Expensive skins are not uncommon in CS:GO. But for that price you can get a sports car or a condo.
A weapon skin for 150,000 Euros? A copy of an AK-47 for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with some rare stickers now went over the digital shop counter for this proud sum.
To put it in perspective: on the market for physical goods, you can get an expensive sports car, a cheap condominium or your own medical practice (assuming you have a degree) for that.
One user captured the astronomically priced item on Twitter:
Crazy 1m+ sale just happened 🫣🫣
Was this price justified? pic.twitter.com/H60BtqGUBz
– .Nalo (@completelyfucc) March 13, 2023
How does such a price come about?
The inflated price of US$160,000 that one buyer was now willing to pay comes only in small part from the skin itself, called the AK-47 Wild Lotus. The skin is highly limited and currently costs around $10,000 alone.
The lion’s share of the incredible price comes from four stickers that are stuck on the skin. These are holo-effect stickers from the now defunct Reason Gaming team from IEM Katowice 2014, a major e-sports event for CS:GO. Each of these stickers is currently being traded for around 40,000 dollars.
The rest is simple mathematics: only through the extremely rare and, in the eyes of collectors, valuable stickers does the price for the sold skin add up to the value of a world tour lasting several years. At least in the eyes of the buyer.
Untransparent market
Many traders on the countless trading platforms for CS:GO skins are not so much collectors looking for rare skins or players with expensive tastes, but rather speculators. The prices for the skins are in constant motion, some traders expect future profits from the investments.
This grey market for digital goods repeatedly provokes criticism, as sometimes fraudsters also try to pull money out of the pockets of inexperienced soldiers of fortune. In addition, CS:GO is suspected of promoting gambling addiction because of the random loot boxes and its own skin market via Steam.
