I just started and I'm trying to get a hold of the economy of the game. I understand the orbs are the trade items but which ones are really important? What is top tier stuff? I got a unique drop and I just got curious about this stuff.

Dunno why this is monetized now but this site used to be vaguely accurate: http://www.poeex.info/ Only thing I've heard since the patch is that Glassblower's Baubles are rarer. Basically you want to hoard Alchemy and Chaos Orbs; if an Exalted Orb drops then you're officially dead and have ascended to heaven a la Ray Lewis.

Thanks. That's really useful. I actually just got a glassblower bauble so I'm a little excited.

So far I use these orbs to get better Items. I am not really into trading so I just play it a bit for fun

This site is much better. http://poexplorer.com/

You can search the forums for items and in some cases even put in buyout amounts to see what people are willing to sell stuff for. You should probably get an idea for what your drops are worth quickly. If you click on the serach results it will open a new tab with the forum post that contains the item and a lot of people will separate their gear by worth. Their forum post should have there IGN and you can contact them if you want to buy anything. This site eliminates one problem with the trade system: finding items. Hopefully GGG will fix the rest of the issues in the next big patch.

I'm still early in this game (Level 8 or 9) but it feels like all of the loot I get is utter shit compared to what I already have. Is the whole point to get orbs to upgrade what you have or do you eventually start getting weapon and armor drops that are the typical like what you have but better?

@sickvisionz: 1. Level 8 or 9 is way too early to really have an impression

2. The game is going to have random loot, that's the whole point. What orbs do is let you "gamble" sans Gheed and make normal items into magic/rares. Orbs of Transmutation/Augmentation are kind of useful for your normal playthough and most likely totally worthless after that; every other orb is worth "something." I will say the game's unique drop rate is a bit low, but for the most part good rares are the ideal anyway.