The Rarest and Most Expensive CSGO Skins

Toby Marshall
16 September 2021
The Rarest and Most Expensive CSGO Skins

The reason that most CSGO skins are expensive is for one of three reasons:

  1. The skin is very rare
  2. The skin is in high demand
  3. The skin was simply expensive from the outset.

In 2020, a rare CSGO skin was sold for $100,000 – a StatTrak M4A4 – Howl, from the Huntsman collection. This had an overall wear rating of 0.003 (Factory New). At the time, this was considered a massive sum of money, but now, huge prices being paid for CSGO skins is not uncommon. The CSGO skins that have the most expensive price tags are the rare skins that are in high demand, and these are the ones that are treated very differently from common or garden CSGO skins.

Off Market Value

The reason this trade made so many headlines, aside from the price tag, was because this one was a trade that was not made on the Steam Market. The purchase was made in cash by an incognito Chinese collector. This brought attention to similar trades, with people coming out of the woodwork discussing skins that were traded for $60,000 or more – although most weren’t verified. However, if you look at the prices of some of the most costly skins on the CSGO trading sites then it’s not too difficult to believe.

The Rarest Skins

There are now plenty of CSGO skins that have risen to quite high prices – but what skins are the rarest? Well, because CSGO skins can now be traded and exchanged between players easily, it has become much easier to quantify how rare they are. Understanding and finding out the rarity and value of skins is one part of why CSGO skins betting is now so popular.

What Makes a Skin Valuable

The three factors that are combined to affect the value of the skins is the rarity of the skin, which will make it harder to get. If a skin is popular then this will also add to its value. The third factor to take into account is the stats of the skin.

With CSGO skins, there are two stats that you need to consider

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  • Is the weapon a stat-track skin?
  • How worn is the skin?

It is also worth considering whether the weapon skin has CSGO stickers on them as these can devalue the skins. However, stickers are removable, so this isn’t a deal-breaker. Some rare, limited edition stickers can even add value. If a sticker was only available for a short period of time then this can make rare CSGO skins even pricier.

You also need to take into account how used the skin is, as the wear and tear will have a big effect on the value of the skin. Wear and tear is measured in different levels:

  • Factory New
  • Minimal Wear
  • Field-tested
  • Well worn
  • Battle-scarred.

Every skin is given a value between 0 and 1, which is how its level is based. The lower the number, the less worn it is and the more value it has.

The Rarest CSGO Skins Available

Let’s take a look at the rarest and most costly CSGO skins available right now. However, it’s worth noting that these change in time, but the rare skins that are difficult to find now will tend to stay hard to find, which means it’s unlikely that a rare skin will see a price drop. Rare skins usually increase in value rather than decrease. Here are some of the rarest skins to look out for:

A Factory New Souvenir Dragon Lore

This is not only one of the most well-known CSGO skins, but it is also one of the rarest and in factory new condition it is worth tens of thousands of dollars. However, because of this, the chances of getting one on a loot box is around 1 in 250,000. As such, this is ridiculously rare and it’s very unlikely you’ll get your hands on one unless you buy it in the shop, making it the most expensive skin around right now!

Factory New Stattrak M9 Bayonet Crimson Web

In CSGO, knife skins are even rarer than gun skins, which makes them even more expensive. Generally, you’ll find it hard to get a knife skin for under $50 – and for the expensive ones, you can pay more than $8,000. The Stattrak M9 Bayonet Crimson Web is one of the most expensive of them all – as it’s very rare and very old.

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This knife skin was originally released in 2013 and a fair few have already dropped, but it still keeps hold of its tasty price tag. These days, knife skins are seen as a bit of a status symbol and it’s for this reason that these are often on the list of the most expensive CSGO skins.

Factory New Stattrak Karambit Crimson Web

This skin is similar in price to the Bayonet and can sell for about $9,000 if in factory new condition. This is usually popular with players who prefer the less ‘standard’ blade designs, as it is curved. Because it is so rare, the skin is usually traded for more than its RRP, and there are rumors that some have even sold for more than $50,000.

Factory New Souvenir AWP Dragonlore FN (4X Titan Holo)

Another of the rarest skins is also another Souvenir Dragon Lore skin. However, this is different from the rarest in a number of wats. Although it is still pretty rare, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get hold of one without parting with some big bucks first of all.

Factory New M4A4 Howl-Contraband

Although this isn’t a skin that wouldn’t necessarily sell for hundreds and thousands of dollars, this can still cost a pretty penny and it’s unlikely you’ll get hold of one for under $1,000. This skin isn’t just a rare skin, but it’s also a popular skin because it was only made available for a short period of time. The designer of the skin removed it from loot boxes after just one month, so only those players who found it in a box at that time got one.

So, this is a pretty rare skin and is on par with owning an NFL. By banning a skin from the game, you are always going to make it a rare and sought after one. Although it isn’t the most expensive out there, this is just evidence of how many skins are no longer in action!

Factory New Stattrak AK-46 Fire Serpent

In general, most AK skins in CSGO are pretty expensive and this one certainly fits the bill. This skin was only found in boxes from an operation that happened over ten years ago, which makes it pretty rare these days. As such, in factory new condition it sells for around $8,000 because of its age and rarity.

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Ibuypower Sticker

We’re stepping away from skins and looking at a rare sticker now – but we have to include this as it generally sells for thousands of dollars. This is a sticker that can also increase the value of any skin it is attached to. However, if you overuse it to increase the skin value can end up decreasing the value in some scenarios.

Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono

This was a later addition to the game, but gloves are some of the rarest CSGO skins out there. Examples such as the Crimson Kimono have even been known to sell for more than $600. These are the rarest type of drop available from a loot box and as such, are pretty unlikely to drop from a box. The reason they aren’t worth more than this is that not as many players are interested in gloves.
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Factory New Glock-18 Fade

This is a weapon that was a drop linked to one specific map – the Assault map. So, after it was removed from the game, it was impossible to get the weapon as a drop anymore. Although it isn’t as costly as some of the other items on this list, they are very rare as not many were pulled as loot, which makes for a pretty rare skin.

Souvenir Mag-7 Bulldozer

These skins often pop up in famous esports tournaments; this skin is often found in versions that commemorate the 2013 DreamHack, ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 and 2-19 StarLadder Berlin Major. As such, there aren’t many versions available and there are practically no factory new versions available at any CSGO trading sites. It generally sells for around $160 but it is very rare and impossible to find on the open market at the moment.

The Most Expensive CSGO Skins in Each Category

Above we looked at the rarest skins in CSGO, and they generally tend to hover around just a few weapons. Some weapons skins cosmetics lend themselves to value. Here are the most valuable and rare CSGO skins for each category:

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The Most Expensive AK-47 Skin

This gun is one of the most popular in CSGO but there aren’t as many rare weapon skins as some others. The rarest AK-47 skin is thought to be the Fire Serpent which was brought in for Operation Bravo. This makes it one of the oldest ones in the game and always on the list of rarest and most valuable skins.

The Most Valuable AWP Skin

Currently, the most expensive and rare AWP skin is the Lightning Strike, in particular, the StatTrak Lightning Strike in factory new condition. This generally sells for four-figure sums and more as it was introduced in CSGO’s earliest cases.

The Most Expensive CSGO Skin Knife

Right now, the most expensive and valuable knife skin is the factory new StatTrak M9 Bayonet.

The Most Valuable Agent

Agents in CSGO aren’t usually considered as being especially valuable. In fact, the rarest one is Sir Bloody Miami Darryl, which can currently be bought for about $15. This certainly doesn’t compare with valuable weapon skins!

Author Toby Marshall