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Getting Started Guide Getting Started with the Game Trading Zone Here's a guide to what you need to know to start trading here. Know the Rules Please read the Rules page. This site has strictly enforced rules against pirating, using more than one account, use of offensive language, and sending unsolicited emails to other users (SPAM). If you violate these rules, it is very likely that your account will be suspended. Create an Account Most of the Game Trading Zone's important features are only available to users who create an account. An account allows you to have your own user page and to build a reputation as a good trader. Click the "Create Accont" link in the top right of the page to fill out the new account form. A password will be sent to your email address for confirmation. Once you are confirmed, you can Sign On. Enter Your Information Once you sign on for the first time, the first thing you'll want to do is enter your user page information. My Account Page - Click the "My Account" link on the navigation bar. This will allow you to modify some of the important attributes of your account. Bio Page - The bio page allows you to have an image that represents yourself, give your birthday, sex, interests, turn-ons and turn-offs, homepage and favorite links as well as a comment for whatever else you want to say. Password - New accounts have a random password, which can be hard to remember. It's usually a good idea to set your password to something that you'll remember more easily. Instant Messenger - If you use ICQ, AOL IM, or Yahoo Messenger, you can enter your UID or username for that service here so that other traders can contact you via instant messenger instead of just email. Enter Your Stuff - Use the "My Items" page to enter the items you want and have available. This will put them on your user page and into the results of searches and matches. Check it Out - You can always check what your user page looks like by clicking the "My Listing" link. The items you added to your wanted and available lists can be seen by clicking the "Games", "Music", "Movies" or "Books" sub-menus. Making Trades Now that your user page is ready, you are ready to start finding people who you can trade with. My Matches - This advanced feature will compare your wanted and available lists against all the other users. It will find people who want what you have and have what you want. Search - You can directly search the database of items by clicking the Items link (first link on the main navigation bar). Forums - Use the Forums to find deals that other users are making. Chat - Often trades can be made very quickly, live, on the Chat page. New users must wait 24 hours before they can get access to the chat room. Trading Making an Offer - Once you find someone who you'd like to trade with (you have what they want, and they want what you have), you'll want to contact them. This is done directly. Typically a message is sent outlining the trade. How the deal is made is entirely up to the traders involved. Important Tips - Be clear about what you're trading and the condition of the items being traded. Reply promptly to messages and be sure to stay in close contact until the trade is completed. Review the other trader's user page, especially their ratings, bio comment and trade history. Keep all messages from the trade until the trade is completed. Beware - While most trades go off without a hitch, sometimes things don't go as planned. In some cases, the other trader may be intentionally trying to rip you off. Use caution when dealing with another user who: has few completed trades, has few or poor ratings, uses different aliases, has bad trader reports, has many pending trades, unreasonably demands that you send first, or is offering an impossible to resist but expensive deal. If a trade seems a little fishy to you, post in the forums about it to get advise from other traders. Let the stars be your guide. GameTZ provides a system where reliable users get stars for being good traders; we recommend that you trade mostly with star traders when you're just starting out. Sending Items - Usually items being traded are sent via regular mail. In the U.S. the post office offers "Priority Mail" at a reasonable cost and offers free boxes, tracking for a small extra amount, and fast delivery. If you're sending valuable items, you should consider using insurance. Reporting a Trade - Once an offer is agreed to, a pending trade report is created and shown on your "My Trades" page. All trades start in the "pending" state. Once you each get your end of the deal in the mail, you "complete" the trade on the "My Trades" page. Once both sides have completed the trade, the trade becomes a "completed trade". Rating Traders - You can rate anyone you have a completed trade with on the "My Ratings" page. This allows you to let other users know what kind of trader someone is. The combination of completed trades and ratings allow users to build a reputation as a good trader. Good traders can earn various levels of good trader stars. Each trader can rate another trader once; no matter how many trades they have between them. If you've already rated a trader, you can edit your rating if you want to adjust it based on further experience with them. Subscribing Subscribing to GameTZ is optional and voluntary. You don't need to subscribe to use GameTZ's trading system, forums, or chat. For GameTZ regulars, we offer a subscription that provides various extra features. Subscribers can turn off advertisements, use color schemes, have a forum avatar and signature. Also, they get a personal forum and can make use of filters. For more information on how to subscribe see this page: http://gametz.com/Subscribe.html. You may also be able to get subscription time from the Subscription_Trading forum. Where to Get More Help Site_Feedback - The Site_Feedback forum allows anyone to ask questions, report problems, or make suggestions about this web site. You can post a message to ask your question here and it will be answered. You may also email the Site moderators directly: . Other Help Pages - There are a number of help pages linked off the main Help page, feel free to review them to gain a better understanding of how this site works.