CS2 float and wear, explained
Two copies of the same skin can sell for ten times as much as each other. The reason is almost always float. Here is what it is and how to read it.
What float actually is
Every CS2 skin carries a hidden number called its float value (or "paint wear"): a decimal between 0 and 1. Lower means cleaner — a float of 0.01 looks factory-fresh, while 0.90 looks beaten up. It is set the moment the skin is created and never changes. It is what makes each copy of a skin genuinely unique, not just its name.
The five wear tiers
Valve buckets that 0–1 range into five named tiers. The tier is what you see in the item name; the exact float sits underneath it:
| Wear tier | Float range |
|---|---|
| Factory New (FN) | 0.00 – 0.07 |
| Minimal Wear (MW) | 0.07 – 0.15 |
| Field-Tested (FT) | 0.15 – 0.38 |
| Well-Worn (WW) | 0.38 – 0.45 |
| Battle-Scarred (BS) | 0.45 – 1.00 |
Two things follow from this. First, a skin at the very edge of a tier — say a Field-Tested at 0.15 — looks close to Minimal Wear but costs Field-Tested money, which is why edge floats trade at a premium. Second, some finishes only exist in certain tiers because their float range is capped, which is why you rarely see a Factory New of some skins at all.
Why float moves the price
Within a tier, a cleaner float is usually worth more, and the cleanest and dirtiest extremes carry the biggest premiums. On top of float, a few things stack:
- Pattern (paint seed) — for finishes like Case Hardened ("blue gems") or Doppler (phases), the pattern index can matter more than the float. A top blue-gem pattern is a different market entirely from an ordinary one.
- Stickers and charms — applied stickers, especially rare or crafted ones, add value on top of the base skin.
- Doppler phase — a Doppler's phase (Ruby, Sapphire, Black Pearl, phases 1–4) can multiply the price several times over versus the plain name.
How to check a skin's float
The float and pattern live in the item's inspect data, which anyone can read from a public inspect link. Most traders use an inspection tool or a tracker that resolves it automatically. The practical point: never value a skin by its name alone — the same "AK-47 Redline (Field-Tested)" can be a bargain or an overpay depending entirely on the copy in front of you.
PatinaAI prices every copy in your inventory by its own float, pattern and stickers, not by the name average — so what you see is what that exact skin is worth.
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