CS2 Trade-Up Contracts Explained

A trade-up contract turns ten skins of the same rarity into one skin of the next rarity up. It is the only way to craft a specific tier of skin from lower ones, and with the right inputs it can be a smart play. Here is how it actually works.

The basic rules

• You need exactly 10 skins of the same rarity, for example ten Mil-Spec (blue) skins.
• They must all be the same category: ten normal skins, or ten StatTrak skins. You cannot mix.
• The output is one skin of the next rarity up (Mil-Spec becomes Restricted, and so on). You cannot trade up Covert into knives.

Where the output comes from

The possible results are pulled from the collectionsyour ten inputs belong to. Each input effectively votes for an outcome from its own collection, so the more inputs you use from a single collection, the higher your chance of landing one of that collection's next-tier skins. Stacking inputs from one collection is how you steer the odds.

How the float is decided

The output is not random in condition. Its float is based on the average float of your ten inputs, mapped onto the output skin's own float range. Low-float inputs push toward a cleaner result, but the output skin's minimum and maximum still cap how good it can get. Always check a skin's float range first, which you can do on any skin page.

Before you craft

• Pick a target output, then find a collection whose lower tier feeds it.
• Use low-float inputs if you want a clean result, and check the output's float cap.
• Compare the cost of your ten inputs against the value of the possible outputs. Profit is never guaranteed.

Trade-ups are part craft, part gamble. Understanding collections and float turns it from a coin flip into a calculated decision.