A booming cosmetic economy means a competitive game has a thriving fan community. Like any market, the Rocket League cosmetic scene ebbs and flows, with a variety of items gaining and losing popularity, and hence value. But if you know the basics of the marketplace and how to spot a good deal, you can impress any lobby with your flashy loot, and translate your confidence into better performance in game.

Interest in Rocket League cosmetics took off around 2018, when the micro-transaction driven crate and key system led to a high-risk, high-reward economy. When crates were removed last year, the market opened for new traders by eliminating the barriers separating the casual player from exclusive items. Each time you win games, level up, or gain XP through challenges, Psyonix rewards you with a few items, like decals, toppers, and boosts that make your vehicle look sharp. Some items are delivered to you in the form of a Blueprint. A Blueprint gives you the privilege to purchase that exclusive item with Credits (Rocket League’s in game currency: $1.00 = 100 Credits). Hence, Blueprints often yield items of much higher rarity than the “pre-built” items you receive, but you can’t use them on your car without paying a few bucks.

(An unpained Samurai decal, image from playstationlifestyle.net)

Here are the two main methods of getting new cosmetics in Rocket League:

Trading with Friends

When you are friends with someone on Rocket ID or another platform (Steam, Xbox, etc.), you can navigate to his profile in your friends list to see if he’s online. If he is, you can request to trade items with him. Some restrictions apply, such as no trading of common items, in order to prevent item farming with bot accounts. Additionally, if you want to trade your Blueprints, they have to be “revealed”-- some special blueprints remain a mystery until you build them, sort of like a lootbox. Those are the untradable ones. But you can build any of your collected blueprints in the Garage, and once you have, all those items will be fair game to trade as well.

Other than these small limitations, though, you can trade loot with your friends and whoever you meet in game. Sometimes players will have “trade” or “looking to trade” in their usernames, a sign that they are looking for their teammates and opponents to add them as a friend and see what they have to offer. In fact, the trading community has grown so large that it actually transcends the in-game UI-- sites like aoeah.com and rlinsider.gg both have comprehensive stores of items and trade listings from players looking to make a swap. These established sites are generally your best bet for safe and guaranteed transactions, and have options to use your choice of payment services like PayPal or credit/debit card, but if you’re feeling adventurous, head over to reddit.com/r/RocketLeagueExchange or the subreddit’s Discord server to link up. Just remember to be wary of PayPal transactions or Steam deals. Every experienced trader has a story of the time they almost (or actually) got scammed out of a few dollars.

The aoeah.com interface has different options for transactions, from 1-to-1 exchanges to Credit-for-item purchases.

Remember, the Rocket League economy behaves like any free market, so demand for certain items can change in just hours based on what is new and hot, availability of a certain item, or even what items the pros are using. For example, the Fennec car body gained value exponentially over the past year, as it became more and more popular with professional and competitive players. As you can see below, RLInsider has a table showing every item’s value in Credits over the past several months. Always check this graph for the item’s current and past value to make sure you are getting a good deal, and to see if you may be able to turn a profit if you want to resell the item later on.

Other Ways to Score Swag

Outside of trading with friends, which can come with risks and a fair amount of hassle, the Rocket League item system enables players to unlock items themselves algorithmically in a variety of ways. Here’s how you can unlock new items solo:

Trading Up: one element that stayed from the lootbox system is “trading up”. In the Garage, click on “Manage Inventory” to bring up an index of all your currently owned and built items. You can trade in five items of the same rarity for one of a higher rarity. For instance, I could trade in two Common toppers, one Common boost, and two Common wheels for a random Uncommon item, which could be anything from a banner to an antenna. You can keep trading up into the higher rarities given enough time and games played, and soon enough you’ll have your very own Import or Exotic loot. In the example below, you can see I am trading in five different Very Rare boosts for one Import or Exotic item.

Limited Events: Every so often, Rocket League hosts in-game special events to commemorate certain holidays or celebrations. For instance, the game’s fifth Anniversary event just wrapped up last month, and it came with a myriad of fun exclusive cosmetics. These non-tradable items include wheels, toppers, supersonic trails, and XP boosters. Some items are simply fun gimmicks, but others have a sharp design too, even outside the context of their designated event—I still use the flashy red supersonic trail called "Ruckus" that I won from the Lucky Lanterns event during Chinese New Year 2020. (Image from liquipedia.net)

That about covers the ways to supe up your item game, but there’s two other things about Rocket League cosmetics to keep in mind when building your stash. Items often have “painted” variants that are detailed with different colors. Usually the black or titanium white variants will be more valuable than other colors, such as pink or blue, so always check if the item is painted before investing or selling. Also, Certified items will track specific stats in game when using them, like total shots or saves. These items may also have additional value.

The different options for Rocket League trading can be daunting at first, but if you keep up with the RocketLeagueExchange subreddit and stay informed on the newest items and trends, you can impress your teammates with a tricked-out car in your next session. See you on the pitch!