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You may have heard about duping CSGO skins and wondered how to duplicate CS GO skins or even, indeed, if you should dupe CSGO skins. Well, this article will look at just that.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, as is the case with all computer games, is obviously digital. They are simply just, in essence, complicated computer programs that have been written by groups of professional computer programmers – and then tested by specialised game testers. A game isn’t created overnight – it can take hundreds of people all working long hours to get to the end result. However, the ends justify the means as video games are hugely popular… and the business has never been more lucrative. There is a lot of money to be made – with billions of dollars being spent on games every year.
Most of the money simply comes from the sale of games. Some sell games outright, whilst other game publishers, particularly those in the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) genre like to charge a monthly subscription fee in order to keep money coming in regularly. This helps to fund them in the creation of new games, the development of new content and helps them to keep the servers fully updated. Meanwhile, some like to keep adding new seasons and new chapters of games. This would mean that although the gamer only has a smaller price to pay, they will also have to pay for every expansion of the base content.
However, we also have a model which makes the game completely free to play. The value is created by the game’s ecosystem based around the commodities, items and cosmetics within the game… and this is where CSGO skins and skin duping comes into play…
The CS: GO game originally started out as a game that you had to buy to play. However, they started to add assets such as skins and items to the game, which they found to be reasonably profitable. Not only was this great news for the company – and very profitable, but it was also popular with the CSGO gambling community… and so it started to generate a pretty solid income. CSGO skins and items come in all different values, which depends on a few different aspects:
Firstly, the value depends on how rare the skin is. Basically, the rarer the skin, the more valuable it is. Although there are some exceptions to the rule, this is true in most cases. Secondly, it depends on how popular the skin is and how well-liked it has become… It goes without saying that people will prefer to buy something that looks cool and attractive. It needs to be aesthetically pleasing. If lots of people like the skin, the value will go up. When you get a mix of both factors, you get a very valuable skin!
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However, imagine what the effect would be if one popular and rare skin, worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, suddenly became more commonplace and easy to find. With many players, the thought of having a Bayonet | Crimson Web or AWP | Dragon Lore etc would be compelling… and this was the thought process behind scam traders that decided to try and duplicate these skins to sell on for big bucks. They managed to come up with a way to successfully dupe CSGO skins – which meant that they would be able to create duplicates of the most expensive, rare and high-end items with minimal effort and expense.
So how exactly can you dupe CSGO skins? Well, the method used was actually deemed to be more of a breach of security and the way that customer support worked at the time. Before the two-factor authentication process, Steam Guard and even before Trade Holds was introduced by Valve, anyone could trade with anyone… no limits and no waiting. It allowed for instantaneous exchanging and trading of items. However, this wasn’t always a good thing as some people ended up getting duped and getting items stolen, either because of hacking, inadvertently disclosing passwords, quick swapping or by some other means of skin stealing.
This caused a lot of upset in the community – compounded by the fact that there was no way to truly work out which items had actually been stolen and should really be returned to their owner. This would be difficult to enforce anyway – because if a stolen item had been innocently bought – and then returned to the owner, then the innocent buyer would be out of pocket. To combat this and to ensure that neither party lost out, they gave the victim of the theft a duplicate item of whatever had been stolen.
That was basically where the idea and method of duplication came from. People could then start taking advantage of this… they would trade their item (or give away their item) to another account holder. You would then claim that the item had been stolen, whilst the other account holder would claim it was a standard trade. To keep both parties happy, Valve would simply duplicate the item and return that one to the first account… and both accounts ended up with the skin. Thus we saw the beginnings of successful duping.
Obviously, it is not as easy as it once was. Firstly, because of their improved security (2-factor authentication, Steam Guard, Trace Hold etc), it is almost impossible to be successful with skin duping now. The most likely outcome you will get from any attempt would be either a timed trading ban or else an outright VAC ban. This would effectively mean that any items left in your account are frozen and you will never be able to trade with anyone else again. You won’t even be able to trade through the Steam Community Market. Basically, this will mean that your catalogue of skins will be rendered worthless. More serious offenders even get their entire account banned – so not only would they lose their CSGO skins, but also their games.
Given the possible (and probable) outcomes, then we would suggest not. The idea of attempting it and even discussing it now is pretty offensive. The practice is unlawful and immoral. The reason that our skins are worth anything is that we understand how the skins market works – and the concept of the skins economy. If there is suddenly a huge rise in the number of previously rare and expensive skins, then those skins will all lose their value. This will upset those that have gained those skins through honest means.
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100% first deposit bonus which means that we will add an extra 100% to the amount you deposit into your player account. The maximum amount for the bonus is €550 and the rollover requirement is x10 for betting and x30 for casino (qualified deposited amount + bonus).
Any skin that has been created or gained via the process of skins duping is still a normal item. This means that you could buy them and sell them just the same as any regular tradeable skin. As such, you will have two ways to buy them.
Firstly, you could try to buy them from the Steam Community Market… but don’t expect to get them for cheap! These were skins that were duped to earn money and scam people, so they will sell them at market value. Of course, when you get your skin it will look normal and have a normal working weapon finish.
Secondly, you can buy duped skins and items from a third-party trading website or market.
As such, selling duped CSGO skins works in a similar way. If you have a duped CSGO skin you want to sell, you can choose to list it on the Steam Community Market – which will likely fetch you the highest possible price. However, if you do it that way, any money you earn will stay in the Steam Wallet and can’t be paid out… so you can only use it to buy different skins and games from the platform.
The other option is to sell it through a third-party trading site or market. Generally, you will get a lower price this way, but you will be able to withdraw that money through a number of different payment platforms.
As we stated previously, duping skins was a lot easier before the implementation of proper security. It used to be pretty easy back in the day, but it is practically impossible these days. Measures have been taken and most sensible players wouldn’t even try. As such, traders can send and receive offers knowing it is much less likely that you are going to get scammed. There are still ways to scam people, of course – but this is no longer one of them.
Use Promo Code WELCOME for a 100% deposit bonus.
100% first deposit bonus which means that we will add an extra 100% to the amount you deposit into your player account. The maximum amount for the bonus is €550 and the rollover requirement is x10 for betting and x30 for casino (qualified deposited amount + bonus).
So, now you know more about how to dupe CSGO skins – about the CSGO duping method and how the scam was severely damaging to the CS GO skins community. If you do ever think of a way to try and dupe skins or find yourself tempted, we would certainly recommend you don’t. Not only will this damage the price of skins for you and everyone else, but you’re highly likely to get banned – and possibly render your whole catalogue valueless.