There are two broad ways to turn a CS2 skin into something else. The Steam Community Market is built into Steam and pays in Steam Wallet funds. Third-party marketplaces sit outside Steam, move items through ordinary Steam trades and set their own rules for payment. Each route comes with trade-offs that matter more than the headline price.
What the Steam Market gives you
Fees you can see. Valve's Market FAQ lists two charges on a CS2 sale: a Steam Transaction Fee of 5%, with a minimum of $0.01, and a 10% Counter-Strike 2 fee set and collected by the publisher. Both are added on top of what the seller receives, so the seller keeps roughly 87% of what the buyer pays. Our guide to Steam Market fees and limits has a worked table.
Money that stays in Steam. Market proceeds land in your Steam Wallet. Valve says they can't be withdrawn or transferred to another Steam account, a bank or a third party. The Steam Subscriber Agreement goes further: wallet funds have no value outside Steam, no cash value, and can't be exchanged for cash. You can spend them on games, other items or Steam gifts.
Caps. Valve limits Steam Wallet balances to $2,000, or close to that in other currencies, and the price of a single listing to $1,800. You can't list an item if your balance plus the sale price would pass the wallet limit, and Valve adds together the wallets of all your accounts for that check.
Finality. All Market purchases are final; Valve says there's no right to a refund or reversal once a transaction completes. Items you buy carry a date in your inventory before which they can't be traded or listed again.
Entry rules. To use the Market you need a successful purchase older than seven days but not older than a year, and Steam Guard enabled for 15 days. Listings created before you add the Mobile Authenticator, or in its first seven days, are held for 15 days.
On the Market you never deal with the other person. Valve matches the sale, collects the fees and moves the item.
How third-party marketplaces work
A third-party marketplace sits outside Steam. Items still move through Steam trade offers, either between you and the site's own accounts or between you and another user, but payment, pricing and fees are handled entirely by the site. Fees, payout methods and withdrawal rules vary from one site to the next, so the only reliable figures are the ones in that site's own terms.
Valve keeps its distance from all of this. The Subscriber Agreement says Valve makes no representations or warranties about third-party sites, that any charges or obligations you take on with them are your responsibility, and that Valve doesn't recognise transfers of items made outside Steam. Its trading guidance also lists trading items for money outside the Community Market among the trades to avoid, since a trade offer can't carry money. Whatever happens on the money side of an outside sale, Steam isn't part of it.
Trades also escape the Market's caps. A trade offer carries items, not prices, so the $1,800 listing limit and $2,000 wallet limit don't come into it.
Trade protection changed outside sales
Since July 15, 2025, CS2 items move between accounts immediately in trades, with no trade holds, but every item received is Trade Protected for seven days. During that week it can't be traded on or modified, and the trade can be reversed from Trade History. A reversal undoes every protected trade from the last seven days and costs the account that starts it a 30-day trading and Market cooldown.
That matters for any sale paid outside Steam. A seller who has been paid can reverse and take the item back, and the money doesn't come with it. Hotspawn reported the day after launch that many trading platforms had temporarily suspended operations while they adapted, and predicted that sites would hold sellers' funds for the seven days. So an outside sale may not turn into money you can withdraw straight away. Our guide to what happens when a trade is reversed covers both sides.
Side by side
| Steam Community Market | Third-party marketplace | |
|---|---|---|
| You're paid in | Steam Wallet funds, which can't be withdrawn | Whatever the site offers |
| Fees | 5% Steam fee plus 10% CS2 fee | Set by each site |
| Price limits | $1,800 per listing, $2,000 wallet cap | No Steam price cap on trades |
| How the item moves | Inside the Market | A Steam trade offer |
| Can it be undone | No, purchases are final | Trades can be reversed for seven days |
| Valve's role | Runs it | None; the Subscriber Agreement disclaims third-party sites |
The risks worth weighing
Who holds your money. On the Market, Steam does. Off it, the site does, and Valve's agreement leaves any problem between you and that site. Steam Support doesn't restore items that leave an account for any reason.
Fake sites and logins. Valve says hijackers sometimes convince people to hand over their login through a fake Steam page or a fake third-party trading site. Sign in only on Steam's own domains, and never share your Steam Web API key; Valve says it should never be shared. Our guides to spotting phishing sites and the API key scam explain both.
Reversals. If you buy from another user, a reversal can take the item back within the week. If you sell, expect the site to account for that before paying out.
Taxes. Valve says working out any income tax on Market sales is your responsibility. For money from outside sales, check the rules where you live.
Choosing between them
The Market suits you if you're happy to keep the value inside Steam, the item fits under the caps, and you want the simplest deal with no counterparty. A third-party marketplace makes sense when you need money you can actually withdraw or the item is priced above the Market's limits. Then the checks matter: sign in through Steam's own pages, read the site's payout rules around trade protection, and start with something small.
If you go that way, CS2Sell's Sell page lets you sign in with Steam and sell items from your CS2 inventory.
Sources
- Community Market FAQ — Steam Support
- Steam Subscriber Agreement — Valve
- Trade Protected Items — Steam Support
- Scam FAQ (Confidence Scams and Trade Scams) — Steam Support
- Trading and Market Restrictions — Steam Support
- Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator — Steam Support
- Steam Item Restoration Policy — Steam Support
- CS2 Trade Protection Update: Is this the death of cash trading? — Hotspawn
