How to get a 15-25% discount (if not more)
Hi Framers, I know this is going to be a controversial topic, so stop reading if any of these apply:
You think counter strike skins are only overvalued pixels in a video game
You are uncomfortable with third party sites
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice, Valve can influence the market and have done so in the past. Skin prices can fluctuate and you can lose money.
TL;DR
You can get more Steam wallet value than direct deposits by buying CS skins on third party marketplaces and reselling them on the Steam Market, because of price gaps + Steam fees. But its not risk-free and depends on choosing the right skins.
Why does this work?
The Counter Strike skins market is highly liquid, people actively buy and sell skins, to use in game or to try to earn a profit.
Third party marketplaces allow skins to be bought and sold using real money, while the steam market only allows for wallet funds. This means the steam market prices are usually inflated. The inflated value is also affected by other factors, like:
- Steam takes a 15% cut of the sale
- Wallet funds are locked to steam purchases
- (People are willing to overpay for convenience/lack of knowledge)
Effectively, by purchasing a skin on a marketplace you can convert it into an inflated steam balance.
Choose your skin
The most difficult step is probably choosing the right skin
You want a skin that is:
- In high demand
- Liquid (frequently traded, easily sold)
- Stable in price
- Priced higher on steam
- Usually Factory New condition
There are generally two approaches:
Stable skins
- Usually older skins, has been sought after for many years
- Less volatile, usually safer, wont fluctuate much in price
- For example: AWP Lightning Strike Factory New
Liquid skins
- Newer, higher demand (faster sale)
- Can fluctuate in price due to not being as established
- For example: AWP Printstream StatTrak Factory New
Do your own research
Before buying anything, for safety please do your own research.
- Compare steam market price vs third party
- **Look at sold listings, not just listed prices
- Check recent sale volume
- Reddit posts can be helpful when looking for liquid skins, especially if you do not know anything about CS skins. There are a lot of info on r/csgomarketforum, although some can be outdated.
Some recommendations:
- Avoid bad float/condition skins
- Avoid StatTrak knives, and knives overall as they are less stable in price currently
- Popular playskins like the AWP or AK usually have higher demand
- In general, more expensive skins tend to have larger pricing gaps.
Choose your third party site
* Remember that the skin you buy from a third party site will be locked from trading or selling on steam for 7 days after purchase.
* P2P is peer-to-peer trading, which means you purchase the item directly from another user, this can be confusing at first, but there are tutorials on the sites that use it usually. P2P can be annoying, for example if the seller reverses the trade on steam you will have to redo the process, effectively losing out on x days, choose a seller with more sales.
The most used marketplaces currently AFAIK:
CSFloat
- High volume
- Low fees
- P2P
- Deposit fees
Skinport:
- Beginner friendly
- More safe for buyers as the site handles trading and storage of skins.
- Higher fees, higher prices.
Buff.163
- Very low prices,
- Low fees,
- Can be difficult to deposit for non Chinese users
- P2P
The marketplace I use is CSFloat because it has personally been the most reliable for me.
A rough example
If you buy a skin for around 500€, ideally you want to see around a 200€ difference on recent Steam sales. It effectively turns a 500€ or less deposit into a 600€ steam balance.
My process
I went through reddit posts discussing stable skins and chose the AWP Lightning Strike, I deposited 478€ into CSFloat and after the 7-day trade lock I listed the skin for 700€ and received 605€ in steam funds. That is +25% value in steam wallet funds over a direct deposit.
Do your own research!!!