Trading in-game items has become a cornerstone of the community’s interactions in the intricate ecosystem of CS2 and Steam overall. Skins, knives, and other cosmetic items are not solely cosmetics, but also serve as a form of currency and status. However, trading was much easier at the beginning of the CS:GO era. Not everybody remembers that, but back then, you could buy items from the Steam Marketplace and not get any seven-day trade locks. Today, CS.MONEY Blog talks about what is the Trade Lock, why Valve made it, its impact on the community, and whether players can avoid the Trade Lock.
Why wait for seven days if you can buy CS skins without a Trade Lock? Go to CS.MONEY and choose skins that you can buy immediately and at prices lower than Steam!
What’s a Trade Lock in CS and can it be avoided?
Trade Lock is a seven-day trade ban for newly purchased or traded items in Steam. You can use it, but not exchange. Unfortunately, once you receive a new item on your Steam account, it gets a cooldown.
However, you can still trade skins within a week of the transaction, as there are possible options outside of Steam. CS.MONEY can help you with this. For example, if you buy a skin on our trading platform and have yet to withdraw it, you can still use it for future transactions on the website the next day, be it three hours or three minutes later.
Why Valve made the seven-day trade lock?
In its statement in March 2018, Valve mentioned that they introduced this restriction for the security of users and also because some services were using Steam for scams. Although the company did not specify the details, it probably referred to skin-gambling and skin-casino websites and betting websites that used skins as core currency.
Is the Trade Lock really necessary? Is it working?
We are not Valve to answer this question precisely, but we can talk about some effects of this decision.
Has Trade Lock been a successful solution? Yes and no. On one hand, many suspicious websites (especially with skin gambling) were closed immediately. Valve, without a doubt, prevented scams as well. On the other hand, people continue to lose their skins here and there, and they don’t always manage to get them back. Also, this Trade Lock has made it more difficult for common users and traders to operate.
The Ten-day Visibility Delay for CS Skins. What is it?
With a recent update, Valve made an important change that complicates life for traders: after purchase/exchange, acquired items will not be visible to other users for ten days. We don’t know the reasons behind this decision, so we won’t speculate. This change is also practically unavoidable.
Still, you can, for example, hold your skins at CS.MONEY, where you will always see them. While if a skin is added to a Steam account, you’ll have to wait ten days before trading it again.
How did the recent changes affect the market?
Along with this update, Valve changed the process of P2P exchanges, which led to the fact that many third-party platforms are facing problems. Because of this, CS.MONEY Market has temporarily suspended its operations, although some features have already returned, for example, Instant Sell, where you can instantly sell your skin and get money to your balance, as well as Cashouts, through which you can withdraw cash from the website directly to your credit card.
Nevertheless, on CS.MONEY you can still quickly and conveniently buy or sell your skins—as always. It’s the easiest way to update your inventory!
