Every Counter-Strike player knows how important weapon skins are. They are worth fighting for and dreaming about. Although it’s important to realize that skins have no effect on the gameplay!
They are just cosmetic images placed over the guns. However, CS:GO skins can boost your status in the community, prove your exceptional style, reflect your real-world personality, and positively change your in-game mood.
This is something many players expect from random drops inside the shooter game itself (albeit with small chances to succeed). And this is something they are ready to pay for on marketplaces of in-game items – where they are given the possibility to select items they really want.
Items trading is not a new thing in the game industry. In fact, selling and exchanging CS:GO skins has become an industry itself, with lots of money involved in the transactions. This industry has grown and evolved from an unusual phenomenon to a fully-fledged business that successfully adapts to both the demands of game developers and the needs of players.
One of the most practical inventions in the skins business is peer-to-peer trading. It’s quite interesting to take a look at this feature – what is it? Why and how do players use it?
What Is P2P Trading in CS:GO?
Usually, when selling a skin, you need to transfer items to the chosen marketplace first. Thus, the item becomes locked in the market listing until someone buys it. This process may take quite a lot of time.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) trades do not require locking items to sell on a marketplace
The listing is there, so potential buyers see your offers and can activate the purchase. Still, the skins remain in the inventory of the seller and can be used in any way – for example, in-game matches.
P2P trading is a type of direct transactions between players
Why not use direct trading on Steam then?
- CS:GO P2P sites secure trades, so you don’t become a victim of a scam;
- Sellers can withdraw real money from good skins marketplaces – this feature is unavailable on Steam;
- For buyers, the payout possibility means a better assortment and prices because many sellers prefer 3rd-party platforms.
Why Do We Use CS:GO P2P Sites?
The traditional skins trading with the intermediation of marketplaces has existed for quite a long time, so why have skins traders become interested in P2P sites?
Valve, the company behind Steam, has implemented the Trade Hold system. It holds skins for 15 days if a seller does not have the Mobile Authenticator Steam Guard set for at least 7 days. Theoretically, this is a good feature as additional protection from scam. In practice though, it affects all the regular users too. For example, you purchase a skin but then you realize it is unavailable for the next 15 days. It’s a bummer, isn’t it?
CS:GO P2P trading is a very good Steam Trade Hold bypass – reliable and legal. Only eligible users can participate in such trades, so the system accepts only items without the trade hold. This is a super powerful advantage of P2P trading!
With peer-to-peer trades, the sellers don’t have the items held before the transaction, and buyers don’t have them held on the platform after the purchase, there’s only a 7-day trade restriction from selling these skins right away. And both have the process absolutely secure thanks to the platform that provides the CS:GO P2P service.
How to Start P2P Trading on DMarket?
When you consider buying, selling, or exchanging in-game items, it’s quite important to use a trustworthy platform. For this review of the P2P service, we’ve chosen DMarket, a well-known CS:GO skin site where apart from traditional skin trading via bots, you can also buy or sell skins with Face2Face trades, an advanced form of peer-to-peer transactions.
The significant advantage of the F2F trades on DMarket is a multi-level security system. Here’s how it works:
- Guaranteed delivery and payment. The trade amount is reserved in a buyer’s account once the trade is initiated but the amount is transferred to the seller only after the item has been delivered to the buyer’s inventory.
- Unusual activity control. Their algorithms monitor all transactions for signs of suspicious activities such as an unusually big number of transactions between particular accounts.
- Market price monitoring. DMarket also closely examines sell offers at prices well below or above the market.
- Delivery rate and time. Each seller has these rates displayed to other users. You can always see if a particular seller is prone to break deals, so you can choose the sell offers accordingly.
Using this system, DMarket prevents activities that may lead to account bans on Steam. At the same time, please be aware that DMarket is neither affiliated with Steam nor accountable for Steam’s current algorithms and their possible updates
To start P2P trade on DMarket, a seller should first activate the Face2Face mode in the account settings and apply their Steam API Key. Then, while putting items on sale, they should choose the option “Sell Face2Face from Steam”.
A buyer also activates the Face2Face mode and applies their Steam API Key. Then, while choosing items to purchase, they can select skins with the Steam icon on them – it’s a sign of P2P trades.
With traditional skin trading, the buy/sell process is automatic. For P2P transactions, both sides have made some additional steps. The buyer should have enough money in their account – the transaction sum will be reserved by the system. The seller has to create a trade in a limited time. Then, the buyer accepts the trade and gets the items.
If the seller doesn’t create the trade, they get a 3-day ban on P2P trades on DMarket, and all their sale offers are canceled. If the buyer does not accept the trade, they lose 2% of the reserved sum.
Skin trading is a great way to fill your inventory with awesome skins. Peer-to-peer trading seems to be the next step in the evolution of this industry. With no trade holds, the system effectively secures such transactions and allows gamers to not bother too much with the downside of the traditional trading – just get your skins and enjoy gaming.
Petr is a serial tech entrepreneur and the CEO of Apro Software, a machine learning company. Whenever he’s not blogging about technology for itechgyan.com or softwarebattle.com, Petr enjoys playing sports and going to the movies. He’s also deeply interested in mediation, Buddhism and biohacking.