Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past ten years, you must have heard about CSGO. It’s arguably one of the most popular eSports in the world. It’s also popular for gambling because of how the economy surrounding its cosmetic items works.
These cosmetic items, known as “skins,” can be priced differently. You can use them or sell them to other players for money on the Steam marketplace.
One of the things that adds more value to your existing skins is stickers. These are applicable cosmetics enhancements on the weapon skins. For a full list of the best stickers, click here to be taken to a site where you can view them.
Today, we’re making this guide to introduce you to CSGO stickers, what they are, how to use them, and everything else. So without any further ado, let’s get started.
What are CSGO stickers?
As we briefly mentioned, stickers are add-ons to apply to your weapon skin in CSGO. Valve added stickers to the game in 2014. In the beginning, the stickers were only artwork. But after EMS One Katowice 2014, the developers added professional team stickers to the game.
How to get stickers in CSGO?
Stickers are not direct in-game drops in CSGO. You can get sticker capsules dropped as you keep playing the game. But remember that you must purchase keys to open the capsules.
The easier way is to buy stickers directly from the marketplace. You have more control over which sticker you’re getting and can pay the right price without relying on luck.
You can also trade skins or other stickers with other players if you don’t like paying for them. No matter what way you acquire it, once you have the sticker, you can apply it to your weapons.
Applying the stickers
The way Valve has designed the system, you can have a maximum of four stickers on your weapon. There are designated places where these stickers can go, so there isn’t much room for customization.
But you can mix and match your stickers. So you can have four of the same kind or four completely different ones.
You also have the option to scrape your stickers. This will give it a different look, which is perfect for you if your aesthetic is rough textures that show off the experience of in-game combat.
Scarping is also essential to replace the current sticker with a new one. You can’t have another one take its place unless you remove the one already there.
Typically it can take around 10 to 11 scrapes to remove a sticker. Once it’s scraped enough, an option called “remove sticker” will become available in-game.
As a note: Removing a sticker won’t refund it. Once a sticker has been scraped, it’s gone forever. This is to prevent players from exploiting the price of skins by removing highly priced stickers and applying them to cheaper skins to bump up the price.
Benefits of applying stickers on your skins
Apart from looking cool as heck, stickers serve another purpose in CSGO. The main advantage of applying a sticker to the skin is driving up its price.
CSGO skin prices depend on a lot of factors. The rarity of the skin as well as the quality of it, are the most critical factors. But it’s essential to remember that these cosmetic items’ value is set just like in Decentralized Finance.
This means that skin is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay. Certain skins might look cool in a “factory new” condition. But for some skins, the consensus could be that it looks better in “well worn” condition than brand new. In that case, the price for worn-out skin might be more.
Here’s a practical example. When writing, the price for an AK-47 Phantom Disruptor (Field-Tested) goes for $5.10. But the AK-47 Phantom Disruptor (Well-Worn) costs $6.52. While “field-tested” is the better quality, “well-worn” looks cooler, hence the increased price.
This price could be increased further if you slapped on some cool-looking stickers. Expensive stickers will mean more value. But once again, if a cheaper sticker makes the skin look cooler and someone is willing to pay more for it, that’s also completely valid.
How are these skins used?
There are two uses for skins with stickers. One is if you’re a collector and want the item in your collection. It’s kind of like owning a piece of digital art.
The other reason is to gamble with the skins. You can wager these skins in several ways. You can use the skins to bet directly on the outcome of a match. For this, the current market value of the skin will represent the amount of your wager.
Another way is by using them on CSGO gambling sites. There you can play games like blackjack, poker, and roulette, among other things. You can use the skins on these sites as a real money deposit instead of transferring the balance from your bank account or e-wallet.
Lastly, you can use the skins to open CSGO cases on third-party sites. Don’t confuse these case openings with the ones you get in the game. Here you’ll need to deposit the skins first, giving you several cases to choose from.
Once you’ve decided, you can open the case, which works similarly to a “spin the wheel” game. You will land on a random skin which you can then transfer to your Steam account and use in-game.
This last option is one of the popular ways you can test your luck and trade up for a pricier skin. What you do with that skin is entirely up to you.
Wrapping up
That covers the basics of CSGO stickers and their uses on cosmetic skins. What are you going to use them for? Is it for your collection, or are you looking to gamble with it?
Regardless, if you want the best-looking stickers for the right price, you should consider checking out third-party sites that list this information.