THE QUICK ANSWER
A sale-price chart describes past transactions; an order book describes current requests and offers. Neither is a guaranteed price for your next trade.
01
Name the panel before quoting a number
Valve’s public commodity Market page displays Median Sale Prices and Buy and Sell Orders (cumulative), along with price-level tables. These panels describe different datasets. Keep the item, period, currency and capture time with any number you record.
A seller’s current ask is not another point on the historical sale chart. A buyer request is not a completed purchase, even if it is near a recent median.
Explanation: history and order depth answer different questions
Median sales
Summary of past transactions in a period.
Buy requests
Amounts current buyers request.
Sell offers
Amounts current sellers ask.
Explanation diagram, not a website screenshot. Three data types; no real market points or prices are plotted.
Original explanation · not an account screenshot02
Read the historical median as a sample summary
A median is the middle observation in ordered data. It does not identify the maximum, minimum or every individual sale within a chart interval. Read available volume information alongside it and avoid claiming that all sales occurred at the median.
For invented transactions of 2, 2, 3, 3 and 15 units, the median is 3 while the range is 2 to 15. That example explains why a summary line does not reproduce every transaction.
| Invented sale sample | 2, 2, 3, 3, 15 |
|---|---|
| Median | 3 units |
| Range | 2–15 units |
| Conclusion | The middle price is not every sale price. |
03
Separate price-level quantities from cumulative depth
A price-level row describes quantity at that level or within its labelled grouped range. A cumulative curve adds eligible levels as the price threshold changes. Do not add already cumulative points together as if they were separate quantities.
For invented sell levels of two items at 10, three at 11 and five at 12 units, cumulative availability up to 12 is ten, not two plus five plus ten. Read whether the source says cumulative before doing arithmetic.
Explanation: cumulative means add levels once
Level A
Two fictional items at 10.
Level B
Three fictional items at 11.
Level C
Five fictional items at 12.
Cumulative to 12
Ten items, not a sum of cumulative points.
Explanation diagram, not a website screenshot. Original invented depth example, not Steam’s current order book.
Original explanation · not an account screenshot04
Read the gap between request and offer carefully
The highest displayed buy request and lowest displayed sell offer can differ. That gap is a quote spread; it is not a guaranteed profit or proof that both sides remain available when you act. Quantities and currency matter as well.
An attractive top price for one item cannot be multiplied across an entire inventory unless that depth actually exists and remains eligible. Use the actual transaction preview rather than extrapolating from the first row.
05
Write an observation, not a forecast
A useful note identifies the exact page, chart period, observed median/volume labels and order-depth snapshot time. Mark any calculations as your own. Public data can change before a later transaction.
The guide uses a container’s Market page only as a commodity-data example. It does not recommend buying or opening a container, and it reports no current price or expected return.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE
Quick checklist
- Label historical sales versus current orders.
- Read median with its period and volume.
- Do not add cumulative points twice.
- Keep quoted depth and observation time.
Official sources
Official public documentation reviewed on 26 October 2026 (America/Toronto).
- Valve — Glove Case Community Market page · reviewed
Public documentation review only. No account was signed in, no order or trade was created, and no payment was made. Examples use invented amounts and do not report current market prices.
