# CS2 merchant

A **CS2 merchant** is any site that lets its users pay with Counter-Strike 2
skins instead of a card: case-opening sites, skin casinos, marketplaces, stores,
tournament platforms. Users already hold the inventory, card issuers keep
declining the vertical, and a knife moves faster than a bank transfer. AssetPay
is the merchant side of that trade. You plug in one API, your checkout accepts
skins under your own brand, and we run the bots, the pricing, the custody and the
ledger.

If you are searching for a place to sell your own skins for cash, this page is
not that. It is for the platform that wants to take skins from thousands of
users and never touch a trade bot.

## What you get as a CS2 merchant on AssetPay

- **Deposits in skins.** The user signs in with Steam on your site, picks items
  from their inventory, confirms one trade offer on their phone, and their
  balance with you goes up. The step-by-step is in
  [how to accept CS2 skins as payment](/blog/accept-cs2-skins-as-payment).
- **Cashouts in skins.** Withdrawals ship from AssetPay inventory, and nothing
  leaves until your backend approves it over a callback. One platform ran
  [$150k of cashouts in ten days](/blog/case-study-150k-skin-cashouts) on that
  path alone.
- **A price you can defend.** Every item is valued on float, wear, pattern and
  stickers against live market data, never on the name alone. How that works is
  in [how CS2 skin pricing works](/blog/how-cs2-skin-pricing-works).
- **Credit that survives Steam's 7-day reversal window.** Part of a deposit
  lands instantly and the rest when the window closes; the two halves always sum
  to the quoted price. Details in the
  [instant credit guide](/docs/guides/instant-credit).
- **Rust on the same key.** Rust items ride the same integration with full
  credit on arrival. See the [Rust gateway](/rust-skin-payment-gateway).
- **A ledger and signed webhooks.** Double-entry balance changes, HMAC-signed
  events, and a withdrawal gate your backend controls. See [security](/security).

## How to become a CS2 merchant

1. **Register** and pick up an API key from the dashboard. No call required.
2. **Add the checkout.** A client token opens the Steam sign-in and inventory
   picker on your page; one deposit call creates the trade offer.
3. **Listen for the webhook.** `trade.settled` arrives once the items are
   verified in our custody. Credit the user from that event, not from the offer.
4. **Approve cashouts.** When a user withdraws, we ask your backend before any
   item ships. Say yes, and the trade offer goes out.

Code for each step is in [integrating skin deposits](/blog/integrate-skin-deposits),
and every state you can observe is listed in the
[trade lifecycle](/docs/guides/trade-lifecycle).

## What it costs

One fee per cleared trade, set per merchant by game mix, deposit-to-cashout
balance and volume. No setup fee, no monthly minimum, no withdrawal fee, and a
trade that fails or expires costs nothing. The structure is on the
[pricing page](/pricing).

## Who AssetPay works with

- **Case-opening and gambling sites.** The vertical has its own page:
  [skin payments for casinos and case sites](/for-casinos-and-case-sites).
- **Marketplaces and skin stores** that want deposits and cashouts without a
  bot team. What that team costs is in
  [running Steam trading bots at scale](/blog/running-steam-trading-bots-at-scale).
- **Gaming platforms** adding skins next to cards and crypto through the
  [CS2 skin payment gateway](/cs2-skin-payment-gateway).

## Frequently asked questions

### What does a CS2 merchant need from Steam?

Nothing beyond a normal Steam login for your users. The bot accounts, API keys,
trade tokens and inventory custody sit on AssetPay's side. Your users see your
checkout and one trade offer from a verified account.

### Can I be a CS2 merchant if my business is gambling or case opening?

Yes. Chance-mechanic platforms are the largest group on the gateway. The
[casinos and case sites page](/for-casinos-and-case-sites) covers the cashout
gate and the risk controls that vertical needs.

### Does AssetPay buy skins from individual users?

No. AssetPay is infrastructure for merchants. A user only ever trades with
AssetPay through a merchant's checkout, and the value goes to their balance on
that merchant's site.

### How is a CS2 merchant on AssetPay different from running my own bots?

You skip the bot fleet, the price feed, the trade-hold checks and the reversal
exposure, and you pay one fee per cleared trade instead. The comparison against
other providers is in the [gateway comparison](/blog/best-cs2-skin-payment-gateways).

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Ready to accept CS2 skins? [Read the docs](/docs) or [talk to the team](/contact).