Would you like to increase the value of your inventory? But you don't know how?
You've come to the right place!
In this article, you'll find the techniques used by leading collectors to increase the price of their Counter-Strike inventories.
Foreword
It's entirely possible to build up an impressive inventory without EVER putting a penny in your pocket. Long-term storage of crates/skins and the regular sale and exchange of free in-game items can get you started.
Time will often have the greatest impact on the value of your inventory. The older your skins are, the fewer of them will be in circulation (destruction of old crates after opening + ghost accounts) and the higher the price (game growth + rarity).
Above all, it's regularity, learning the market and discipline that will make you successful.
Trading
This is the best-known method: youtube videos of motivated people starting from $0.03 to get to a knife are not lacking.
The aim is to swap skins with other players, trying to get more sought-after and/or more expensive items.
To find exchange partners, you can contact :
- Steam communities
- Trading forums
- Well-known collectors
- Specialized exchange sites (automatic or via adverts)
The big problem with swapping is finding people who are prepared to make a transaction in which they will "lose out" (at least in the short term). So you have to try to trade items at times when they're undervalued, or have enough items to attract the little ones who specifically want a skin.
Many wealthy collectors are willing to trade their skins on purely mathematical grounds (e.g.: if someone offers me 10% more than the price of my items, I automatically accept). Try to do what they do. Even if it means having an inventory worth a certain amount of money, this method can be very effective.
Buying sought-after skins
The price of the most sought-after skins naturally tends to rise over time.
So you need to buy the skins that are popular and available in the game at the time!
For example, in 2016, the Vulcan AK47 could be found for around $20-30; today, it's impossible to find one for less than $300.
An even more profitable variant of this technique involves stocking containers and stickers specific to certain events (if possible, stickers that will go down in gaming legend: major winner, iconic moment, etc.).
As some countries can't buy crates on the market, crates can also be good investments, as they can be used for future exchanges, but also contain potentially old and therefore expensive skins (the price of crates thus correlates with the value of the rarest items they contain).
So stock up on your favorite items!
Tip: the AK47 Empress
Exchange contracts
This is an arbitration method. The weapon exchange contract is used to end up with an item that is more expensive than the input items.
The function calculates the probability of the output item based on the inputs to the exchange contract.
Rules to know when making an exchange contract:
- Obtain an object with a rarity greater than those supplied.
- The more items in a collection, the greater the chance of getting an item from the collection (e.g.: if 30% of the Nuke collection, then there's a 30% chance of getting a higher-quality item from the Nuke collection).
Probability calculators allow you to calculate your chances of obtaining more expensive items and to detect possible arbitrages.
Note that the price of inferior items tends to correlate with superior items when they are very rare. For example: it's possible to get a dragon lore with trade contracts, but the price of the 10 M4A1-S Knights needed for the trade is equivalent to the price of an AWP dragon lore. In this case, the exchange has already been arbitrated.
Buying/reselling
Buy Low, Sell High
Register on several exchange platforms and detect market anomalies, enabling you to buy low in one place and sell high elsewhere.
In particular, you can visit our partner's website
Pro tip: if you have access to Chinese platforms, these are the cheapest and easiest to find bargains on.
Buy Low Float and resell
This technique involves going to the various marketplaces and looking for skins with low floats while still being deprecated. Items can then be resold or exchanged with people looking for low float items.
The price of skins is impacted differently by floats: it's a method where only connoisseurs perform well. So you've got to learn!
Rent your skins
Finally, there are rental services for your skins. Players wishing to use a skin will rent it to collectors.
Renters place a deposit corresponding to the price of the item, and pay for the time they wish to rent it.
The expected return on skin rental is ~3%/month if the skins are rented full-time. This figure may vary depending on the community's interest in the skin in question.
The main provider of this type of service is Lootbear.
In theory, renting out skins allows you to keep your skins while earning a return on them. A bit like investing in shares or real estate.
However, it's important to bear in mind the risks involved in renting. An unscrupulous tenant may well keep the skin if the float or stikers suit him. So don't rent out items for which you have a sentimental attachment, or which are poorly priced by the rental company!
Conclusion
There are many ways to increase your inventory. Above all, it's a question of time, knowledge, hard work and regularity.
It's also possible to use CS2 inventory as an investment that, if done correctly, can yield very good returns.
It's up to you!