Meet The Entrepreneur: Steam Market Enters Beta

Do you fancy yourself a go-getter? Someone with big, earth-shaking ideas and the wide-eyed capacity to realize them? Well then, go save/destroy the world, you mad genius, you. But for everyone else, Valve's now offering the opportunity to salvage your savaged entrepreneurial dreams. By selling hats, naturally. Yes, the real-money-based Steam Community Market's now open for business, and Team Fortress 2's its all-too-willing test bed.

For now, the market's limited to TF2 consumables and tools, but "additional items from Team Fortress 2 as well as items from other games" will enter the mix after the beta reaches its conclusion, according to a handy FAQ.

Other current limits include the Steam Wallet balance, which tops off at $200 as of now. So basically, if an item costs more than that, you're out of luck. However, Valve added that "We may be raising the Steam Wallet balance limit, or otherwise changing this restriction, in the future."

Naturally, there are also fees involved. The Steam Transaction Fee is described entirely nebulously as "based on the item cost," while the Team Fortress 2 fee totals out to a cool 10 percent lopped right off the top. Also, it's important to note that your earnings will become Steam Wallet funds - not paper cash applicable to this strange flesh reality of ours. So if you were planning to play TF2 to put your kids through college, eat, or do anything other than give Valve more of your money, think again.

So, in short, commerce! Sometimes it's neat. Other times, it's evil. Now glance down at your custom-made "neat or evil" watch. What time is it right now?