How to trade in Rocket League

Want to know how to trade in Rocket League? Rocket League has long been known for its array of cosmetics, including all manner of collaborations. The game also allows players to trade their precious and often ridiculous items. The system is not without its conditions, however, so this Rocket League trading guide will shoot you through how to trade in Rocket League.

First of all, you need to open up the game. Despite its established marketplace and Steam's existing trading tool, exchanging items in Rocket League must done in-game. Furthermore, in multiplayer, you can't look for people to trade with outside of parties, nor is there a specific public room for that purpose.

Rocket League trading: How to send an invite

If you want to trade with someone, they need to be in your Friends list. Then, either join their party or invite them to yours, click on their avatar (found in the lower bar at the side of your profile) and select 'invite to trade'. 

Once they accept the invitation, a new dedicated window will appear (without exiting the game). If you’re receiving an invitation, you’ll see a small pop-up with the name of the other person, which you can either accept or decline. 

The advantage of this is you don’t have to worry about random players bothering you with trade invitations all the time. If you’re looking for a specific item or you want to offer your stuff to a bigger pool of players, however, Rocket League’s private groups or Steam discussions are your best options. Some fan sites such as Rocket League Garage offer a streamlined section exclusive for trading, letting players post offers or requests. Caution is advised here, especially since...

All trades are final

One rule Rocket League makes absolutely clear when you first start a trade is that all trades are final. The game displays a message stating that "Psyonix does not reverse player trades. Do not accept a trade unless you are sure it’s fair and accurate.”

It also mentions that lending, borrowing, or duplicating items are not supported, and any such actions claimed by other players are likely scams. If you’re trading with friends or mutuals, hopefully you won’t have to worry about this, but it’s worth bearing in mind when you're searching for traders elsewhere. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose that rad Day of the Tentacle hat for your car, right?

How to trade in Rocket League

Once you've acknowledged the warning message, the trade will begin. It’s a straightforward process: Anyone used to trading CS:GO or Dota 2 items via Steam will recognize the likeness.

Your inventory is on the left of the screen, while two side windows sit on the right, one for each player. Yours is the upper window, where you and your friends can offer up to 12 items per trade. Once both trading partners have selected their offerings, you can accept it.

The trade will now show up as pending, and won’t follow through until the other party also accepts the trade. When both players have agreed on it, a five-second timer will appear, during which you can cancel the trade. After this, the new items are displayed to you on screen and will be automatically added to your inventory.

Trading for the first time will also unlock the Swap Meet achievement on Steam, awarded for trading one or more items with another player in a single trade.

Eligible items

As for what you can trade, monetary transactions are not permitted. Beyond this, virtually all items are eligible to trade (from Uncommon and up to Limited). There are some exceptions, such as special items like the Season 2 Rocket Trails. You can browse your inventory for trade-able items by selecting between categories. These are as follows:

• All items
• Crates
• Decal
• Wheels
• Rocket Boost
• Topper
• Antenna
• Player Banner

Keys are also trade-able, but with one condition: Once purchased, they will be on hold for trading through a seven-day period. If you open a crate with said keys, then the trade lock is transferred to the obtained item. Psyonix also states on its website that “trade holds will not be lifted under any circumstance”.

Knowing how much an item costs can be tricky, but sources like Rocket League Insider can offer some guidance, including trending and popular items along with their rarity. 

Trade-in for better items

Along with player-to-player trading, the trade-in system can be used on your own. You'll find it within the 'Manage Inventory' menu subheading inside the Garage. This allows players to select up to five items and exchange them for a randomized one of higher rarity. For example, for every five Uncommon items traded in, one random Rare is drawn in exchange by the game. This scales with each category in the following order: Uncommon - Rare - Very Rare - Import - Exotic.

There are some conditions. If you trade in five Rare items from the same Crate series, the award will be Very Rare, but will be drawn from the same series. Do the same with five Very Rare items, and you’ll obtain an Import item from the same series, and so on.

Lastly, trading items outside of crates belonging to the Very Rare categories can grant you painted variants of a Common vehicle, or a new rocket boost labeled as Import. If you have five from this last category, you can receive a painted variant of a Common wheel, this one labeled as Exotic instead.

That’s all you need to know to start trading in Rocket League. Just be wary around strangers before giving away your items, and prepare to have fun playing mix and match with friends and storming into ranked matches with style.