A Guide on how to price check your CS Skins
Have you just unboxed an item in Counter-Strike, but don’t know how much to sell it for? Do you want to buy someone's Counter-Strike skin, but don't know how much to offer for it? Don’t worry, EsportFire is here to help with this easy-to-understand guide on how to price check Counter-Strike skins.
Price Checking Liquid Skins
The easiest and most simple type of price check is a liquid price check. A liquid skin is any skin with no special pattern, float, or stickers applied. To price check a liquid skin, you can use EsportFire’s Skin Database. To do this, go to EsportFire.com/Skindatabase, search for the skin you want to buy/sell, select the exterior condition of the skin, and look for the lowest price on the marketplace of your choice.
If you list your skin for around this price, it is most likely to sell fast. If you go higher, it will take longer, so it is important to find a compromise between getting as much money as you can for the skin while getting said money in a time frame that fits your needs.
If you are buying the skin, you can just purchase from the marketplace with the lowest price by clicking it on the database, which will automatically redirect you to a page of listings on that marketplace.
Price Checking Special Float Skins
If the item you want to buy or sell has a special float, you can use Buff.163 to find an accurate price range for the skin. First, go to buff.163.com, log in, and go to “Market.” If you have never used Buff.163 before, we recommend reading through this short guide that we put together to help you familiarize yourself with the site.
Once you are in “Market,” search for the item you want to purchase. Click on the item to open its info page on Buff.163, then click “Float Range” on the left side of the header above the listings page. Then, click customize, and put a range around the float of the skin you want to buy or sell.
For example, if the skin has a float of 0.003, enter 0.002 to 0.004 in the float range customization box. Then, look for a float close to yours, and the price that the skin is selling for is likely the price you should list yours for. If there are no listings, or the listings seem to high, read the “Price Checking Advanced/High Tier Skins” section of this guide.
Price Checking Skins With Stickers
If the skin you want to sell/buy has stickers on it, it might be worth “overpay.” Keep in mind that the stickers need to have some value, as stickers only worth a few cents won’t add any value. There are two ways to do this price check, depending on how popular this craft is. If you know the craft exists a lot of time, find the skin that the craft is on, select the correct float, and click “Stickers.” Then search for the stickers on the skin, put them in the correct slot(be sure to select the “By Slot” box), and search for listings. These listings should be roughly what you want to buy/list your item for.
However, if the craft isn’t very popular, or you get no results when you search, you need to broaden your search. You can do this by looking at all of the skins with that sticker, not just the specific one you have. For example, if you have an AK-47 | Nightwish with a Ninjas in Pyjamas sticker from Katowice 2014, search for AK-47 skins on Buff.163 by hovering over “Rifles” on the market and selecting AK-47. Then, select “customize,” which will open a menu for you to add stickers. Search for the Ninjas in Pyjamas | Katowice 2014 sticker, and click it. Then, move it to the correct slot and search. This will bring up all AK-47 skins with a Ninjas in Pyjamas sticker from Katowice 2014, and you can use these prices as a reference for the skin you want to buy or sell.
Price Checking Pattern-Based Skins:
If the skin you want to buy or sell has a pattern that you think is worth more than the liquid value of the skin, you can sort specifically by pattern on Buff.163. To do this, find the skin you want, and in the “Paint Seed” box, type in the pattern of the skin. This will bring up all listings of that skin with that specific pattern, but keep in mind that for very rare patterns and skins, the results will often be empty. In this scenario, read the “Price Checking Advanced Skins” section.
Price Checking Advanced/High Tier Skins
If you are struggling to find a good price for a skin you want to buy or sell, and can’t seem to find accurate information, you can always ask experienced price-checkers for help. One of the best ways to get a good price check is in EsportFire’s discord server, in the #price-check channel. You can also ask for a price check on Twitter, or ask certain skins streamers for help.
Conclusion
We hope we have helped you learn more about how to price check Counter-Strike skins! Remember, it is always best to get a second opinion when doing a price check, feel free to tag us on Twitter if you need help under @EsportFire. Happy price checking!
