The Steam Community Market is a bustling hub for trading and purchasing virtual items and games, making it an integral part of the overall Steam experience. However, have you ever wondered why your account may be restricted from using the market or why you’re asked to spend $5 to lift these restrictions? This article will provide the answers you need.
Why is Your Steam Account Limited?
Primarily, Steam account limitations are imposed to protect the platform and its users from potential abuses such as spamming, bot activities, and unwarranted reviews. When accounts are easily accessible without any entry barrier, the platform becomes an easy target for spammers and bots to manipulate the system. Therefore, Valve Corporation, the company behind Steam, has created a barrier in the form of a minimum spending requirement.
The $5 Restriction and Why It’s Needed
To lift the restriction, you need to spend at least $5 on Steam. This measure can be fulfilled by buying games or adding funds to your Steam Wallet. Even if you don’t immediately use the $5 you add to your account, the act of depositing funds is enough to prove your account’s authenticity.
You might wonder, “Why can’t Steam just base the restriction removal on the hours played or the activities conducted on the platform?” There’s a logical explanation for this.
Playtime can easily be manipulated. Users could simply leave a game running to accumulate hours without any genuine engagement. Similarly, forcing users to participate in certain activities to unlock their accounts, like writing forum posts, would flood the community with low-quality, meaningless content.
Instead, the $5 threshold serves as an effective deterrent against spamming or botting activities. From a spammer’s perspective, the cost to maintain numerous accounts might outweigh the potential benefits, thereby discouraging such practices.
How to Remove the 15-Day Restrictions
Apart from the monetary restriction, there’s another limit on Steam you might encounter: the 15-day restriction. This rule states that your account must be protected by Steam Guard for at least 15 days before you can start trading or using the market. This security measure is crucial in protecting user accounts from potential hacking attempts.
Keep in mind that these restrictions cannot be bypassed. It’s a safety measure for all parties involved and contributes to a more secure and authentic Steam community.
Purchasing a Game: Is It Necessary?
The question then arises: “Do you need to purchase a game to lift the restriction?” The answer is, not necessarily. While buying a game from the Steam store can remove the limitation, it’s not the only way. Depositing money into your Steam Wallet, even without spending it immediately, can also fulfill the requirement. There’s no minimum purchase amount from the store to unlock your account.
What is the cheapest game on Steam to lift 1 year 7 days market restriction?
Use this filter to find cheapest games on Steam, they are usually under 50 cents:
https://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Price_ASC&filter=ut2
