merchant and premium tabs difference

I don't understand the difference between merchant tabs and premium tabs.

I asked ChatGPT:
path of exile - how do i buy an item from someone who has mercdhant tab?

ChatGPT's reply:
In Path of Exile, when a player lists an item in a public (merchant) tab, that means the item is visible for trade — usually through the official trade site or third-party indexers like poe.trade. Here’s how you can buy from them step-by-step:

🧭 Step-by-Step Guide

Go to the trade site:

Official: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade

Alternatively, https://poe.trade
(unofficial but still used by some).

Find the item you want:

Use the filters (item name, stats, socket colors, etc.).

When you find one, click “Whisper” or “Copy Whisper Message.”

Whisper the seller in-game:

Paste the copied message directly into PoE chat (Ctrl + V).

Example:

@Hi, I would like to buy your Kaom's Heart Glorious Plate listed for 1 Divine in Affliction (stash tab "~price 1 divine"; position: left 3, top 2)


Wait for the seller’s reply:

If they’re online, they’ll usually invite you to their hideout.

If not, you’ll see “This player is not online” — try another seller.

Join their hideout:

When they send a party invite, accept (Shift + Click on their name → “Visit Hideout”).

Open trade (Right-click → Trade).

Trade the item:

Double-check the item and price.

Place your currency in the trade window.

Confirm and complete the trade.

💡 Notes

You can’t directly buy from their tab like an auction; it’s always a manual trade.

Some sellers use trade bots to auto-accept and invite — you’ll see a fast response if that’s the case.

If the listing says “Note: ~price X currency” — it’s a priced tab, which makes it show up automatically on the trade site.

I don't understand your post, why the heck would you ask a LLM/temu-AI how to play a game when you can ask on the forum of the game directly. That thing will tell you to sit on a b.plug to get a better drop rate if you ask.

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I don't understand the difference between merchant tabs and premium tabs.

Premium tabs: you can use them to put your stuff like a regular tab, and you can ALSO set them to "public" to sell item using the trade (player trade to other player) function. Your items are not listed and you cannot trade when you're offline.


Merchant tabs: Those are hard locked behind Faustus and can ONLY be used to sell items. Your items are always listed regardless of your online status, and people just teleport to your hideout to buy your junk.

ok thank you!