How to Read Dota 2 Market Prices
What each price in our table means, with worked examples of fees, buy orders and medians.
Project editor:GrassKnuckles
Check the price type and its date before you compare numbers. DotaLedger shows prices as marketplaces report them, updated daily; treat them as reference prices rather than reserved offers. A buy order, a seller’s price, a median and the amount you receive after fees can describe the same item very differently.
What each price means
| You see | What it is | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary / Steam price | The price the marketplace reported on the update date | A reference for what a buyer pays |
| Median | The middle price in the marketplace’s own statistics | A separate statistic, rather than a fair price |
| Buy order | The highest bid buyers have placed | A bid reference for the item as a whole |
These prices come from marketplaces. They show the reported price only, without the number of copies or the sales behind a median. A blank price means unknown, which is different from free or zero demand. Reloading the page leaves a price as it was, so look at the update date.
Why a $10/$9/$8 gap is not $2 of profit
In this example, the price is $10, the median $9 and the buy order $8. The $2 gap between price and bid is 20% of the price. But buying at $10 and selling into an $8 bid loses money even before fees. Steam adds its fees on top of the seller’s amount (about 15%, made up of a 5% Steam fee and a 10% Dota 2 fee, each at least one cent), so a buyer total of $8 leaves the seller about 8 ÷ 1.15 = $6.96 instead of $8. Rounding, matching and depth change the exact figure.
A positive gap can still lose money
On July 23, 2026, Raven of Ristul (Standard bundle) was priced at $0.21 with a buy-order price of $0.23. That two-cent gap looks like a margin. Assume you buy at $0.21 and treat $0.23 as the buyer’s total. The seller receives $0.20: the total minus a $0.01 Steam fee and a $0.02 Dota fee. The result is −$0.01 before any other costs.
A bid price might include fees or leave them out, and the quantity behind it is unclear, so check the marketplace before using either number. These are July figures; today’s prices may differ.
A Standard bundle takes its price from Standard bundle listings, whatever similar icons suggest. Match the item first with the rarity and quality guide, then look at real listings a buyer would see.
Median and average answer different questions
Take the sorted sample $1, $2, $2, $3, $12. Its median is $2 and its arithmetic average is $4. One large value pulls the average up. This shows how the two statistics differ; it says nothing about the actual sales behind any item’s median.
What these columns leave out
Rarity labels say little about how many copies exist, and retirement gives no growth guarantee. Expected value describes an average rather than your next treasure reward. A Steam sale pays Steam Wallet credit, which stays inside Steam. A buy order tells you nothing about your place in the queue.
A percentage also needs a base. In a 15% deduction model, $10 × 1.15 × 0.85 = $9.775: adding 15% and then deducting 15% leaves less than the original $10. Steam works the other way, adding fees on top of the seller’s amount. The seller-pricing guide starts from the amount you want to receive.
To compare later, write down the exact variant, currency, price type and date. Then check the marketplace for a real offer. To follow a price over time, see the chart guide.