We can all go on forever about the gameplay and strategy nuances of Counter-Strike, but let’s face it: hoarding skins is part of the experience, too. Like, sure—your handgun needs to match your playstyle… but also your gloves. So, how to get CS2 skins for your growing collection?
You’ll find plenty of confusing advice online that mixes CS:GO with CS2, not considering the fact that things have changed. This guide will clear things up: we’ll go over six ways to get skins that you can start using today. Some methods are free, some paid, but all are 100% legit and working in CS2.
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How to Get Free CS2 Skins
Who doesn’t like free stuff? Let’s start by looking at the best ways to get free CS2 skins. They may take luck and/or time and effort, but they don’t require money—besides the Prime upgrade, but you’ve probably paid for that already anyway.
Claim the Weekly Care Package
First up, the low-effort, no-additional-cost option: the Weekly Care Package. By upgrading your account to Prime, you’ll become eligible for a weekly in-game drop.
Upgrading to Prime takes a one-time $14.99 payment in the Steam Store. (There are other benefits to Prime in CS2 besides free stuff, so it’s worth the investment.) To claim your package, you’ll need to level up your private rank at least once in a given week. It’s easily done just by playing the game regularly—a couple of comp matches will get you enough XP to rank up.
The package contains four items, of which you can pick two. One is always a case, and the remaining three are random skins or graffities. The skins are likely to be on the cheapest end of the spectrum, but hey—they’re free. Once you’ve collected a bunch of them, you can always go for a CS2 trade up contract and get yourself a better item.
Pick Up Daily Rewards on CS2 Sites
Your favorite case-opening sites (*wink wink*) and skins marketplaces are likely to have a daily freebie as a reward for logging in and using the platform. By being active on multiple websites, you can claim a few free skins per day. On Key-Drop, you get a free Daily Case that contains better rewards with each level you unlock. Check it out, if you haven’t seen it already!
Try Reward-Earning Websites
Reward-earning sites pay users a small amount to complete surveys, use apps, play games, and do other simple tasks online. Some of these websites (like Swagbucks, Freecash, and Idle-Empire) let you withdraw your earnings as gift cards for Steam and sometimes for other skins marketplaces. You can then use those gift cards to purchase CS2 skins, cases, and other in-game items.
Collecting enough funds to pay out can be time-consuming, so it’s far from the most efficient way of getting new skins. But it’s free and easy, so if you’re short on cash and have some spare time on your hands, it could be worth a try.
Take Part in Social Media Giveaways
Many websites that deal in CS2 skins and cases run regular giveaways and contests on their social media. To take part in a giveaway, you’ll usually need to like, comment, share, or otherwise engage with the post. The winner is then selected via a method specified in the post—it may be random, or there could be a competitive element to it.
We do tons of giveaways here at Key-Drop, so check out our Facebook, Instagram, and other social media to enter. Who knows, you could be the next lucky winner!
Where to Buy CS2 Skins
Getting free skins often takes time and patience, and tends to yield unpredictable results. So, if you want a specific skin and have some spare cash to spend on it, you have a few options for buying it directly. Aspiring pro traders will also find it more efficient to invest some capital into purchasing a stock of skins, rather than hoping to collect a decent inventory for free.
Steam Community Market
There are thousands of skins for sale on the Steam Community Market, with various rarity levels and prices ranging from a few cents to hundreds of dollars. Steam lets you browse multiple offers for the same item to compare prices and find the best deals. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, you can pay with all the standard payment methods, plus funds from your Steam Wallet.
Third-Party Marketplaces
Steam may be the most popular choice, but it’s far from the only one. There are several other online marketplaces offering great deals on skins, cases, and other in-game items. A quick Google search will give you a long list of third-party markets—the vast majority are legit, but double-check before making any purchases. Check for all the usual red flags and run a search online to check what other people are saying about it.
When buying skins, there’s no reason to stick just to one website—to find the best deals, it makes sense to compare offers from multiple sites (including the Steam Market). This method will also give you a better idea of the price ranges for your chosen skin, helping you to avoid getting scammed into overpaying.
By the way: some third-party marketplaces let you trade your skins for funds that you can spend on getting new items, so you don’t necessarily need cash to buy a new CS2 skin. In fact, it could be a good idea to collect a bunch of free skins using the methods we’ve discussed above, then trade them in for the more expensive skins that you really want.
So, there you have it—six ways to add new skins to your inventory, with or without money changing virtual hands. What’s your favorite way of getting new CS2 skins? Buying, trading, opening cases? Let us know on social media, while you check out our latest giveaways and promo codes!