How to Buy CS:GO Skins

CS:GO Skins Inventory

CSGO Skins hold a  different value for different people. Some CSGO players don’t care about CSGO skins, meanwhile, others are CSGO skins connoisseurs. These people are always looking to buy, sell and upgrade their skins – and treat them as serious investments. Read our guide on how you can buy CSGO skins.

The Value of a CSGO Skins to Buy

The value of CSGO skins depends very much on the rarity of the skin. The rarity is a skin’s most important quality and it is what makes it so sought after. As it stands, there are eight rarity grades – with the value going up as the rarity increases.

  • White skins (Consumer Grade) – this is the most common skin type and usually costs just a few pennies.
  • Light blue skins (Industrial Grade) – these are a bit rarer than white skins and can cost a couple of dollars.
  • Blue (Mil-Spec) – This is the first grade that drops from a weapon case and can be obtained through Trade Up contracts. These can range anywhere between a few dollars and 100 dollars.
  • Purple (Restricted) – These are usually obtained via case opening or Trade Up contracts. These are pretty popular for skins trading and investing and can cost up to a couple of hundred dollars.
  • Pink (Classified) – These are rare and expensive. These are very popular in CSGO skins trading and investing.
  • Red (Covert) – This is the rarest skins weapon and is generally for assault rifles, AWPs and pistols. These can be very expensive to buy.
  • Orange (Contraband) – These have been removed from the roster. Right now the only contraband skin is M4A4 | Howl.
  • Gold (Legendary) – This is the category deemed to be ‘exceedingly rare’ and these can cost thousands of dollars.

How to Buy CSGO Skins

White and Blue skins are pretty easy to find and are often obtained through random drops after the match. Although it is possible that more valuable cases can be obtained through random drops, it is more likely that you will get them through case opening sites

Case opening sites require you to obtain keys, which generally cost around $2.50 and you need to match the key to the case that you want to open. Keys can be traded between different accounts. However, they are officially distributed by Valve. Case opening sites offer no guarantees, and you never know what skin your case will provide. 

If you want more of a sure thing, then you might want to consider ‘Trade Up’ contracts. With these contracts, you can pick 12 skins of one rarity and upgrade them to a higher rarity grade. Nothing is guaranteed and what you get is based on luck. That’s why this is thought to be a more high risk, high reward strategy as you could end up with something common – or something extremely rare and valuable if you’re lucky.

It’s important to remember that there will be a time when certain skins stopped being dropped at the end of a match. This means that a skin that was once pretty common, will become rarer – and in turn, more valuable.

Buying Skins

The most common place to buy skins is at the Steam Community Market. This is popular because it offers security. Every account is thoroughly checked and you will be dealing with an honest and fair trade. It is an easy way to buy skins as it takes just a couple of clicks.  In order to buy skins at the Steam Community Market, you will need to put money into your Steam Account Wallet. It is worth remembering that Steam Community Market prices can be up to 20% higher than third-party marketplaces. They also add a 15% transaction fee on top. This is an easy way to buy skins, but it can be more expensive.

Third-party markets are another option and offer buyers cheaper prices, with fees being split between the seller and buyer. You can also use a wider variety of payment methods as well, making it more flexible. The only issue you need to take into account is the number of scam bots that can be found in these markets.

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The final option is to purchase them directly from another trader. Some people want to sell skins through different trading hubs such as forums, Steam Trading Groups and Reddit subreddits. 

Conclusion

There are several ways of trading skins and buying skins, all with pros and cons. Trade Ups and Case Opening sites offer no guarantees, and you won’t know what you will get until you have it. Buying them directly through the Steam Market is much safer and more secure, but can prove to be pretty expensive which doesn’t suit everyone. Third-party markets offer more value for money if you can avoid the scam bots.  A good option available is joining a trading community, although again, caution is always advised. Now, decide which suits you best and get buying!