Trade

You can trade unbound items and equipment with any player character that you meet in the game. If you are looking to trade a specific item, you can often find that item (or someone who wants yours) by posting a notice in the /trade channel, but you will then have to either meet with that character and make the trade, or trust them via mail, or via some other means (see below).

Character to character trading

To trade with another character, get close to them, target them (usually right-click) and click on the Trade icon in the Focus Orb, or right-click and select "Trade". This will open a window showing two panels: "My Offer" and "(their name}'s Offer", with a similar window popping up for the other player/character. Your Inventory screen will also automatically open at the same time.

Drag* items from your inventory to/from the My Offer panel (you cannot trade any items that are currently equipped). Although only 12 slots are visible in the window, any number of items can be traded, and a scroll-bar will appear when you place more than 12 there. You can also trade money by clicking in the coin amount boxes and typing in the number of coins you want to trade.

(* Note that the item itself will remain in inventory until the trade is successful, for now you are dragging only an image to the trade panel to offer. The item will disappear once the trade is agreed upon by both parties, see next.)

Once each player has added the items and/or money they want to the trade window, each player must click on the "Accept" button to complete the transaction (your/their Trade window will glow green-ish when this is done). If either player adds/removes/changes anything in the offer, both parties must agree (again) to the new offer (even if it is simply "more"). Once both parties agree to a final selection, the window closes and all offered items and money are immediately moved to the other's inventory, with new items randomly filling the first open spots, and are highlighted by "glowing" until you either click on them or close and reopen your inventory.

Trading away items frees up pack space, so, for example, 2 characters with full packs could trade the same number of items, each filling the open slots w/ the items they receive.

To trade a number of stacked items that is less than the full stack, press and hold Ctrl while dragging the stack of items to an empty pack square. A window will pop up; enter the number of items you would like to drag and click on OK. You will now have 2 stacks of that item, one with the number you entered, and one with "whatever is left from that stack".

Trades can be one-sided, gifts - you present an offer, the other player offers "nothing", and you both accept. (This can sometimes confuse players if you do not make it clear that you want nothing in return.)

The haggle skill has no effect on player to player trades, not unless you, the player, have a good haggle yourself.

Note: All trades in the game are final (unless the other player is willing to trade back). Be sure you are comfortable with a trade before you click on the Accept button!

Failed Trades

There are several common circumstances that will prohibit a trade:

• "Inventory Full The trade cannot be completed because one or more players have full inventories!" Note that an inventory does not need to be 100% "full", just have too few open slots to accept all items being offered.
• It's possible to start a trade, then move too far from the other character to complete it. This will result in the message: "Failed Action <character name> is out of range." The trade window stays open but the "acceptances" are both cancelled. Simply re-approach the other character and both select "Accept" again.
• If the weight of the trade items would exceed a character's maximum carrying capacity, the trade will fail with the simple message "The trade could not be completed.". Items such as plate armor and tower shields can weigh 50 pounds each, and can add up quite quickly.

Trading between your own characters

This is actually harder than trading between characters of different players.

If the item is unbound, you can mail it. (The mail will not allow any bound gear to be sent, not even Bound to Account gear to other alts in your Account.)

If you're VIP or have purchased access from the DDO Store, you can use the shared bank to transfer items, including Bound to Account items.

If both characters have access to the same Guild storage chest, you can drop something in there, log out and log in with the other character, and retrieve the item (assuming no one else grabs it before then).

If you have multiple accounts, you can also dual-box and use the standard procedure, above.

It's also perfectly possible to use the Auction House or Shard Exchange. Put something up for auction, and then use another character to purchase it there (assuming no one else purchases it first). However, since both the Auction House and Shard Exchange take a 30% cut of the selling price, and there is no control over who may buy the item before your second character does, this is not popular - but it is possible.

Trading equipped BtCoE items

Some items bind to a character on equip, i.e., when you equip them for the first time, they become bound to that character. Such items can only be traded via the Shard Exchange.

Trading with F2P characters

F2P characters can receive DDO Store items from other characters, but they cannot trade them back (or mail them, or post them on the auction house). They can use a Shared Bank to trade within that same account, or can use a Guild Airship storage chest* to trade to other characters** who have access to those chests.

* An optional amenity that must be purchases separately for a Guild airship.

** You may want to dual-box, to immediately claim the items from the chest, to prevent the chance of the items being removed by other players while you log out and then back in on a different account.

Some similar items that are received as prizes, as give-aways (from special events or Daily Dice), or even acquired from chests in quests have been reported to behave similarly.

Trading BtC augments

Augments that bind to character are generally tricky to trade:

• To trade with your own account, slot them into a BtA item and use the Shared Bank. Or, use Dimensional Augment Bag.
• To trade with another account, slot them into a BtCoE item and use the Shard Exchange.

References

• DDO Player's Manual