KF2 Mask Crafting: Does the Mempo Profit Scheme Pay Off?

This is a paraphrase of a Russian-language guide written in early 2017 that checks the numbers behind another guide's advice to "earn money on crafting" in Killing Floor 2. The figures are historical market snapshots in rubles and are shown to illustrate the method, not to give current prices. To learn how drops and crafting work in the first place, see item drops and crafting.

The scheme

1. Buy 10 Mempo | Standard masks from the Steam Community Market.
2. Craft them into a cosmetic item of Exceptional Player Accessory quality.

That is all. The question is whether the crafted item sells for enough to cover the masks.

Constructive criticism: three problems with the numbers

1. The mask price

The original scheme assumed an average mask price of 20 rubles and a constantly falling price. The guide author points out that the average had been stable since August (visible on the price chart under the "all time" tab) and was closer to 25 rubles. At that price you need a crafted item worth about 250 rubles just to break even.

2. The market fee

The Steam market charges 15 percent, which the original scheme did not mention. An item listed at 250 rubles pays out only 212.5. To recover the cost of the masks you need to sell at roughly 250 x 1.15 = 287.5 rubles.

3. The risk estimate

The original scheme claimed a 20 percent risk of not recouping the cost. That figure counted the number of different Exceptional Player Accessory item types instead of the number of items for sale. Counting listings gives a very different answer.

Example calculation, assuming the original 20 ruble mask price:

• Cost of 10 masks: 200 rubles. With the 15 percent fee, the break-even sale price is about 230 rubles (about 3.84 dollars).
• On the market, filter by the tags Killing Floor 2 and Exceptional Player Accessory, sort by price and count listings below and above 230 rubles.
• Listings below the threshold: 620. Listings above it: 553. Total: 1,173.
• Risk of not recouping: 620 / 1173 = 52.86 percent.

This is approximate and looks only at the market at one moment. If the mask price rises, the break-even threshold rises too, and the risk climbs toward about 60 percent.

A practical note from the guide: to make money on crafting you must really try to craft deliberately. A single lucky attempt based on an "80 percent chance" often ends with a cheap mask worth about 70 rubles.

Other factors worth knowing

• A 2x EXP event began on 26 January 2017 without a Steam announcement. During such events the chance of higher-quality drops rises and the chances of USB drives and ordinary items fall, so more rare items appear and market prices dip temporarily. Judging the market during an event gives a misleading picture.
• Items bought on the market in Killing Floor 2 get two tags for a week: cannot be traded and cannot be sold. When you craft with an item that has one of these tags, the new item inherits it.
• The guide also mentions a limit on how many items can be sold, which pushed some players into inventive crafting. The rest of the original text is a personal dispute, which we leave out.

Takeaways

• Always include the 15 percent market fee in any resale calculation.
• Check price history over the longest period, not a recent dip.
• Count the actual number of listings per item, not the number of item types.
• Treat crafting as a gamble, not a guaranteed income source.