It's because they are two different stores. The in-game Mann Co store is the official store where you buy new stuff, and the community market is where players sell their items that they received at some point.

Cases are only found as a random drop, so they don't show up in the Mann Co store, for example. Similarly, many unique items like weapons (which I don't recommend buying from the Mann Co store, as they are way overpriced) aren't marketable, so they don't show up on the community market.

Fireschlong #2Broke4MannUp님이 먼저 게시:

It's because they are two different stores. The in-game Mann Co store is the official store where you buy new stuff, and the community market is where players sell their items that they received at some point.

Cases are only found as a random drop, so they don't show up in the Mann Co store, for example. Similarly, many unique items like weapons (which I don't recommend buying from the Mann Co store, as they are way overpriced) aren't marketable, so they don't show up on the community market.

Should I mainly buy from the steam market then? Because the stuff I am trying to get is either not there OR is really pricey. (It's nothing major btw like a rare or something like, just something simple)

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

Fireschlong #2Broke4MannUp님이 먼저 게시:

It's because they are two different stores. The in-game Mann Co store is the official store where you buy new stuff, and the community market is where players sell their items that they received at some point.

Cases are only found as a random drop, so they don't show up in the Mann Co store, for example. Similarly, many unique items like weapons (which I don't recommend buying from the Mann Co store, as they are way overpriced) aren't marketable, so they don't show up on the community market.

Should I mainly buy from the steam market then? Because the stuff I am trying to get is either not there OR is really pricey. (It's nothing major btw like a rare or something like, just something simple)

The market will usually be cheaper. There are also third-party places which are even cheaper, but these go beyond the scope of this post.

If you don't have premium yet, you can also buy a key or Tour of Duty Ticket, to just get that done. Otherwise the market is, again, cheaper on average.

Store bought weapons have hidden higher crit rate chance

Don't waste money on a game that has been dead since 2014

๋님이 먼저 게시:

Don't waste money on a game that has been dead since 2014

As a digital archaeologist, I discourage the misuse of the term "dead" when it comes to TF2. It waters down the magical places that are actual dead/forgotten media.

You are partly correct though, except money spent on something you enjoy isn't wasted.

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

Should I mainly buy from the steam market then? Because the stuff I am trying to get is either not there OR is really pricey. (It's nothing major btw like a rare or something like, just something simple)

Never buy stuff from the mann co store. The few exceptions are like mann up tickets, keys to new cases (which you shouldn't open anyway), and a single 50 cent weapon to unlock your account as an f2p. If you want unique weapons or craft hats which don't appear on the market, get them from a third party trading site like https://stntrading.eu/.

nicken chugger님이 먼저 게시:

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

Should I mainly buy from the steam market then? Because the stuff I am trying to get is either not there OR is really pricey. (It's nothing major btw like a rare or something like, just something simple)

Never buy stuff from the mann co store. The few exceptions are like mann up tickets, keys to new cases (which you shouldn't open anyway), and a single 50 cent weapon to unlock your account as an f2p. If you want unique weapons or craft hats which don't appear on the market, get them from a third party trading site like https://stntrading.eu/.

But aren't 3rd party websites like very sketchy and dangerous? Like they can get your steam account and just mess around with your money?

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

But aren't 3rd party websites like very sketchy and dangerous? Like they can get your steam account and just mess around with your money?

Yeah, account stealing and API scams exist. I hear they are a lot more common in counterstrike trading since TF2 items aren't as valuable. In my experience scammers usually try to introduce you to their websites by commenting on your profile and/or adding you and messaging you with a link to log into something (e.g. voting for a comp team). Their accounts usually have some distinct features.

The TF2 trading community relies on a few widespread third party sites like backpack.tf, stntrading, mannco.store, and a few others, so old trading trading servers aren't really populated anymore. Backpack.tf simply shows trading listings of other players for you to trade through steam, so it might be a better starting point since they don't use trade bots or anything, but it still makes you log in. Scrap/refined metal is used as a currency.

All those unique weapons can just be found by just playing too, so getting into the trading scene is by no means mandatory. You can also rent 1 weapon at a time for free from the in-game store. Grabbing cheap strange weapons from the market is also an option.

The massive price disparity between the in game store and everywhere else is due to it being added in 2011 and the quantity of random drops since then.

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

nicken chugger님이 먼저 게시:

Never buy stuff from the mann co store. The few exceptions are like mann up tickets, keys to new cases (which you shouldn't open anyway), and a single 50 cent weapon to unlock your account as an f2p. If you want unique weapons or craft hats which don't appear on the market, get them from a third party trading site like https://stntrading.eu/.

But aren't 3rd party websites like very sketchy and dangerous? Like they can get your steam account and just mess around with your money?

Third-party sites can be scams (basically, be careful about which sites you're visiting, and don't blindly trust strangers or click their links), but sites like marketplace.tf, mannco.store and STNTrading are safe. There are some bad apples of course, as well as anything that's outside of Steam being riskier by default.

As for not getting your account stolen, I suggest looking at the URL above. If the URL says steamcommunity.com, it is safe, and if it says anything else, it's a phishing scam. There's also the trick with the embedded window or window popup, which is a common phishing tactic as well.
Better yet, log into steam in a seperate browser tab first, then click "Sign in through Steam". If you're not logged in after clicking there despite being logged in on Steam (instead of your account being shown there, it asks for your username and password), it's a fake login.
And always have common sense. When you're in doubt, take things slowly to observe the situation.
That's enough rambling about scams for now though. Sorry for rambling about nonsense, but spreading awareness is the best way to combat scams, so I felt it was worth talking about.

Fireschlong #2Broke4MannUp님이 먼저 게시:

MarkedxGage님이 먼저 게시:

But aren't 3rd party websites like very sketchy and dangerous? Like they can get your steam account and just mess around with your money?

Third-party sites can be scams (basically, be careful about which sites you're visiting, and don't blindly trust strangers or click their links), but sites like marketplace.tf, mannco.store and STNTrading are safe. There are some bad apples of course, as well as anything that's outside of Steam being riskier by default.

As for not getting your account stolen, I suggest looking at the URL above. If the URL says steamcommunity.com, it is safe, and if it says anything else, it's a phishing scam. There's also the trick with the embedded window or window popup, which is a common phishing tactic as well.
Better yet, log into steam in a seperate browser tab first, then click "Sign in through Steam". If you're not logged in after clicking there despite being logged in on Steam (instead of your account being shown there, it asks for your username and password), it's a fake login.
And always have common sense. When you're in doubt, take things slowly to observe the situation.
That's enough rambling about scams for now though. Sorry for rambling about nonsense, but spreading awareness is the best way to combat scams, so I felt it was worth talking about.

No no no! Thank you for all the information! Truly this community is so helpful and fun!!!!!