Since 2013, the ‘Trade Up Contract’ has been a staple presence in Counter-Strike, giving players the ability to quite literally trade up their skins. It’s a quality-of-life feature that, at its best, can result in a player potentially earning a little extra money just for the fact that they’ve made use of the contract. It can be a volatile feature, though – more often than not, players will want some way of knowing what’s going to happen ahead of time. So, they resort to using a Counter-Strike trade up simulator.
There are many CS2 trading simulators online, and they’re geared at making a player’s experience much more manageable. It’s a complex world for those new to the concept of the Counter-Strike skin market, and it runs a little deeper than simply providing players with in-game cosmetics. If you’re trying to figure out what to do with all those old skins, you could consider running them through a Counter-Strike trade up simulator.
It’s not a guarantee that you’ll make any money, but it’s better than having countless skins that you’re not going to use.
What is a CS2 Trade Up Simulator?
In terms of CS2 trading sites, a trade up simulator is a tool that allows a user to… well, simulate trade-ups. It’s a practical tool that gives users the ability to mock up a trading situation to give them an idea of what they might receive ahead of time. When a player uses the Trade Up Contract in Counter-Strike 2, they can trade ten skins of the same grade for one skin of the next highest grade. This can be lucrative, as it really is a mostly random process that can reward the player with something special in the best-case scenario.
In a way, it’s an example of CS2 gambling, as a player is essentially wagering those ten skins without any real idea of the outcome. They could end up in the hole, or they could end up rolling a skin in their trade up that boasts a remarkably high value. It’s a popular enough concept, and despite claiming that the process is truly randomized, some savvy players have worked out the algorithm that’s used to drive the trade up mechanic in CS2.
It’s worth highlighting that the trade up mechanic is different to the practice of using a peer-to-peer system to trade CS2 skins. Firstly, and most importantly, the Counter-Strike Trade Up Contract is an in-built feature on the game that was designed from day one to give players a way to cleanly and efficiently get rid of unwanted, repeat skins. Conversely, skin trading is where players can barter for and buy some of the rare CS2 skins in the game.
Are There Rules For Counter-Strike 2Trade Up Contracts?
Before you reach a CS2 trade up simulator, you may be wondering if there are any rules to the Trade Up Contracts found in Counter-Strike. There are – but there aren’t many. For instance, the most fundamental rule is that all weapons that you’re trading up must be of the same weapon-grade and either Normal or StatTrak variants. However, it’s important to remember that StatTrak variants can’t be traded up in the same transaction as Normal skins, and vice-versa.
Also, the only weapon grades that are actually eligible for Trade Up Contracts are as follows:
- Industrial
- Mil-Spec
- Restricted
- Classified
- Covert.
At present, knives, souvenirs, contraband-grade skins, and consumer-grade skins are all ineligible for trading up.
Naturally, if you’re playing a lot of Counter-Strike 2 and you’re not interested in CS2 betting with skins, you may have a lot of skins just lying around. Typically, they’ll be low-level skins that aren’t worth anything to anybody in particular. That’s where CS2 Trade Up Contracts come in handy.
And, with a Counter-Strike trading simulator, you can get an idea of what they’re worth before you do the trade up process.
Best CS2 Trade Up Simulators
There are quite a few websites dedicated to the Counter-Strike 2 trade up process, but which of them can be considered the most reliable? At the top of the table sit the full-fledged offerings, the platforms that boast extra features, like perhaps a CS2 gambling simulator. They’re trustworthy, accurate, and above all else, popular with actual CS2 players.
CS2 Trade Up Guru
Located at tradeupguru.com, the CS2 Trade Up Guru is a fairly basic platform that offers quite a powerful solution. At the press of a button with Trade Up Guru, you can see the ‘float’ contributed by each weapon skin. In CS2 Trading Up Contracts, the float is essentially what determines the value of the ultimate output. It starts with you putting in your ten skins, which build the ‘float’, which then determines roughly what you’ll get as the output.
Trade Up Guru will let you simulate a trade up scenario, browse skins, and it’ll give you the current and historic value of all Counter-Strike 2 skins.
Trade Up Spy
Trade Up Spy is a brilliant solution that provides a great CS2 trade up simulator. It’s a powerful platform that boasts countless features, from a stat tracking system to a price-checking service, and from a skin directory to a trade up calculator. It’s one of the best websites of its type and it provides a massively valuable service to CS2 players looking to trade up their skins.
It even comes equipped with a case opening simulator, if you want to open some weapon cases and not break the bank.
Counter-Strike Float
CS2 Float is a comprehensive solution that has many top-tier, in-demand features. There’s a peer-to-peer trading platform, which is reportedly fast, private, and protected, and there’s an auction and a ‘smart buy’ feature. It’s a great platform that boasts an easy-to-use Counter-Strike trade up simulator, as well as a ‘float checker’, which we’ve just mentioned above.
It’s a brilliant platform if you’re in the skins market and looking to make some money.
