ARC Raiders listings on eBay show that many players are reselling valuable in-game items, and the interesting part is that they seem to have plenty of buyers. Developed by Embark Studios, ARC Raiders is one of the most-played games of 2025 and recently won the Best Multiplayer Game award at The Game Awards. Part of its success is believed to come from its addictive looting mechanics, which push players to grind for better gear and resources, though not everyone appears willing to earn upgrades organically.
One of the most sought-after and hardest-to-find items in ARC Raiders is blueprints. There are over 70 of them, all available for free in random topside locations. However, drop rates have been so low for many players that they are still missing most blueprints, even after spending hundreds of hours looting boxes and crates. Seeing an opportunity, some players are now reselling their hard-earned blueprints online, effectively bringing real-world trading to Embark Studios’ popular extraction shooter.
ARC Raiders Is Starting to Look Like a Massive Social Experiment
ARC Raiders is starting to reveal something unexpected about its players, and the results feel less like a shooter and more like a social experiment.
ARC Raiders’ eBay Listings Are Out of Control
A quick search for the game’s name on eBay pulls up over a thousand results, most of them offering valuable ARC Raiders blueprints or hard-to-earn coins. Prices range from $0.99 to $400 USD or more, depending on item rarity or order size. The highly sought-after Bobcat blueprint, for example, can sell for around $90, while a more common blueprint like Wolfpack typically goes for under $10. Some sellers are also offering crafting materials in bulk, with bundles that include Gun Parts, Powercells, Assorted Seeds, and more. Nearly everything in a seller’s in-game inventory appears to be for sale, often advertised with “fast and secure” delivery.
Prices range from $0.99 to $400 USD or more, depending on item rarity or order size.
How ARC Raiders Blueprint Trades Work
Thanks to the ARC Raiders‘ Safe Pocket mechanic, eBay sellers have a relatively secure way to deliver items. After placing an order, the buyer sends their Embark ID to the seller and receives an in-game party invitation. Both players then enter a match, where the seller hands over the purchased item. The buyer can place it in their Safe Pocket and return to the lobby without risking the item.
Coins are a different story, as they cannot be stored in the Safe Pocket. In these cases, sellers typically bring a batch of high-value items into a match, drop them for the buyer, and then escort them to the nearest extraction point. The buyer can then safely extract and sell those items for coins. Taken together, it points to a well-established, real-world trading system operating within the game.
Blueprint Bartering Is Also Quite Popular in ARC Raiders
Players who do not trust eBay sellers or simply do not want to spend real money on ARC Raiders resources are turning to bartering instead. Several trading threads on the game’s subreddits let players list the items they want and what they are willing to offer in return. One of the most common deals involves trading a single blueprint for a stack of Assorted Seeds. The exchange makes sense, as blueprints sell for 5,000 coins, while a full stack of Assorted Seeds is worth 10,000 coins.
Until developer Embark Studios introduces an in-game trading system, these eBay and Reddit-driven exchanges seem inevitable. One reason many players choose to buy items rather than grind for them is that ARC Raiders does not feature server-wide wipes. Players can decide whether to keep their hard-earned materials or exchange them for permanent buffs and cosmetics during an Expedition window. Without these optional wipes, it would make little sense for players to spend hundreds of dollars on items only to lose them a few months later.
Embark Studios’ Opinion About Real-Money Transactions
In the early days following ARC Raiders‘ successful launch, fans turned to the game’s official Discord server to stay connected with both developers and other players. One question that came up was why trading was prohibited on the official server. A community manager responded, “We don’t want to facilitate trading here to avoid real-money transactions (RMT) or people getting scammed.” They added that this approach is common among extraction shooter games, which often ban real-world trading.
Whether the Swedish developer of ARC Raiders likes it or not, real-money trading has already become part of Speranza’s economy. eBay listings show no signs of slowing down, and for Embark Studios to curb them, it would likely need to restrict key in-game features like dropping items for friends, which seems far from ideal. That said, ARC Raiders‘ current roadmap and future plans the developer has for the game in the coming years could hold surprises, potentially including an official in-game trading system to help limit RMT.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
