Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of crate.tf and any related pages, apps, APIs, and services operated under the Crate.tf brand (collectively, the “Service,” “Crate.tf,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). The Service provides an automated way for users to exchange certain Team Fortress 2 (“TF2”) in-game items with inventories controlled by Crate.tf trading bots via Steam trade offers.

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Not affiliated with Valve/Steam. Crate.tf is an independent service and is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by Valve Corporation or Steam.

1. Definitions

• “Steam” means the Steam platform and services operated by Valve.
• “Steam Account” means your Steam account used to authenticate via Steam OpenID.
• “Items” means TF2 in-game virtual items supported by the Service (currently intended to include crates and keys, and potentially other TF2 items later), identified by SKU or similar identifiers.
• “Bot” means an automated Steam account controlled by Crate.tf that can send/receive trade offers.
• “Transaction” means a user-initiated request to exchange Items, which may be fulfilled using one or more Steam trade offers across one or more Bots.
• “Trade Offer” means a Steam trade offer message created and sent through Steam.

2. Eligibility and age

Minimum age. You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this requirement.

No age verification. We do not actively verify age. If you are under 16, you must not use the Service, and any use is at your own risk.

Local law. You may not use the Service if doing so would violate laws applicable to you.

3. Steam requirements and your responsibilities

To use the Service, you must:

• Have a valid Steam Account and complete sign-in via Steam OpenID.
• Maintain a valid Steam trade URL and any other Steam settings required for trading (for example, Steam Guard / trade eligibility requirements).
• Ensure your Steam account is secure and not being used by anyone else. You are responsible for all activity taken through your Steam account relating to the Service, including accepting or cancelling Trade Offers.
• Comply with all applicable Steam/Valve rules and agreements (including the Steam Subscriber Agreement and trading restrictions). If Steam restricts you (trade holds, limited account, bans, cooldowns, device confirmations, etc.), the Service may not work for you.

If you do not meet these requirements, the Service may block trades, return an error, or cancel processing.

4. What Crate.tf provides

Crate.tf provides a mechanism to:

• Display supported TF2 Items and indicative exchange values;
• Let you choose Items to give and Items to receive;
• Validate your eligibility to trade;
• Plan and orchestrate one or more Steam Trade Offers (possibly across multiple Bots) to fulfill your Transaction;
• Reserve/lock Items during execution to reduce double-spend and race conditions; and
• Display a Transaction status that you may poll.

Important: The Service is dependent on Steam’s systems. Steam outages, delays, holds, API changes, or restrictions may prevent the Service from functioning correctly.

5. Transactions, multi-offer execution, and partial completion

5.1 Transaction flow

A typical Transaction follows this lifecycle (implementation details may change):

select → request → validate → plan → reserve → offer sent → offer accepted

5.2 Multi-offer Transactions

A single Transaction may require multiple Trade Offers. For example, the Service may split fulfillment across multiple Bots to source inventory.

You acknowledge and agree that:

• A Transaction is not guaranteed to be fulfilled in a single Trade Offer.
• The Service may send multiple Trade Offers; you may need to accept more than one.

5.3 Partial completion is possible

Because execution involves multiple independent Trade Offers and Steam conditions can change, partial completion can occur. For example:

• One Trade Offer is accepted and completes successfully;
• A later Trade Offer fails, expires, is cancelled, or cannot be sent due to restrictions.

If partial completion happens:

• The Transaction may end in a partially completed terminal state once all related Trade Offers reach a terminal outcome (accepted/cancelled/expired/failed).
• Crate.tf is not required to “finish” the remaining portion later, and we do not guarantee automatic make-good trades.

5.4 Per-offer pricing and balancing

Each Trade Offer is priced/calculated so that the value exchanged in that offer remains consistent per our catalog and rate logic at the time of offer creation. Your Transaction status view may show an overall summary, but each Trade Offer stands on its own and must be reviewed and confirmed by you in Steam.

6. Single active transaction rule

To reduce conflicts and double-spend, you may have only one active Transaction at a time. A Transaction is “active” if it has not reached a terminal outcome (for example, still planned, reserved, or has pending Trade Offers).

If you attempt to start a new Transaction while another is active, we may block it.

7. Reservations/locks and time limits

Reservation period. When we reserve Items for a Transaction, the reservation generally lasts up to 15 minutes.

Release. If the Transaction does not complete within the reservation window, we may release reserved Items and cancel further processing.

Steam constraints. In some cases (e.g., Steam limitations), we may be unable to immediately cancel or unwind certain steps. In those cases, reservations or state updates may be delayed until Steam allows processing.

8. Pricing, catalog, and key exchange rate spread

Server-side pricing. Prices are computed server-side using our catalog and logic (including any key exchange rate).

Spread. For bulk trades or value conversions, we may apply a spread between key buy and key sell rates (e.g., key sell price − key buy price).

Quotes are not final until offers are created. Displayed values are indicative and may change before offers are created/sent.

Your confirmation controls. You must review Trade Offers in Steam and choose to accept or cancel. If you accept, you authorize the exchange shown in that Trade Offer.

9. Finality of trades and “check before you accept”

Trades are final once accepted. Once you accept a Trade Offer on Steam and Steam marks it accepted and exchanges the Items, that exchange is final within the Service.

You control acceptance. You are responsible for checking each Trade Offer (items given/received) before accepting.

No platform “undo.” We do not promise the ability to reverse a completed Steam trade.

10. Cancellation and support

Cancel in Steam. You can cancel or decline pending Trade Offers through Steam.

Contact support. If something goes wrong, you can reach staff via:

• Discord (support server/channel), or
• Email: [email protected]

We aim to be available 24/7, but we do not guarantee response times.

11. Errors, bot malfunction, and corrective actions

Because the Service involves automation and third-party systems, errors can happen (miscounts, delays, unexpected failures, stale inventory states, etc.).

If the Service sends the wrong Items due to a system error, we may offer a reasonable corrective remedy such as re-trading, replacing items where available, or other operational fix—at our discretion and subject to Steam constraints and inventory availability.

We may also update or correct Transaction records and status displays to reflect what actually occurred on Steam.

12. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to, and not to attempt to:

• Use automation, bots, scripts, auto-refreshers, headless browsers, or similar tools to access or interact with the Service (except normal browser usage), including excessive polling of Transaction status.
• Scrape the Service, harvest data, or extract pricing/catalog data at scale.
• Manipulate markets, exploit pricing logic, abuse timing, or attempt to obtain items via bugs, race conditions, or other exploits.
• Circumvent any limitation (including single active transaction), security control, rate limit, or access control.
• Interfere with the Service or Bots, including sending malformed requests, scanning, denial-of-service attempts, or disrupting infrastructure.
• Use the Service for unlawful activity, fraud, or activity that violates Steam’s rules.

13. Enforcement, suspension, and termination

We may act immediately. We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Service at any time if we reasonably believe you violated these Terms, abused the Service, or created risk or harm to the Service, other users, or our infrastructure.

Alt accounts. We may enforce actions across related accounts (including suspected alternate accounts) using signals such as Steam identifiers, IP address, device identifiers, and behavioral patterns.

Appeals. You may request review via Discord support. Appeals are handled case-by-case and are not guaranteed.

14. Intellectual property and branding

The Service (software, UI, branding, domain, and related assets) is owned by or licensed to Crate.tf and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or create derivative works of the Service except as permitted by law.

“Crate.tf” and related marks may be used only as allowed by us.

15. Steam data display and limited user content

The Service may display data sourced from Steam associated with your account (for example: Steam persona name, avatar, SteamID, and relevant inventory/trade metadata). You grant us a non-exclusive right to display and format that data solely for operating and improving the Service.

Other than that, the Service does not currently offer broad user-generated content posting features.

16. Feedback

If you send suggestions, ideas, or feedback, you grant Crate.tf the right to use it without restriction or compensation.

17. Privacy and data

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains what data we collect, how we use it, and the choices you may have. The Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

Without limiting the Privacy Policy, the Service may collect and process data necessary to operate and secure the Service, including (examples): SteamID, username, avatar, trade URL, IP address, device identifier, session/cookie data, logs, Transaction records, and Trade Offer IDs.

You may request deletion of Service-side data associated with your account by contacting [email protected]. Some records may be retained as necessary for security, abuse prevention, and operational integrity.

18. Third-party services and dependencies

The Service depends on third parties, including Steam/Valve, and internal/external components used to orchestrate trades (e.g., bot managers, authentication/session systems). We are not responsible for third-party outages, API changes, restrictions, bans, holds, or other actions taken by third parties.

19. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.”
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, successful fulfillment of any Transaction, or accuracy of catalog/pricing at all times.
• Bots and automated systems can malfunction; Steam can delay or block trades; and Item availability can change quickly.
• TF2 Items are virtual items within Steam/TF2 ecosystems; we do not represent that Items have real-world monetary value or that any market value will be maintained.
• Nothing in these Terms removes consumer rights that cannot legally be excluded.

20. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages (including lost profits, lost opportunity, or reputational harm).
• Our total liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the value of the Items in the affected Transaction (measured using our then-current catalog logic / key equivalence), or if that cannot be determined, a minimal amount required by law.
• Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in that case, limitations apply only to the extent permitted.

21. Indemnity

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend and indemnify Crate.tf from claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your misuse of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of Steam rules or applicable law.

(Where consumer protection laws restrict indemnities, this clause applies only to the extent allowed.)

22. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms at any time by posting an updated version on the Service. Changes are effective upon posting. By continuing to use the Service after changes are posted, you agree to the updated Terms.

23. Miscellaneous

Severability. If any provision is held invalid, the rest remain in effect.

No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.

Assignment. We may assign these Terms as part of operating the Service.

24. Governing law and disputes

Consumer rights preserved. If you are a consumer, you may have mandatory rights under the laws of your country of residence that cannot be waived by contract. Nothing in these Terms limits those rights.

Forum. Disputes should first be raised via [email protected] or Discord support. If not resolved, disputes may be brought in any court that has jurisdiction under applicable law.

25. Contact

[email protected]