Almost ten years have passed since Counter-Strike: Global Offensive witnessed its first skins, and you’ve finally made up your mind and decided to start trading. Well, better late than never. Today, CS.MONEY Blog is going to tell you exactly what a novice trader needs.
The main principle
The skin market functions just like any other kind of market. To get income from trading and selling weapon finishes, you’ll need to buy the goods at cheaper prices and sell them at higher ones. That’s the core principle. And while this tip may sound trite, it’s exactly the one piece of advice that will bring you success in trading skins if you follow it.
In fact, that’s all you need to get started. Still, we recommend that you read the post to the end. Below are five things that will make your first steps in the world of skin trading much more efficient.
Investing
To ensure a fast start, you’ll need to invest in your product. Of course, you can try making your first steps almost from scratch. At the cost of sweat, blood, and time just to get your first knife. It’s a very ambitious idea indeed, but if your main goal as a trader is income, you should abandon such ambitions.
Start your trading path with investments. For beginners, a relatively imperceptible piece of $20 will do. However, a hundred dollars or so is a better place to start: it will give your career as a trader that first boost.
Not only is start-up capital substantial on your ignition as a trader, but also time. For example, Steam Summer Sale. When it begins, many players are selling their skins to buy games. The supply in the market is growing, and the prices are fading due to this. A great chance to buy a little more skins for the same amount of initial finances.
Also pay attention to the dynamics of prices. For example, AWP Asiimov has been growing in price for several years. On average, the price of skin rises by 20-25% per year. These are quite good indicators, which means that the skin can be considered an investment.
Patience
Stock traders are often depicted in old movies as super-busy and edgy businessmen. Constantly on the phone, buying something, selling something. Skin traders are nothing like that. Patience plays an essential role in success. Your skin can become dusty and rusty (just joking, skins do not wear out) in weeks or months of waiting before the right moment to get sold or traded comes. It’s a common thing and the right one.
Remember, there’s no need to make deals right away. Your highest priority is to buy cheap and sell expensive. This process can and will take time. Learn patience and use that quality to your advantage. Waiting for the best moment to make a deal can bring additional profits. So why miss it?
Caution
Sooner or later, you’re going to run into scammers. Even if you only trade with us, at CS.MONEY, where there are no scammers, you can still fall victim to fraudsters. It’s hard to say just how many skins exactly are stolen from owners’ inventories every year, but the total value of such losses amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That said — be careful. A friend may write to you and ask you for a knife to use for a week. Be sure to check the profile of this “friend,” and even if it’s their real account, contact them through other channels and confirm that it was really them who wrote to you. Don’t install any browser plugins to “speed up trading.” Always check the links you click.
Bottom line: use extreme caution. Scammers will use the dirtiest tricks to get their hands on your skins. Spoil their day with your care and foresight.
Exchange control
In addition to scams using any plugins or simply trying to mimic a friend’s account, there is also social engineering. This type of deception is especially dangerous for novice traders.
An unscrupulous trader will try to put pressure on you to make an exchange, simultaneously hiding information. For example, they will underestimate the price of your skins while pushing the deal to be made as soon as possible.
Such a rush can be really costly! Therefore, never make exchanges without having control over them. Before clicking the Accept button, check all the details, make sure that you are completely satisfied with the conditions, and agree only after. Remember, the skin market is enormous. You can always find another person who wants to trade.
Source of information
Always look for new info, update your sources, and verify their precision. Price charts on our wiki or Steam Marketplace, insiders leaking the dates of the next sale or operation launch, and many other things can give you valuable information for successful trading.
Build your newsfeed from trusted sources. This will ease your life a lot and will teach you to predict possible skin price changes ahead of time. With this knowledge, pulling off the above-mentioned “buy cheap, sell expensive” trick is much easier.
The skin market isn’t much different from any other market. Despite Valve’s efforts to slow down skin trading, traders are still alive and kicking, and the prices of weapon finishes continue to rise. If you’ve decided it’s time to start a career as a trader, don’t wait any longer! Build up your starting capital, choose your tactics as a trader, and start your career right now.
By the way, did we mention the social aspect of trading? Don’t forget to subscribe to our social networks. There you will not only find like-minded people, but also cool posts from CS.MONEY.
