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Steam Trading Cards have been out for a _long_ time (launched in 2011!), but you probably didn't realise you likely have tens of games with earning potential just sitting in your library! Here's how to earn the cards, and sell them.
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Steam Trading Cards have been out for a _long_ time (they launched in 2011!), but you probably didn't realise you likely have tens of games with earning potential just sitting in your library! Here's how to earn the cards, and sell them.
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## What are cards?
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@@ -24,17 +24,17 @@ First, it's worth checking you have unearned cards. If you only play free games,
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### Eligibility
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You can check by visiting [the "Badges" page](https://steamcommunity.com/my/badges) of your Steam Community profile whilst logged in, and searching for the word "PLAY" that is shown next to eligible games:
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You can check your eligibility by visiting [the "Badges" page](https://steamcommunity.com/my/badges) of your Steam Community profile whilst logged in, and searching for the word "PLAY" that is shown next to eligible games:
So, assuming you are eligible for drops, let's automate earning them. Whilst you _could_ install every eligible game and run them until the cards are earned, this is a complete waste of both your time and your machine's processing power!
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So, assuming you are eligible for card drops, let's automate earning them. Whilst you _could_ install every eligible game and run them until the cards are earned, this is a complete waste of both your time and your machine's processing power!
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By using automation software, we can instead just _report_ to Steam that the appropriate game is running. This allows you to just press start and leave your machine, using almost no system resources (12MB RAM for me) and skipping the arduous game downloading process.
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By using automation software, we can instead _report_ to Steam that the appropriate game is running. This allows you to just press start and leave your machine, using almost no system resources (12MB RAM for me) and skipping the arduous game downloading process.
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Additionally, the process is optimised to factor in the variable per-game minimum time, utilising a somewhat complicated process of cycling between single and multi game idling called "[Fast Mode](https://github.com/JonasNilson/idle_master_extended/wiki/Fast-mode)" that would be very hard to perform manually.
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Additionally, the automated process is optimised to factor in the variable per-game minimum time, utilising a somewhat complicated process of cycling between single and multi game idling called "[Fast Mode](https://github.com/JonasNilson/idle_master_extended/wiki/Fast-mode)" that would be very hard to perform manually.
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### Idle Master Extended
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@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ There are a few automation tools available, I personally chose [Idle Master Exte
[ArchiSteamFarm](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm) is far more popular (12k stars), however the regular releases, [more complex setup process](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm/wiki/Setting-up), request for your [username and password(!)](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm/wiki/Setting-up#:~:text=next%3A%20SteamLogin%20and-,SteamPassword,-.%20You%20can%20make) and serious complexity / feature set made it unappealing. We just need a simple tool!
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_Note: [ArchiSteamFarm](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm) is far more popular (12k stars), however the regular releases, [more complex setup process](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm/wiki/Setting-up), request for your [username and password(!)](https://github.com/JustArchiNET/ArchiSteamFarm/wiki/Setting-up#:~:text=next%3A%20SteamLogin%20and-,SteamPassword,-.%20You%20can%20make) and serious complexity / feature set made it unappealing. We just need a simple tool!_
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### Setup
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3. Select the "Application" tab at the top.
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4. Select "Cookies" under the "Storage" categories on the left, and click `https://steamcommunity.com`.
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5. Look for your `sessionId` and `steamLoginSecure`.
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6. Double click each in turn, and copy then paste into Idle Master Extension.
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6. Double click each in turn, and copy then paste into Idle Master Extended.
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Once submitted, Idle Master Extended will log in, and say "Idle Master is connected to Steam", look up your card eligibility, and start farming cards.
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@@ -102,29 +102,53 @@ Whilst you can do this step automatically, it's fairly slow to manually set an a
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Unfortunately, the tool we want to use can't be run on Chrome. Instead, you'll need to use Firefox, Brave, or whatever other browser you want to use. I used Firefox.
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1. Install a _userscript manager_, I used [Tampermonkey](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/tampermonkey/) since it's been around for a _very_ long time. "[Violentmonkey](https://violentmonkey.github.io/)" is an alternative.
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1. Install a _userscript manager_, I used [Tampermonkey](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/tampermonkey/) since it's been widely used for a _very_ long time. "[Violentmonkey](https://violentmonkey.github.io/)" is an alternative.
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2. Install [Steam Economy Enhancer](https://github.com/Nuklon/Steam-Economy-Enhancer) by tapping "Install Steam Economy Enhancer", then "Install" (next to Cancel).
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3. Open up [your Steam inventory](https://steamcommunity.com/my/inventory), and you should see a new "Sell All Items" button among others!
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3. Open up [your Steam inventory](https://steamcommunity.com/my/inventory), and you should see a new "Sell All Cards" button among others!
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4. Additionally, market prices for your cards will start loading and being displayed:
_Note: There is also an extension "Steam Inventory Helper" with more advanced functionality, however it is full of shady adverts, wants quite extensive permissions and has [overgathered data before](https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/70xofs/warning_trusted_steam_inventory_helper_now/). I don't recommend it!_
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_Note: There is also an extension "Steam Inventory Helper" with more advanced functionality, however it is full of shady adverts, wants quite extensive permissions, and has [overgathered data before](https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/70xofs/warning_trusted_steam_inventory_helper_now/). I don't recommend it!_
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### Selling
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Tap "Sell All Cards" and... it'll start! There's also a "Sell All Items" option, but obviously don't tap this if you have things you don't want to sell (backgrounds, emotes, etc).
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Once tapped, it'll run through every marketable item you own, and tell you the sale price and your earnings after Valve & the game's commission (typically 1-2 pennies / cents per item). These cards won't sell immediately, as most already have thousands listed. Instead, a few sales will trickle through every day as prices adjust up and down.
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Once tapped, it'll run through every marketable item you own, and tell you the sale price and your earnings after Valve & the game's commission (typically 1-2 pennies / cents per item). These cards won't sell immediately, as most already have thousands listed. Instead, a few sales will trickle through every day as older sales are processed and your listings move closer to the front.
_Note: Sometimes this process gets "stuck" due to a failed request. Refreshing the page and tapping "Sell All Cards" again continues from where it paused._
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### Confirming
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_However_, there might be another reason the cards don't sell: You haven't confirmed them yet! Depending on your Steam Guard settings, you may need to approve every marketplace listing on your phone, a feature implemented to protect expensive items but a bit silly for hundreds of cheap ones.
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Open up Steam on your phone, go to your notifications, tap "X pending confirmations", and tap every single confirmation one at a time. Whilst there are ways to automate this (setting up your browser as a 2-factor device), for me personally this risked account security too much. As such, I just did it manually.
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[](/assets/images/2025/steam_mobile-thumbnail.jpg)
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[](/assets/images/2025/steam_mobile.jpg)
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_Note: The app lags quite significantly when accepting lots of confirmations at once. Be patient, it'll get there!_
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## Profits
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So how much will you actually earn from this?
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Each game will drop you half the cards needed for a badge (typically between 5 and 10), so 3-5 cards per game is a reasonable estimate. Cards for popular games will usually sell for between £0.04 and £0.07 depending on the game and number of cards in a set, resulting in a post-commission amount of £0.02 to £0.05. So, around £0.05-£0.15 per eligible game, which sounds pretty bad until you consider...
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1.**Foil cards**: In addition to regular cards, you will sometimes find foil cards. These are usually worth 3-10x as much, with some obscure games having zero listed so you can name your own price in case someone is desperate to complete a collection!
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2.**Obscure games**: For games with few players, the card price will be much higher (although liquidity will be lower). For example, in "Arcade Spirits", my [regular card](https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/910630-QueenBee) is worth £0.12, whilst [my foil card](<https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/910630-Teo%20(Foil)>) has no accepted price.
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3.**Booster packs**: Once you have collected all the cards for a game, you are eligible for a [booster pack](https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Booster_Packs). These are essentially blind boxes with 3 cards in, however they can be sold directly too (and this is usually slightly better profit).
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The random nature of foil cards and booster packs makes getting an average profit essentially impossible. However, I would personally **estimate around £0.13 per game** once all lucky drops are factored in.
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So, for my 250 eligible games, I'd expect to receive around **£30**. Not bad for running some automated tools!
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## Is it allowed?
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I guess technically not? However, is it enforced? Definitely not.
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Valve have historically been very, very lenient with automation around the Steam platform (hence [Team Fortress 2 trading bots](https://scrap.tf/about), [Steam Achievement Manager](https://github.com/gibbed/SteamAchievementManager) operating since 2008, and many more examples!), only stepping in when automation is _disadvantaging_ other users (or Valve). In this case, we're adding more cards into the economy, helping supply cards for rarely played games, and of course making Valve & the game company at least £0.01 per sale!
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Whilst it's obviously impossible to say the tools recommended in this post are _safe_, it's worth observing how their subreddits / discussions / GitHub issues don't include [any mentions of bans](https://github.com/JonasNilson/idle_master_extended/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20ban) whatsoever despite tens of thousands of users.
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