Steam inventory holds troubleshooting
When a Steam item exists in your inventory but cannot be listed, the most common reason is a Steam market hold. SteamMarketRunner treats held inventory as visible but not sellable, so it waits instead of repeatedly sending listing requests that Steam will reject.
SteamMarketRunner cannot remove or shorten a Steam market hold. It can only detect held copies, show them in the dashboard, and list them after Steam marks them marketable.
Held versus available inventory
The Own column splits inventory into available and held copies:
- available copies can be considered for sell listing;
- held copies are visible but not marketable yet;
- held copies may show an unlock time when Steam provides one.
See the product manual page Inventory and holds for the UI details.
Common symptoms
| Symptom | Likely reason | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Own shows a lock icon | Some copies are held | Wait for unlock; runner will use available copies first |
| Item exists in Steam but Own is 0 | Item is not tracked yet or sync has not completed | Use Import inventory and wait for sync |
| Sell candidate is skipped | All copies are held or already listed | Hover the Market status tooltip |
| Steam says item is no longer in inventory | Asset is held, already listed, or state changed after sync | Let the next sync refresh inventory |
| Sticker/float item is skipped | CS2 guard blocked selling | Review guard settings and enrichment data |
Why the runner does not force listing
Steam sell listings require a specific marketable asset id. If all copies are under hold, Steam will reject the listing. Repeated failed listing attempts add noise, increase operational risk, and do not make the item marketable faster.
SteamMarketRunner therefore chooses a marketable asset id when per-asset data is available and skips the item when no marketable copy exists.
Inventory import versus sync
Inventory sync refreshes the state of tracked items. Inventory import adds missing Steam inventory items to your tracked list.
Use Import inventory when you own an item in Steam but it does not appear in SteamMarketRunner. Imported items start with BUY and SELL disabled so you can decide whether they should participate.
Troubleshooting checklist
- Open the Market tab and check the Own column.
- Hover the status badge for the exact skip reason.
- If the item is missing, run Import inventory.
- If it is held, wait for Steam’s unlock time.
- If it is not held, review Trading settings for price, liquidity, and guard reasons.
- Check the FAQ for related selling questions.
Next step
If the item is held, no configuration change is required. If it is available but still skipped, continue with How trading works and Trading settings.