CS TRADEUPS · FAQ

Questions you actually need answered

25 September 2026 · Jeremy Saddei

Is the Finder free? Do I need a Steam account?

The Finder, calculator, skin comparisons and core results journal are free. Browse without an account. Steam sign-in lets you save contracts and sync your journal and watchlist. We never ask for your Steam password on this site.

Does a positive ROI mean I will make money?

No. Expected profit is the probability-weighted value of all outputs, after the selected fees, minus input cost. A positive average can include a high chance of losing on an individual contract. Inspect every outcome and verify actual listing prices, quantities and floats before buying.

Why is a marketplace price different from the price shown here?

We use cached quotes from third-party data feeds. A listing may have sold, a fee may be missing, or the exact wear, StatTrak/Souvenir variant or float may differ. Consensus is a guarded estimate, not a guaranteed checkout price. Steam wallet values are not equivalent to withdrawable cash.

How often do prices and trade-ups update?

Priority-item quotes normally refresh about hourly, and the full catalogue about every 12 hours. The quota governor can lengthen both intervals. A full trade-up calculation runs at startup and again 15 minutes after the previous run finishes. The Finder checks the market index every 4 minutes and cached results every 15 minutes; these browser checks do not force new upstream quotes.

How do I use the cheapest price instead of consensus?

In Finder, open Pricing source, then Advanced, and choose Raw cheapest cash or Raw cheapest including Steam for inputs or outputs. Raw mode includes flagged quotes and omits candidates missing a selected quote. It reprices the cached candidates; it does not rerun every possible combination.

Why do Home and my filtered Finder show different contracts?

Home uses the default cash-consensus Finder shortlist, estimated fees, available input quantities and the default liquidity filters. Your saved filters, pricing source, float settings or a newer calculation can change your Finder shortlist. Open the homepage candidate to inspect that exact recipe. Low-confidence or flagged candidates are excluded from featured picks.

Can I sell at the higher price shown on Flips?

Not necessarily. Flips compares asking prices at different venues; the higher ask is another seller's price, not a buyer offering you that amount. Check bids, stock, trade locks, fees, withdrawal costs and regional access. The default view is a 5–100% estimated spread and a $0–$1,000 buy price, converted to your display currency.

How do I import my inventory, and where is it stored?

Open Inventory, enter your SteamID64 and use the Steam inventory link. Copy the JSON or import its saved file. We send it to our server to parse, then store the imported items in this browser; they are not synced as your server inventory. Signing in does not import automatically. If Steam refuses the request, check inventory privacy and try again later.

Why does a saved contract show an alert?

An alert means its current estimate became negative, its ROI fell by at least 10 percentage points or an input rose by at least 20% from its saved price. Open Saved and mark changes as reviewed. The same warning stays quiet unless another warning appears or ROI falls at least 10 more points. Reviewing an alert does not alter the saved recipe.

Why is my saved-contract graph empty?

History starts collecting after tracking is enabled and a background calculation completes. We do not reconstruct earlier prices. Missing quotes are skipped, and observations are retained for 90 days. The chart tracks estimated ROI/profit of the recipe; record actual completed trades in Results to track realized profit.

Why does the calculator need exact floats?

Wear labels describe ranges, not a single float. Different input floats can move an output into a different wear and change its estimated price. Enter the actual item floats for your recipe. Output selection is random; its float is calculated from the inputs and output range. A cheap listing may not have the float you need.

Do affiliate links change rankings or cost me extra?

Rankings use prices and selected filters, not commissions. Marked affiliate links may earn us a commission subject to the marketplace's terms. A link does not guarantee attribution, a discount or availability. We also show non-partner markets and never execute trades, hold your funds or move skins for you.

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