Can someone explain how the tf2 currency works???

[xPxnda]

So I'm a little bit of a noob to trading currently and I heard you need refined to get keys and to get stranges and other things. So what my problem I'm having is can someone out there explain how many weapons cost per each individual scrap metal, reclaimed metal, and refined metal? Also how much scrap is used for refined, and/or reclaimed metal for refined metal?

 

 

[It'sJustThemo]

Well, it's like the image says:

• 2 weapons make a scrap
• 3 scraps (or 6 weapons) make a reclaimed
• 3 reclaimed (or 9 scraps or 18 weapons) make a refined
• Since the amount of refined is growing faster than keys (because keys need to be bought from Valve, therefore people try to get them cheap from other players that want to "cash out", so the number of keys on the market stays the same) the amount of refined needed to trade (you can't craft keys) for a key is ever growing.

Bonus tips:

1. Right now keys are being sold for ~53.55 refined (That's 482 scraps or 964 weapons!) so trading up to a key is usually very tedious and long. It can be done, just not by random drops alone (you get 8-20 weapons per week, so it would take close to a year to get a single key).
2. Smart item management, crafting MvM killstreak kits, looking for differences in prices between trading sites (buying cheap, selling for more) are the ways to get that little bit of profit. Sometimes you might get lucky and get a few refined of profit. Once you get to 7-10 keys you can go for the higher value items like some really popular stranges or cheap unusuals. Really I'd recommed buying your first few keys, it's easier to start with a budget. Unusuals are pretty hard to sell and they never go for their backpack.tf price. Usually it's down from 70-80% of it. Although if you manage to get to unusual trading, you can get a few keys in profit, if you do it right of course.
3. From my experience crafting MvM kits is the best way to get profit, I could be wrong, but that's what worked for me. You can get some fabricator really cheap, since not everybody wants to bother with crafting. Just look for popular weapons (Usually stock or meme weapons are the best) and effects (Team Shine and Deadly Daffodil are usually the best).
4. Don't expect giant leaps in your backapck value, I assure you, there's a tone of people looking for profit out there. Don't get frustrated if you won't find any opportunities and be careful when trading valuable items. You might get scammed.
5. Unique and strange items are mostly sold for its backpack.tf value. The more addons an items has the more uncertain its value is (though strange parts add ~50% of their value to an item)

I hope that I helped and didn't drown you in information. If I got something wrong, guys, please correct me. I'm just a guy with lots of free time.