Why Steam Wallet funds aren't real money
To sell CS2 skins for real money, you need a buyer who pays you outside Steam. The Steam Community Market can't do that. Every Market sale goes into your Steam Wallet, and Steam's Community Market FAQ says those funds can't be withdrawn or transferred to a bank or any third-party account. You can spend them on games, items and gifts on Steam, and nowhere else.
That's fine if you were going to spend the money on Steam anyway. If you want dollars in PayPal or coins in a crypto wallet, you have to sell somewhere else. CS2 replaced CS:GO in 2023 and your inventory carried over, so the same applies whether you call them CS2 or CS:GO skins. Valve's rules on Wallet funds are covered in our guide on withdrawing money from a Steam Wallet.
Four ways to cash out CS2 skins, compared
People try four common ways to sell skins for real money, and only three of them pay out money you can withdraw. They differ in when you get paid, what it costs you and how much can go wrong.
| Way to sell | When you get paid | What it costs you | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam Community Market | When a buyer buys your listing, in Steam Wallet funds only | The buyer pays about 15% in fees on top of your price | Nothing in the sale itself, but the money never leaves Steam |
| P2P marketplace | After another player buys, for CS2 usually once Steam's 7-day trade protection ends | A seller fee set by each marketplace | The skin sits unsold, or the price drops while you wait |
| Selling directly to a buyer like SkinCashier | CS2: when the 7-day trade protection ends. Rust, TF2, Dota 2: after the trade | A price below the Steam Market listing, plus the fee of the payout method you pick | Little: you see the price before you trade, and it's one trade offer |
| Private trade for PayPal | Whenever the other person pays | No fee | Scams and reversed payments, with nobody to settle a dispute |
Steam Community Market: no cash at all
Listing a skin takes a minute, and the sale is safe because Valve runs the Market. The problem is what you get paid in. The buyer pays your price plus about 15% in fees (5% for Steam and 10% for CS2), and what reaches you can only be spent on Steam.
P2P marketplaces: wait for a buyer, pay a seller fee
On a peer-to-peer marketplace you list the skin at your own price and wait for another player to buy it. For a popular skin, that can leave you with more money than a site that buys the skin itself. But nothing happens until someone buys, the price can move while your listing waits, and the marketplace takes a seller fee from each sale. Withdrawals depend on the site: some pay only by bank transfer, and some ask you to verify your ID before you can withdraw. Our ranking of sites to sell CS2 skins compares the main marketplaces.
Selling directly to a buyer: one trade, price up front
A site that buys skins itself skips the listing. You see a fixed price for each skin, accept one trade offer, and the sale is done. That's how SkinCashier works, and our page Instant sell CS2 skins explains how it differs from listing a skin. The price is lower than a Steam Market listing, because we pay real money and take on the cost and risk of reselling the skin. How we price skins explains where the difference comes from.
Private trades for PayPal: no fee, no protection
You can also find a buyer on Discord, Reddit or a trading forum and agree on a PayPal payment. There's no fee, and there's also nobody in the middle. The usual ways it goes wrong: the buyer reverses the PayPal payment weeks after the skin has left your inventory, a fake middleman disappears with the item, or a link leads to a copy of the Steam login page. If you trade privately, do it only with people you know, and read our guide on avoiding CS2 scams first.
For a longer look at each route, with the fees of individual sites, read our in-depth guide on how to sell CS skins for real money.
How to sell CS2 skins for real money on SkinCashier
- Sign in with Steam. You log in on Steam's own login page, so we never see your Steam password.
- Pick the skins. Every item we can buy shows its price, and you see the total before you trade. Items we can't buy are grayed out.
- Choose where the money goes. Pick PayPal and enter your PayPal email, or pick Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin and paste your wallet address. You can also keep the money on your SkinCashier balance and withdraw it later.
- Accept the trade offer. Our bot sends you one trade offer. Check that it contains only the skins you chose, then confirm it in the Steam Mobile app.
- Get paid. The money goes to your SkinCashier balance in US dollars, and on to the payout method you picked once it's released.
The calculator above shows what each payout method sends for a given sale total after its fee. If you've never sold skins before, the step-by-step guide walks you through every screen.
When you get paid
Steam lets the sender reverse a CS2 trade for 7 days after it's made. Steam calls this trade protection. Since the trade can be reversed during that week, we release the money for CS2 items when the 7 days end. This applies to every CS2 trade on any site, not only ours.
Rust, TF2 and Dota 2 items aren't covered by trade protection, so the money for them is on your balance right after the trade. If you sell CS2 skins and items from other games, they go in separate trades and are paid separately.
If you picked a payout method when you sold, the payout is sent automatically once the money is released. How long it then takes to arrive depends on PayPal or on the blockchain.
PayPal or crypto: which payout to pick
PayPal is the simpler choice if you already have an account. We pay through PayPal's Payouts service to the PayPal email you enter, in US dollars. If your PayPal account uses another currency, PayPal converts the money at its own rate and charges its currency conversion fee. PayPal doesn't serve some countries. If it declines a payout, the money goes back to your SkinCashier balance and you get an email. More on how to sell CS2 skins for PayPal.
Crypto suits you if you already use a wallet, or if PayPal isn't available where you live. We pay native Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, not USDT or other tokens. The coin amount is calculated at the exchange rate when the payout is sent, and the real network fee at that moment is deducted. Coin prices move, so what the coins are worth can change before you sell them. More on how to sell CS2 skins for crypto.
The current fee and limits of each method are shown at the top of this page, and you see the exact amount again before you confirm a withdrawal.
How to get the money into your bank account
We don't pay out to bank accounts or cards. There are two ways to get the money there:
- Through PayPal. Withdraw to PayPal, then transfer the balance to the bank account linked to your PayPal account. PayPal sets the fees, the exchange rate and the timing of that transfer.
- Through crypto. Withdraw Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin to an exchange account, sell the coins and withdraw the money to your bank. The exchange charges its own fees, and the coin price can change in between. For Ethereum, make sure the exchange gives you a regular deposit address, not a smart-contract address.
If all you want is money in your bank, PayPal is the route with fewer steps.
Who you're selling to
SkinCashier is run by Global Ecommerce Soultions sp. z o.o., a company registered in Warsaw, Poland (KRS 0000752744), and has been buying skins since 2019. Reviews and the most common complaints are on Is SkinCashier legit?