The Best Marketplace To Buy CS2 Skins
CS2 changed forever in 2013 with the Arms Deal update which introduced skins to the game. There has been a huge demand for skins ever since and extremely rare items are sold for as much as $250,000. CS2 skins have created a huge economy and as a result of that there is a huge market and also multiple services that help you buy these skins. Skins are usually dropped from crates or in-game randomly.
The old way to buy skins
The first marketplace that existed for skins is the Steam community market, the Steam community market helps the user to buy or sell skins. Tony Paloma of Valve said:
“With over a half million trades made every week, the trading system has been very successful. Extending game economies beyond trades and giving players a way to turn gameplay into funds for new items and games is a key component for moving that success forward.”
A user could use their Steam wallet funds to purchase the skins they wanted directly from the Steam community market. This makes the process very simple, similarly, you could also list your items for sale on the Steam community market and when it gets purchased, the funds are added to your Steam wallet which you could then use to buy other skins and/or games.
But today, we have third-party markets and they offer some huge benefits over the Steam market…
Benefits of third-party marketplaces
You might say, “That sounds amazing! Why would anyone use something other than the Steam community market?” Well, as amazing as it is, there are a number of drawbacks to the Steam community market.
The biggest drawback is that the prices for skins are much higher on the Steam community market compared to the third-party marketplaces. For example, if you wanted to get a Bayonet Tiger Tooth in Factory New condition, you would currently have to pay $495 on the Steam community market, while on a third-party marketplace such as Skinport, you can get it for $360. You would be saving $135 on this transaction alone. Similarly, you can see that the prices for all skins on Skinport are up to 30% cheaper than on the Steam community market.
Another advantage of third-party marketplaces is that it is easier to search for an item with a specific float value or finish. There is also a cap on the Steam community market which makes it impossible to sell items for more than $2,000. So, a lot of rare and desirable items cannot be found on the Steam community market. It is next to impossible to find any of the Emerald, Sapphire, or Ruby knives on the Steam community market, these are Doppler knives with a specific finish catalog which gives them a unique look and also makes them very desirable. So, if you are ready to shell out thousands of dollars on skins and you want these sweet-looking knives, you have to go to a third-party marketplace like Skinport.
Drawbacks of third-party marketplaces
It is not all sunshine and rainbows with third-party marketplaces either, there are a lot of third-party marketplaces out there and not all of them can be trusted.
Third-party marketplaces are a great way of selling your skins for real money, a user can list their item for a certain price and deposit the item with one of the bots on these sites that have been created for the sole purpose of trading. Another user can buy this skin and once the payment goes through, receives a trade offer from the said bot.
There is, however, a small risk for all the parties involved. Valve has implemented a seven-day trade hold on all items that have been traded. This was implemented to protect users from scammers and frauds. Users can still buy the skins that are on these bot accounts but have to wait until the trade hold expires to receive their skins. Valve also has a history of banning these bots that are used by third-party marketplaces to conduct their trades. So, if the user has deposited their skins with one of these bots or is waiting for the trade hold to expire, they might become victims of the ban. These bans occur because of a violation of the Terms of Service set by Valve. You can avoid this problem altogether by using only trusted marketplaces like Skinport to buy or sell skins.
There is also the possibility that users can fall victim to Steam API scams which is the most common method used by scammers these days. Scammers first set up phishing links that look similar to the original sites, users are then required to sign in to third-party marketplaces using their Steam credentials to begin buying and selling skins. If the user accidentally enters their credentials on a phishing site, the scammers gain access to their account and can use that to scam them out of their skins. This risk can be mitigated by being careful and noticing the URL of the marketplace you want to access.
Which marketplace should you choose?
We’ve tested over 20 different third-party marketplaces, so you can be sure that we have a good understanding of what’s available out there. And the market that has absolutely blown us away is Skinport. They offer the best overall pricing compared to the other third-party markets and as mentioned before, their prices are up to 30% cheaper than on the Steam community market.
It’s also one of the most trusted third-party marketplaces that are out there, there is no history of Skinport bots being banned by Valve, so it is secure on that front.
Thousands of users use Skinport to conduct their trades and Skinport has a 4.9 rating on Trustpilot. Buying skins on Skinport is convenient, cheap, and fast with the thousands of skins in their inventory. You can find anything from a Black Pearl to a Sand Dune on Skinport. Skinport also has a collection of affordable skins, so it is not just knives worth thousands of dollars, they can also help you build your dream inventory.
Skinport has no hidden fees and there is a 0% buyer fee, the price you see is the price you pay - this feature makes Skinport the best market to buy from. The market also does not require you to “top-up your balance”, once you have chosen the skins you want to buy you can simply check out and pay for your order as you would with any online shop.
The interface of the website is very intuitive, and it helps you sort through the skins quickly to find the one you desire, they also notify you of the float value and the stickers that have been applied to the skin. You can be in and out of Skinport with a skin that you desire in as little as 5 minutes!
Skinport also allows you to sell your skins for real cash, so you could even turn a profit by buying and selling at the right time. The market also offers two-factor authentication for your account to help make it extra secure, you also receive an email asking you to confirm the login whenever you access your account from an unknown device or a new location, this adds an extra layer to your account’s security.
The CS2 skin economy continues to grow which makes these third-party marketplaces more and more relevant. Skinport is easily the best site for buying and selling CS2 skins, check it out today and see for yourself!
