SimCity BuildIt Trading Guide

13 Remotes !?! How did you get 13 remotes? Answer: Trades
Saving up rare items for expansion can be frustratingly slow. One way to speed up that process is to find other players to trade with.

On Facebook, there are groups: some public, some private, and others by invitation-only where people are trading bulldozer parts, Vu remotes, Tokyo and other rare items in quantities that vary from 1-100. It's essentially a black market for all of the items in the game.

Each purchase is done at a particular rate agreed upon before the trade occurs. The items are typically listed for $1 each so it's a plain swap of parts. Which brings us to a very important rule of thumb:

**** The $1 Rule ****
If you see an item listed in a trade depot for $1, it's most likely being listed for a trade. .

Do not purchase $1 Items unless you are the intended recipient of said items.

Some groups have more obscure subsets of this rule, but the basic tenant of "Don't purchase $1 items if they're not for you" is universal to all the groups I've seen.


How to trade in SimCity BuildIt

1. Find a SimCity BuildIt group on facebook.

2. Make a post stating what you're looking for (or selling) and the ratio of what you're offering . The format you often see goes as follows:

Buying: "My item you're willing to part with, your item you're looking for, desired ratio"
or
Selling: "My item you want to sell, your item you want in exchange, desired ratio"

Examples:
"My land, your burgers, 2:1"
"My burgers, your remotes, 2:1"
"My dozer exhaust, your dozer wheels, 1:1"

If you're selling multiple items it's also nice to say how many of each you have
Example: "My land (3 exhaust, 5 wheels, 4 blades), your burgers, 2:1"

3. When you're a buyer, if you like what someone's offering, leave a comment stating "Deal" and then send them a private message. Private message is the best way to do this, so that you won't have any rogue players coming in and swiping your items mid-trade.

4. Send a facebook friend request to your trade partner.

5. After they agree to be a facebook friend, go into the SimCity BuildIt settings and log off of facebook. As soon as you log off, log back in. That should add them to the list of cities you can see.

6. In your private message, confirm exactly what it is that you are trading. For instance, if your original post specified "Land" let them know if it's an even split between dozer blades, exhaust and wheels or if you're doing uneven numbers. Also confirm if you expect all items to be listed as $1 or as max price. Most trades are done at $1 per item.

7. If you are currently advertising an item, outsiders have full access to your trade depot. It is best to do trades when you are not advertising to decrease the risk of thefts. Another option is to have your trade partner purchase the items you are advertising, thus removing access to outsiders. Once your trade is done, they can sell them back to you for the same price.

Swiper No Swiping!
8. Once everyone is happy with the terms of the deal, it's time for the buyer to send payment (usually in the form of burgers or other items). The seller should go to the buyer's city, let them know when they are present, and then the buyer should list the items that will act as payment. Exiting and re-entering the trade depot will refresh the list of items. Keep exiting and reentering until the payment items appear.

9. The seller should collect the payment, confirm that they've received payment, and then tell the buyer to go to the seller's city. Once the buyer arrives at the selling city, let them know you're there, and the seller should list their items.

10. The buyer should then collect the purchased items.

11. Confirm that the other party is happy with the deal and thank them. In order for this system to work, everyone needs to be fair and honest. Being friendly is an obvious plus because it leaves the door open to trading with them again.

12. If at any time, you are not happy with the deal, let the other person know and arrange to have the payment items returned to the buyer. If you are collecting storage, land, beach, Tokyo or Vu items, DO NOT UPGRADE ANYTHING until the conclusion of the deal and everyone is happy. I've heard of transactions that went south, but they had already used the items, so the deal couldn't be reversed.

13. If someone does not complete the deal and runs off with your payment, send a private message to the admin of the group you're doing the deal in. Most groups have admins that are willing to step in and negotiate a fair settlement, or worst case ban the other player from the group. It's not unheard of for admins to share the names of people who aren't dealing fairly... So if you don't wan't to get blacklisted from multiple groups, always deal honestly and fairly.

Coin Deals
I see this less frequently, but is common in larger deals where $100,000 or more is spent on a big deal.

If a buyer wants payment in coins, you can do the following

1.  The seller will list burgers at full price. For instance a 10 pack of burgers would be $36,200.
2. The buyer will buy them
3. The buyer will then list those same burgers for $1
4. The seller will buy the burgers back for $1 each

By doing the above steps, the buyer will end up with cash, while keeping the original burgers. It can be done repeatedly to send large sums of coins.

Auctions
This is where we get into the secret-society side of these trade groups. Some groups have live auctions where only certain high level/trusted players are invited. Everyone will join a group chat on facebook and a large stash of items will be be put up for auction. It's usually something big, like 50 remotes or 90 Tokyo. I've seen them, but never participated. Once the auction gets going, people will say how much they're willing to spend. One by one, people will drop out until there's one final price.

Beware of dishonest players and fake accounts
Unfortunately, there are people who have hacked/glitched the game in order to get an unlimited supply of sim cash. If you see a player with a crazy amount of SimCash in their screenshot, they've been hacking the game. If you see people listing things in too-good-to-be-true deals, or having massive giveaways, they may not be playing fairly. I also try to avoid players with fake facebook accounts. They're usually pretty easy to spot because they'll just use the BuildIt logo as their photo. It's unfortunate that some players aren't playing legitimately because it throws off the open market system and ruins the natural supply and demand. In the end, the trade game comes down to everybody playing honestly, fulfilling their end of the deals, and ensuring that both sides are happy with the trades.

How to get into the super secret chat groups within secret groups within closed groups (trust me....they exist)
If you're just starting out I'd suggest getting into one of the large general groups for SimCity BuildIt. The "SimCity Official Group", although not truly official, is the largest group out there with over 5,000 members. I'd recommend starting there as it can be a gateway into the more secretive groups which range from 100-1,000 members. Make some trades there and get known as an honest, daily player. If you get a good enough reputation, people will invite you into the other, more secretive groups.

Conclusion
If you're able to find a good group, you can have a great deal of fun buying and selling rare items. It's really the best way to go when you need to find a large amount of expansion items. I've had good success selling my excess land and storage items for Tokyo, remotes, and burgers. I've built up good relationships with people who have become my go-to people when I need Tokyo or remotes.

Good luck, and happy trading!



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