Swap.gg is a CS2 skin trading site run by Swap.gg B.V., a Dutch company: you swap skins with its bots, or sell them for money through Instant Sell. Instant Sell charges 8% plus up to 20% and pays out 7 days after the trade. Swap leftovers become trade balance, which can't be cashed out.
TradeUp Academy can earn a commission from Swap.gg links on this site; see the affiliate disclosure.
Is Swap.gg legit? What its own documents say
- Operator. The Terms of Service name Swap.gg B.V., Sloterweg 796, Amsterdam, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 85936200. Users must be 18 or older, may hold one account, and can be asked for government photo ID.
- Refunds. The same terms allow a refund of bought wallet funds within 14 days, as long as you have made no purchase since.
- Account requirements. Swap.gg requires a public Steam profile, a saved trade URL and Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator active for at least 15 days.
- Scam warning. Its help centre says neither Swap.gg nor Steam staff will contact you to ask for trades or payments, and that items never get "stuck" and never need a "check".
Swap.gg fees
Swaps. Swap.gg publishes no single swap commission. Its pricing article names sales volume, item popularity and recent sales prices as inputs and keeps the algorithm private. The cost of a swap is the gap between what you give and what you get. Swap.gg also pays nothing extra for good floats, rare patterns such as Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire or Black Pearl, or rare stickers.
Instant Sell. Swap.gg's Instant Sell guide states a base commission of 8% of the item's value plus 0–20% depending on liquidity, and no withdrawal fee on Swap.gg's side for most payout methods (PayPal, Skrill, bank transfer, crypto). Example: a $100 skin leaves $92 at the base rate and $72 with the full 20% on top.
Trade balance is item credit, not cash
If you give more value than you take, the difference goes to your trade balance. That balance cannot be cashed out: it only withdraws items. The terms say the same of wallet funds, apart from refunds.
Example: your skins would sell elsewhere for $80 after fees. A swap gives you a skin that costs $70 elsewhere plus $9 of credit. If you won't buy anything else, count the credit as zero: you paid a $10 premium. If the $9 replaces a purchase you had planned, the premium drops to $1. Check equivalents in the price table before you accept.
- Match finish, wear and normal, StatTrak or Souvenir quality on every incoming item. Check the exact float and pattern, not the thumbnail.
- Note whether each item is Available or Reserved, and when it can be withdrawn.
- Record the outgoing basket, any top-up, the incoming items and the leftover credit. If a refresh changes the quote, compare the new totals.
- Open Steam directly and match the account and every item to the trade. Cancel any mismatch.
Reserved items and the 7-day hold
Valve's Trade Protected Items FAQ lets the sender reverse a CS2 trade for 7 days. Swap.gg's trade-reversal article handles this with two balances: value from CS2 trades stays Reserved for 7 days, while direct deposits are Available at once. Items bought with Reserved value are held until enough of it clears; if a bot item you bought is reversed, you get a full refund of its price.
- When a reserved item's lock ends, you have 72 hours to withdraw it. After that the reservation is cancelled and the item is sold back to Swap.gg at its value at that time.
- Instant Sell payouts are sent 7 days after the item transfer completes.
Swap.gg promo code and top-up bonus
TradeUp Academy has no Swap.gg promo code. Swap.gg's help centre states a 30% bonus on trade-balance top-ups, paid through Stripe, ZEN and Zonda Pay; for G2A and Kinguin gift cards the bonus is built into the card price. The bonus lands in trade balance, so it only helps if you will spend it on skins you want.
When Swap.gg is a good fit
Swap.gg suits a planned swap of ordinary skins when the whole basket compares well and you can use any leftover credit. It is a poor fit for rare floats, patterns or stickers, for cash you need within a week, and for turning credit into money. To compare exchange sites, see Tradeit vs Swap.gg and the Tradeit guide; for rare items, the float and wear guide explains what to check.