Last updated: 25 June 2026

Path of Exile 2 Trading Guide: Currency Exchange, Merchant Tabs & Direct Deals

Path of Exile 2 splits trading into three distinct systems: the Currency Exchange for bulk stackable items, asynchronous Merchant tabs for gear and uniques, and direct player-to-player barters for everything else. There is no auction-house instant buyout — understanding how each system works is the fastest way to gear up without overpaying or getting scammed.

01The Three Trading Systems at a Glance

Before diving into step-by-step instructions, it helps to know which system to reach for:

One blanket rule applies to all three: Gold cannot be traded between players. Gold is your personal economy currency for vendor purchases, passive respec costs, and Gold fees on the exchange — it never leaves your account.

02Currency Exchange: Bulk Trading Without the Hassle

The Currency Exchange is Path of Exile 2's answer to bulk trading. You access it as early as Act 1 by speaking with Finn at Clearfell Encampment and selecting "Currency Exchange." Every major town afterwards has a matching NPC, so you are never far from it.

The exchange handles a wide range of stackable items:

• Basic currencies — Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, Divine Orbs
• Crafting consumables — Omens, Catalysts, Distilled Emotions
• Runes and Soul Cores
• Atlas economy items — Essences, Boss Fragments, and similar endgame materials

To place an order, open the exchange, choose what you want to receive, choose what you are offering, and set an exchange ratio. The interface shows live market-rate suggestions — use these as a starting reference, but you can undercut slightly to get your order filled faster. Once submitted, the order sits in the pool. When another player's offer matches yours, the trade completes automatically, and the items appear in your stash. You do not need to be logged in when the match happens.

Listing an order costs a small Gold fee. This is not a significant drain at endgame, but during early campaign play you should be selective about what you list rather than flooding the exchange with tiny orders.

03Merchant Tabs: Selling Gear While You Sleep

Asynchronous trading via Merchant tabs is how the game handles gear, uniques, and any non-stackable item the Currency Exchange will not accept. The core idea is that you price items and walk away — buyers can purchase from your shop even while you are offline.

How to unlock it:

1. Progress to Act 4 and complete the quest that awards you your first Hideout.
2. Speak with Ange (introduced in Act 4's King's March area) and invite her to your Hideout.
3. Obtain a Merchant's Tab. These are purchased through the in-game MTX shop or the official website. Note: only Premium Stash Tabs purchased before August 29, 2025 were eligible for conversion to Merchant tabs.

Listing items for sale:

1. Place the item you want to sell into the Merchant's Tab.
2. Ctrl + Left Click the item to open the pricing window.
3. Set a currency type and an amount, then confirm. Every item must have its own individual price — bulk listings with a single price for multiple items are not supported for gear.
4. Your listing goes live on the official trade site and the in-game Market Panel automatically.

How buyers collect items: A buyer searches for your item on the trade site or the in-game Market Panel (press / or use the hamburger menu in the top right). They click "Secure Item," which reserves the item and prevents anyone else from buying it. Then they teleport directly to your Hideout, open the Market Panel there, and confirm the purchase. The Gold fee for the transaction is paid by the buyer, not the seller. Your proceeds accumulate in Ange's remove-only Earnings Tab, which you can claim at any time.

Because the buyer secures the item before travelling, the last-minute item-swap scam that plagued the original Path of Exile is largely eliminated in this system.

04Searching & Pricing Items on the Trade Site

The official trade site lives at pathofexile.com/trade2. The in-game Market Panel mirrors its functionality, so you can search without leaving the game. Either way, mastering the search filters is what separates efficient shoppers from frustrated ones.

Key filters to know:

• Base type and item class — narrow results to the correct slot immediately.
• Affix search — search for specific modifiers (e.g., "maximum life", "fire resistance") and set minimum values. Use the "minimum roll" field to exclude low-rolled versions.
• Rarity — filter by Normal, Magic, Rare, or Unique.
• Item level — higher item level supports higher-tier affixes. For endgame gear, filter for item level 80+ to ensure access to the top affix tiers.
• Linked sockets — relevant for support gem setups; filter by socket colour or link count.
• Price range — set a maximum price in Exalted or Divine Orbs to keep results within budget.

Pricing your own items: Before listing, search for similar items on the trade site to see what others are charging. Sort by price ascending to find the going market rate. A common rule of thumb is to price roughly at or 5–10% below the cheapest comparable listing to get a fast sale. For highly specific items with few comparisons, be more generous with your estimate — underpricing rare gear is a common beginner mistake.

Exalted Orbs are the standard currency for everyday gear trades. Divine Orbs are used for high-end items. Chaos Orbs handle budget purchases. When pricing, express value in whichever currency feels natural for the item tier — the trade site supports any currency type.

05Direct Player-to-Player Trading

For spontaneous trades — swapping currency in a party, gifting a friend an item, or haggling on the spot — the direct trade window is the tool. It is available anywhere both players share a zone or town.

How to initiate:

1. Right-click the other player's character portrait or name in the party panel.
2. Select "Trade." This sends them a trade request.
3. If they accept, a trade window opens showing two inventories side by side.
4. Both players drag items and currencies into their offer slots. When both click Accept and verify the window, the trade executes.

Direct trades are real-time, meaning both players must be online and in the same instance. They are ideal when you already know the person or have agreed on terms in chat. They are less suitable for finding strangers to trade with at scale — that is what the trade site and Merchant tabs are for.

Important limitation: Solo Self-Found characters cannot use the Currency Exchange, Merchant tabs, or direct trades with other players. SSF is a deliberate isolation mode — switching off it requires a character migration.

06Avoiding Scams and Common Mistakes

Path of Exile 2 is generally safer than its predecessor because the Merchant tab system's "Secure Item" step removes the main swap-scam vector. That said, a few pitfalls remain:

• Verify the item in the Market Panel before confirming purchase. Check the item name, affixes, and price match what you saw on the trade site. Listings can update between your search and your visit.
• Never pay currency outside the trade window. If a player asks you to drop currency on the ground or trade in a non-standard way, decline.
• Lowball listings may be mistakes — or traps. An item priced at 1 Chaos that should be worth 10 Divines might be a genuine pricing error (act fast and respectfully) or a bait-and-switch attempt. Always inspect before confirming.
• Ignore "deal of a lifetime" DMs. Unsolicited whispers offering rare items at massive discounts are almost always phishing for your account details or currency.
• Do not spam skills in a seller's hideout. It is considered poor etiquette and can get you blocked, making future purchases from that seller impossible.

The biggest financial mistake beginners make is not trading at all — hoarding currency while playing with gear that is three tiers below what they could afford. The economy in Path of Exile 2 is liquid; spending on the right upgrade at the right time is more valuable than a stockpile you never use.