BitSkins

Introduction

BitSkins is a marketplace for Steam items, particularly for CS:GO skins and items. The platform was founded about 7 years ago, on July 21st, 2015. BitSkins is currently operated by Anna Maria Zamorniak-Urbaniak, with headquarters in Katowice, Poland. The BitSkins marketplace and company have been vetted by CSGOSKINS.GG and deemed trustworthy by all our standards.

Popularity

BitSkins is rated 4.7 out of 5 with over 1.3K reviews on Trustpilot. The BitSkins platform received approximately 1.4M visits during the last month. There are currently 15K different items available on the marketplace, with a total of 1M listed offers. Additionally, the combined value of all CS:GO skins that are currently available on the BitSkins market amounts to $3M.

Market Type

BitSkins is a traditional bot-based marketplace. That means a seller must first deposit an item before it can be listed on the market. The deposit is done by sending the item to one of BitSkins’s Steam bot accounts. Compared to P2P markets where the item can be listed on the marketplace while still being in the seller’s inventory, this is not such a smooth experience for the seller. But it provides a better buyer experience because upon purchase, the buyer can immediately receive the item without needing to wait for the seller to accept the trade.

History

BitSkins is one of the oldest and most reputed third-party CS:GO marketplaces that’s trusted by millions of users from throughout the world. Originally founded in July 2015, BitSkins has been prevalent as one of the biggest third-party marketplaces dedicated to CS:GO skins.

Being one of the oldest marketplaces for CS:GO skins, BitSkins has also been a prime competitor to OPSkins, which was single-handedly the biggest third-party CS:GO skin marketplace before it was eventually forced to shut down as a result of a legal notice by Valve. According to the company, Express Trade, a feature introduced by OPSkins following the implementation of 7-day trade locks on CS:GO items, was in direct violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.

In late 2019, the CEO of BitSkins, Atif Nazir, announced that the website would be shutting down all operations due to some users allegedly committing payment fraud on Steam and using BitSkins to sell the items purchased through unfair means. However, it was later declared that the website wouldn't cease operations, but the ownership of BitSkins would instead be transferred to a different team.

Since then, BitSkins has been operating without any further hindrance, and has proceeded to open a separate P2P marketplace for players looking to bypass the 7-day trade hold of Steam.

Users & Popularity

BitSkins is renowned as one of the best third-party marketplaces to buy and sell CS:GO skins, which when combined with the fact that it has been around for almost seven years has helped the website attract users from throughout the globe. With about a million visits per month, BitSkins boasts a massive skin collection that users can buy using real money at hefty discounts. Sellers can also use BitSkins to cash out their CS:GO inventory at reasonable rates.

The newly released P2P marketplace is also finding itself rapidly growing in popularity as more and more users look to avoid waiting out the duration of the 7-day trade lock on CS:GO skins.

Transaction Fees

BitSkins charges a transaction fee of 10% per item sale to its users, which is lower than the 15% fee of CS:GO skins on Steam but still significantly higher than some other third-party marketplaces like BUFF163.

It’s important to note that the transaction fees on BitSkins can be reduced to a minimum of 4.8% if the total sales of a user exceed $50,000.00. The BitSkins P2P marketplace enables users to reach a minimum of 3.99% fee per item sale.

Here are the various tiers of transaction fees on BitSkins and their names:

• The Camo: 5.00% Sale Fee
• The Howl: 4.95% Sale Fee
• The Marauder: 4.90% Sale Fee
• The Doppler: 4.85% Sale Fee
• The Dragon: 4.80% Sale Fee

Here are the various tiers of transaction fees on BitSkins P2P marketplace and their names:

• Silver: 4.99% Sale Fee
• Gold Nova: 4.79% Sale Fee
• Master Guardian: 4.59% Sale Fee
• DMG: 4.39% Sale Fee
• SMFC: 4.19% Sale Fee
• Global Elite: 3.99% Sale Fee

The reduced transaction fees on BitSkins make it a great choice for sellers looking to cash out high-tier skins or sell items in bulk.

Buying & Selling On BitSkins

To start using BitSkins for buying or selling CS:GO skins, users have to log into the website with their Steam account. This can be done by clicking on the "Sign In" option located towards the top-right of the page and entering the required credentials.

If you’re looking to buy skins from the platform, you have to top up your BitSkins wallet first. Currently, BitSkins enables users to add funds to their wallets via crypto, Skrill, Credit and Debit cards, coupons, or by selling skins from their own inventory. Skins that have been purchased from the marketplace or unlisted skins can be withdrawn from the "Pending Withdrawals" tab.

Sellers can list items from their CS:GO inventory by clicking on "Sell Items" towards the top of your screen. BitSkins also enables its sellers to "Instant Sell" their skins at cheaper rates if they’re looking to add some quick funds to their wallets or cash out instantly. Withdrawals can be done via crypto or VISA cards.

However, VISA withdrawals are not supported for the following countries:

• Argentina
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Canada
• Egypt
• Japan
• Cambodia
• Korea (the Republic of)
• Kosovo
• North Macedonia
• Pakistan
• Serbia
• United States of America

Advantages

There are a bunch of advantages that BitSkins provides over other third-party marketplaces:

• Significantly lower seller fees than the Steam Community Marketplace.
• Swift, hassle-free trades that can easily be done in a few seconds.
• Further reduction in selling fees provides a good incentive for users to sell items in bulk.
• Variety of items available on the marketplace at any given time. High-tier items like the Dragon Lore or the Medusa can easily be found on the BitSkins marketplace while they’re often seen to be out of stock on the Steam Market.
• The "Instant Sell" feature can be extremely useful for users looking to urgently cash out their CS:GO inventory.
• The presence of a separate P2P marketplace enables users to bypass the 7-day trade hold.

Disadvantages

There are certain disadvantages when using BitSkins for purchasing or selling CS:GO skins:

• Higher seller fees than some other third-party marketplaces like BUFF163.
• Lower volume of skins than more popular websites like CS.MONEY or BUFF163.
• The UI isn’t nearly as good as other modern marketplaces. The UI on the P2P website is relatively better.
• High-tier items may take a while to sell at reasonable rates.
• A noticeable lack of withdrawal options puts this website at a disadvantage against most other CS:GO skin marketplaces.
• Absence of an "Inspect" system on the website itself. Users have to launch CS:GO separately to be able to inspect the skins listed on the BitSkins marketplace.
• VISA withdrawals aren’t supported in several countries, names of which are listed above.