "purpleworks". This code works for unusual hats, taunts, and weapons. Be quick, though: once the clock strikes midnight, the savings go away.
Enjoy, and have a wonderful July 4th, regardless of whether or not your particular country launches explosives in the sky on that particular day. We have our own explosions: the explosive savings you'll receive with this discount.
Today's a big day for Marketplace.tf! We've got some great new features to share with you, and a revamped server infrastructure to make using those features more convenient than ever. Let's get to it.
Messages are here! Now you can communicate with other users on Marketplace.tf through a simple messaging system. Want to make an offer on an item? Simply send the seller a message and work it out. That's not all you can use messages for, of course; the entire breadth of human communication is at your fingertips. We literally invented this concept!
Now you can customize your shop with a title and message that's displayed to all your shop visitors. Feel free to share information on what items you're stocking soon, or good deals currently available. Plus, there's a handy button that allows your shop visitors to message you, helping you keep in touch with your customers.
Let's be honest: Marketplace.tf hasn't been a very fast website. Pages simply took too long to load. So, naturally, we fixed it. We've painstakingly redone our entire server infrastructure, massively boosting performance. Pages should much faster; 2-5 times as fast, according to our measurements.
We hope these new additions and improvements greatly benefit your experience. Enjoy!
Within the next few days, we will be changing how we manage our storage bots' inventories and ensure everyone has space to deposit the items they wish to sell.
You may have noticed that attempting to deposit items has failed for the past few days. This is because our bots have been, effectively, bogged down with mass amounts of nearly-unsellable items. For instance, there are currently 5,640 Mann Co. Supply Munition Crate #92 deposited on our bots (and over 1,000 of these are not even priced and thus are not for sale). This item sells, on average, less than 1 per day at $0.01 per item, yet there are thousands in stock over hundreds of sellers. Simply put, the chance of selling one of these items as a seller is statistically insignificant. This is only a single item; there are many similar items in a similar situation.
To combat this, we will be instituting stock limits for certain items, such as the above crate. These limits will only be placed on items that are in a similar situation (very high stock with very low sales). This change should not negatively affect your seller experience, given that the likelihood of actually selling any of these items is astronomically low.
After this change has been made, we will be adding more storage bots, which will increase our storage capacity by about 50%.
We apologize for any inconvenience.