12 Best CSGO Trading Tips

When starting a business in the world of CSGO Trading, there are some things that you have to know before diving into deep waters. Let’s start off with the language in CSGO. 

Lingo 

 Here’s the glossary and some abbreviations used in CSGO Trade: 

•     FN, MW, FT, WW, BS: weapon condition or quality, which indicates the general look of the weapon by order (Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn, and Battle-Scarred). By the way, some skins look better or worse than their condition label.    
•   Quicksell: an item sold lower than its market price for pure currency (cash or keys).  
•   Buyout (B/O): the price the seller would trade instantly.  
•   Current Offer (C/O): the best offer the seller has received for a specified time period.  
•   SS: screenshot.  
•   Playside (PS) and Backside (BS): The two sides of a knife. Playside faces the player in-game, and the backside is usually the unseen side. In fact, backside is viewable during the game using the command (press F) or through inventory.    
•   Lowball and Highball: the former is a low offer while the latter is an overpriced item.  
•   Flawless: no scratches.  
•   Glitched “FN”: a skin (mostly used for knives) that looks Factory New even if it’s labeled something else.  
•   Mirrored: same pattern on the PS as well as the BS.  
•   Pure: payment with pure keys or cash only.  

 Also, there are various abbreviations for knife names: Kara (Karambit), M9 (M9 Bayonet), Bayo (Bayonet), Bfly (Butterfly Knife), Gut (Gut Knife), and Flip (Flip Knife). 

 4 Ways to Build Reputation 

 Every CSGO Trader starts with a small reputation. Now, how do traders get a reputation when nobody has traded with him or her? 

1.   Steam profile: have a decent, professional account. Private accounts and inventories, along with low Steam profile levels and low playtimes on games owned, don’t attract potential traders. Invest some time and money on your profile to avoid looking like a bot or scammer. A location tag might be useful since some people might be more comfortable trading with others in the same country or geographic area.  
2.   Attitude: Ice Cube said it best, “You better check yo self before you wreck yo self.” A polite, mature, and ethical person has a higher probability of better trading than an immature, unprofessional, or illiterate person. Be honest and don’t take advantage of individuals. However, don’t be a doormat because negotiation is about giving and taking.  
3.   Comments: since friends can create fake comments even though you could delete them from your profile, create a different thread moderated by other people so that buyers can verify your reputation. A Steam group is up and running, so join and make a thread about your profile. Now, as you trade, tell users who you’re trading with to leave a review of the deal on the thread. Always keep the link in handy, especially when prospective buyers want to see proof that you’re legit.  
4.   Trade: start with multiple small trades with players who have a high reputation. Buy keys, sell them, and repeat until your status comes up enough for big trades. Don’t forget to ask those who you trade with to show some love on your profile’s thread.  

 Pricing 

 For general trading, SteamAnalyst (csgo.steamanalyst.com) should do the trick. For the big and valuable skins, reach out to experienced traders for help. Since there are trader assigned values for these skins, get the opinion of more than one person. Following the trend of what’s popular and in demand among CSGO Traders is helpful. 

 Buying Low, Selling High 

 A tactic to buy high and sell low that works in real life marketing but not so much in CSGO Trading. What’s helpful is to break down valuable skins into multiple less expensive skins that ultimately have the same value of your skin. From there, use those multiple smaller skins to buy a more valuable skin. Typically, it’s easier to sell multiple low-mid tier skins than to sell one high tier skin. Ideally, someone offers your buyout pure, but that won't always happen.   

 Recognizing and Avoiding Scams 

 Scammers have low Steam profile levels, weak playtime, little to no games owned, and an account created recently. Be wary of (1) those that don’t put their items in the trade window, (2) users who are overly keen and impatient, and (3) deals that seem too good to be true. Frauds often impersonate high rep accounts, claiming to be an alternate account. Another way to find out if a trader is authentic or legitimate is to run their profile on steamrep.com. Reported and confirmed scammers have a red border and a banned label with a reason for the disqualification. 

 There are also guides on how to avoid scammers online, so check those out to get a more detailed guide. Enjoy CSGO Trade!