How does the trade offer evaluator work?
Add every item you would give on the left, and every item you would get on the right. Search by weapon and skin name, and add the wear if you know it, like "awp asiimov ft". Each item is valued at its Skinport lowest listing, and the totals update as you add, remove or change items.
If you think an item is worth more or less, type your own price in the "Your price each" box. The tool then uses your number for that item. You can also set a quantity, which helps with bulk trades like five cheap skins for one better one.
The result box shows both totals, the difference in dollars and percent, and a plain verdict. Share the result with the link button, or swap the sides to see the trade from the other person's view.
Where do the prices come from?
All prices come from one source: a snapshot of the public Skinport items API. The snapshot used on this page was taken on 24 Sep 2026 at 03:00 UTC, and the date is shown under the tool. We do not have prices from other marketplaces, so the tool never claims to show "the market price" across sites.
For each item we use the lowest price anyone is asking on Skinport. When nothing is listed, we use the median sale price from the last 7 days, then the last 30 days, from Skinport's sales history. The item row tells you when a fallback is used.
Our snapshot includes listings that are still trade locked, which can sit below the price of items you can trade right away. That is one reason the lowest listing can be well under the recent median sale.
How does the tool decide if a trade is fair?
The math is simple:
- Give total = sum of (price x quantity) for everything you give
- Get total = sum of (price x quantity) for everything you get
- Difference = get total - give total
- Difference % = difference / give total x 100
The verdict uses a band of plus or minus 5% around zero. This band is our own rule of thumb, not a Steam rule or a market standard. Prices move every day and each site prices items a little differently, so small gaps are noise.
| Difference % | Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| -5% to +5% | Fair trade | Both sides are worth about the same |
| Below -5% | You overpay | You give more value than you get back |
| Above +5% | You underpay | You get more value than you give |
An underpay looks good for you. Be careful anyway. Offers that are much better than the market are a classic way to get someone to rush and skip their checks.
Worked example 1: a fair two-for-one
Prices are Skinport lowest listings from the 24 Sep 2026 snapshot.
You give an AK-47 | Vulcan (Field-Tested) and a P250 | Asiimov (Field-Tested). You get an M4A1-S | Printstream (Field-Tested).
| Side | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| You give | AK-47 | Vulcan (Field-Tested) | $162.04 |
| You give | P250 | Asiimov (Field-Tested) | $10.90 |
| You get | M4A1-S | Printstream (Field-Tested) | $173.76 |
- Give total: $162.04 + $10.90 = $172.94.
- Get total: $173.76.
- Difference: $173.76 - $172.94 = +$0.82.
- Difference %: $0.82 / $172.94 = +0.5%.
That is well inside the 5% band, so the verdict is Fair trade. This is the default example the tool loads.
Worked example 2: an overpay that depends on the price you pick
You give an AWP | Asiimov (Field-Tested). You get three skins: an AK-47 | Asiimov, a Desert Eagle | Printstream and an AK-47 | Redline, all Field-Tested.
| Item | Lowest listing | 7-day median sale |
|---|---|---|
| AWP | Asiimov (Field-Tested) | $99.35 | $104.15 |
| AK-47 | Asiimov (Field-Tested) | $37.31 | $37.99 |
| Desert Eagle | Printstream (Field-Tested) | $29.25 | $35.69 |
| AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested) | $22.67 | $28.59 |
At lowest listings, you give $99.35 and get $37.31 + $29.25 + $22.67 = $89.23. The difference is -$10.12, or -10.2%. The verdict is You overpay.
Now type the 7-day medians into the "Your price each" boxes. You give $104.15 and get $37.99 + $35.69 + $28.59 = $102.27. The difference is -$1.88, or -1.8%, which is a Fair trade.
The only thing that changed is the price you trust. The AK-47 | Redline has a lowest listing about 21% under its 7-day median, so it pulls the get side down. When one item's listing looks far off its recent sales, check it and use your own price.
Why is a listing price not what you would get?
A listing price is what a seller asks. It is not what you would receive if you sold. To sell quickly you usually have to list at or below the cheapest seller, and then the marketplace takes a seller fee from the sale.
On the Steam Community Market, the buyer's price includes a 5% Steam fee and a 10% CS2 fee on top of what the seller gets, so the seller keeps about 87% of the listed price. Steam Market money also stays in your Steam Wallet. Use the Steam fee calculator to see the exact split, and the marketplace fee calculator to compare what you keep on each site we have tested.
This matters for trades. Two sides that are equal at listing prices can be quite different in cash, if one side holds items that sell slowly or have few buyers.
What should I check before accepting a trade?
The value check is only half the job. Most lost skins come from fake sites and fake trade offers, not from bad prices.
- Check every link you were sent with the scam link checker before you log in anywhere.
- Open the trade offer in the Steam app or client and read each item name, wear and StatTrak tag. A lookalike item is an easy swap.
- Never share your Steam Web API key. Read how Steam API key scams work.
- Learn the common signs in how to spot scam trading sites.
Accepted trades can also be held or reversed under Steam's trade protection rules. The trade hold calculator shows when an item becomes tradable again, and trade protection and reversals explained covers what can be undone.
When should you use the trade evaluator?
Use it before you accept or send an offer, when a friend offers a swap, or when you plan an upgrade from several cheap skins into one better one. It is also a quick way to see how much of an overpay you are giving for an item you really want.
To track what your skins are worth over time, add them to the portfolio tracker. To price a whole list at once, use the inventory value checker. For how prices form in the first place, read how CS2 skin prices work.
