ARC Raiders listings on eBay show that many players are selling valuable in-game items, and the interesting thing is that they seem to have a lot 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 mechanic, which pushes players to grind for better equipment and resources, although not everyone seems willing to earn upgrades organically.
One of the most sought after and hardest to find items in ARC Raiders are drawings. There are over 70 of them, all available for free in random places on top. However, the drop rate has been so low for many players that they are still missing most blueprints, even after spending hundreds of hours looting crates and crates. Some players see an opportunity and are now reselling their hard-earned blueprints online, effectively bringing real-world commerce to Embark Studios' popular extraction game.
ARC Raiders is starting to look like a massive social experiment
ARC Raiders begins 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 returns over a thousand results, most of them offering valuables ARC Raiders blueprints or hard-earned coins. Prices range from $0.99 to $400 USD or more, depending on the item's rarity or order size. The highly sought-after Bobcat drawing, for example, can sell for around $90, while a more common drawing like the Wolfpack usually goes for under $10. Some sellers also offer crafting materials in bulk, with bundles that include gun parts, Powercells, Assorted Seeds, and more. Almost 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 the item's rarity or order size.
How ARC Raiders Blueprint Trades Work
Thanks to ARC RaidersSafe Pocket mechanic, eBay sellers have a relatively safe way to deliver goods. After placing an order, the buyer sends their Embark ID to the seller and receives an invitation to the in-game party. 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 usually bring a batch of valuable items to a match, drop them off for the buyer, and then escort them to the nearest extraction site. The buyer can then safely mine and sell these items for coins. Overall, it points to a well-established, real-life trading system that works in-game.
Blueprint Bartering is also quite popular in ARC Raiders
Players who don't trust eBay sellers or simply don't want to spend real money on ARC Raiders resources go to barter instead. Several trade threads on the game's subreddits allow players to list the items they want and what they're willing to offer in return. One of the most common trades involves trading a single drawing for a pile of different 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-powered exchanges seem inevitable. One reason many players choose to buy items instead of grinding for them is that ARC Raiders does not have 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 wouldn't make sense for players to spend hundreds of dollars on items only to lose them a few months later.
Embark Studio's opinion on real money transactions
In the first days after ARC Raiders' successful launch, fans turned to the game's official Discord server to stay in touch with both developers and other players. One question that came up was why trading was banned 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 games, which often prohibit trading in real life.
About the Swedish developer of ARC Raiders whether you like it or not, trading with real money 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 have to limit key features of the game like dropping items for friends, which seems far from ideal. As said, ARC Raiders' current roadmap and future plans the developer has for the game in the coming years could bring surprises, potentially including an official in-game trading system to help limit RMT.
- Released
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30 October 2025
- ESRB
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Teen/violence, blood
