A trade URL is the address other people use to send you a trade offer. You'll need it for essentially any trade with someone who isn't already on your friends list.
It takes about fifteen seconds to find, and — despite a lot of nervous forum posts — sharing it is safe.
Where do I find my Steam trade URL?
Open Steam, go to your Inventory, click Trade Offers, then "Who can send me Trade Offers?". Your trade URL is at the bottom of that page. It looks like steamcommunity.com/tradeoffer/new/?partner=...&token=.... Copy the whole thing, including both parameters.
Step by step
- Open Steam — the desktop client or steamcommunity.com in a browser.
- Go to your Inventory (via your profile, or the Inventory link in the top menu).
- Click Trade Offers in the top-right of the inventory panel.
- Click "Who can send me Trade Offers?"
- Scroll to the bottom. Your Third-Party Sites trade URL is there, with a Copy button next to it.
The same page also has a Create New URL button, which we'll come back to.
If you have an account with us, your Account page links straight to that Steam settings page, so you don't have to go hunting.
What a trade URL actually is
It's two pieces of information stuck onto a URL:
partner— your account ID, derived from your SteamID. Public information.token— a short random string that says "this person is allowed to send me an offer".
Together they let a stranger send you a trade offer. That's the entire capability. It's the digital equivalent of giving someone your postal address so they can mail you a parcel.
Why sharing it is safe
A trade URL cannot log in to your account, take items, read your data, or act on your behalf. Every trade still requires you to open the offer, look at what's in it, and accept — plus a Steam Guard mobile confirmation if you have the authenticator enabled, which you should.
Specifically, someone with your trade URL cannot:
- Sign in as you or see your password
- Remove items from your inventory
- Accept a trade on your behalf
- See your email, payment details, or purchase history
- Do anything at all without you pressing Accept
The worst someone can do with it is send you unwanted trade offers, which you decline. If that ever becomes a nuisance, you regenerate the URL and the old one dies instantly.
Compare that to what an actual attack needs — your password, or a hijacked session, or a fake login page. Those are the real risks in Steam trading, and none of them involve your trade URL.
How to reset your trade URL
On the same "Who can send me Trade Offers?" page, press Create New URL.
This generates a fresh token and immediately invalidates the old one. Anyone holding the previous URL can no longer send you offers.
Worth doing if:
- You're getting persistent unwanted offers
- You posted it somewhere public and would rather not leave it there
- You're tidying up after using a site you no longer trust
There's no cost or cooldown, and it doesn't affect your existing trades or inventory. Do note that any legitimate service holding your old URL will need the new one — including us, if you've saved it.
Why a saved trade URL sometimes stops working
A few common causes, all fixable:
You regenerated it. The old token is dead. Paste the new URL wherever you'd saved the old one.
You copied only part of it. The URL needs both partner= and token=. Copying from the address bar mid-page, or a chat client truncating a long link, is the usual culprit. Use the Copy button.
You pasted someone else's. It happens more than you'd think, usually from a clipboard mix-up. We validate that a saved trade URL actually resolves to your own Steam account, specifically so a mistyped URL can't quietly send your order to a stranger.
Your account can't trade yet. New accounts, accounts without Steam Guard, and accounts that recently changed password face Steam-side trade restrictions. That's an account-security limit, not a URL problem — the trade URL is fine, the account just isn't cleared to trade yet.
The 15-day hold, briefly
If your account doesn't have the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator active — or has had it for fewer than seven days — Steam holds incoming items in escrow for up to 15 days.
This catches a lot of people mid-purchase and looks like the seller stalling. It isn't; it's Valve protecting your account. Enable the Mobile Authenticator about a week before you plan to trade and the hold disappears.
The short version
Inventory → Trade Offers → "Who can send me Trade Offers?" → copy the URL at the bottom. It only lets people send you offers, you can regenerate it any time, and it can never be used to access your account.
Ready to use it? Check live stock and pricing, or read how delivery and refunds work first.
Frequently asked questions
Where is my Steam trade URL?
In Steam, open your Inventory, click Trade Offers, then "Who can send me Trade Offers?". The trade URL is at the bottom of that page under Third-Party Sites, with a button to copy it.
Is it safe to give someone my Steam trade URL?
Yes. A trade URL only allows someone to send you a trade offer, which you must still open and accept yourself. It cannot be used to log in, take items, or access any account information.
How do I change my Steam trade URL?
Press "Create New URL" on the same "Who can send me Trade Offers?" page. The old URL stops working immediately, so update it anywhere you've saved it legitimately.
Why does my trade URL not work?
Usually because it was regenerated, partially copied (it needs both the partner and token parameters), or belongs to a different account. Trade restrictions from missing Steam Guard can also block trades regardless of the URL.