Here’s how the new trade protection in CS2 affects skin trading

Valve’s new trade protection system in CS2 is making already noise, and many players still aren’t sure what it actually changes. With that question in mind, here’s what both buyers and sellers should know about how trade protection affects skin trading before making their next purchase outside of the official Steam Market.

CS2 Season 3 has shaken up the active duty map pool with the addition of Overpass, replacing Anubis. While that change would usually have fans talking for weeks, another update in the Counter-Strike 2 Season 3 patch notes has stolen the spotlight. Valve is finally tackling Steam scams head-on with a new feature that could drastically reduce fraudulent trades.

In the Season 3 blog post, the game publisher has confirmed that valuable CS2 items can now be marked as “trade protected,” making them temporarily ineligible for consumption, modification, or transfer.

What CS2 trade protection means for skin traders

If a CS2 seller trades an item, the buyer won’t be able to modify, trade, or sell it for seven days, whether the original owner suspects a potential scam or just wants to reverse the trade. The buyer can still use the item in-game during the CS2 trade protection period.

On paper, the rule sounds like a great way to reduce scams, but the trading community has several concerns with its effects already.

Many buyers in CS2 don’t purchase items for personal use. Instead, they are simply traders, moving skins quickly and quietly through the market. The CS2 trade protection adds a week-long delay through third-party escrow, which will significantly slow down business for full-time traders. This can even last up to 14 days if the item is newly-purchased, eliminating the instant liquidity the traders rely on and exposing them to price swings they can no longer avoid.

The market’s pace will see a massive change, but that’s likely not concern for an average skin buyer.

With this change, credibility becomes more important than ever, and some buyers are already turning to third-party websites. Cash-only trades are much riskier now, since a seller can take the money and then cancel a trade protected transfer. It might not happen often, but it’s still possible, making credible traders more important than ever for new buyers.

With CS2 trade protection in place, Valve’s own marketplace looks like the best place to shop. Many casual skin buyers might gravitate toward the Steam Community Market, since it’s the only platform where items can still be used immediately without any added risk or delays. Of course, that convenience comes at a cost of 13% cut for Valve, and the publisher is surely aware of how its new rules are likely direct more business to its private, and profitable, marketplace.

There are some downsides to the trade reverse feature for general CS2 players, like losing the ability to impulse-buy a case, open it, and use the new skin right away. But even with this friction, the long-term benefits may outweigh the drawbacks for most. Some CS2 skin transactions are worth huge amounts of money, so it’s not unreasonable to expect a deal of that size to take up to seven days to finalize.

How to reverse trades in CS2

If you suspect a scam after a CS2 trade and want to reverse it, go to your Trade History page to review trades involving Trade Protected items. From there, you’ll have the option to reverse any such trade. Note that all traded items after this update will be in this way trade protected, until Valve adds an option to unmark selected trades.

Reversing trades will undo all trades involving Trade Protected items, sending them back to their original owners. Once you initiate a reversal, your account will be restricted from trading and using the Steam Community Market for 30 days as a precautionary measure.