Buy items on marketplaces and sell them on the Steam market for balance; the ratio uses the balance you receive after fees. You can also turn Steam balance back into cash.
Ratio = buy price ÷ balance received after selling on Steam. Steam charges 15% of the seller's proceeds (5% transaction fee + 10% CS2 game fee), which is about 13% of the sale price, so you receive about 87% of it. Each fee is rounded down to the cent with a $0.01 minimum, so cheap items pay a slightly different share; the ratio breakdown uses the actual fees. The lower the ratio, the more balance the same cash buys.
2Which item has the lowest ratio right now?
When listing on Steam: Sticker | Buzz (Foil) | Austin 2025. Buy on CSFloat for $0.03, list on Steam at the lowest price of $0.20 and receive $0.18 in balance, a ratio of 0.167.
3What's the difference between listing and selling to buy orders?
A listing waits for a buyer at Steam's lowest price; selling to the highest buy order is instant but pays less. The lowest listing ratio is currently 0.167; selling to buy orders gives 0.095.
4Why are Steam prices higher?
Steam balance can't be withdrawn and can only be spent on Steam, so the same item costs more on the Steam market. Steam's lowest prices are currently 48% above marketplace lowest prices (median).
5Can Steam balance be turned back into cash?
Yes, by doing the reverse: buy on Steam with balance, then sell on a marketplace. The highest ratio right now is Sticker | afro | Cologne 2026: buy on Steam for $0.04, sell on Youpin898, receive $0.13 after fees — a ratio of 3.270.
6What are the risks and limits?
Items bought on marketplaces can be sold on the Steam market only after about 7 days, and items bought on Steam can be traded to other marketplaces only after about 7 days too; prices may fall in that time. Items with low sales may take a long time to sell. A Steam wallet holds at most $2,000 (or the local equivalent, across all of one person's accounts), and more cannot be added; a single item on the Steam market sells for at most about $1,800, so pricier items can only be sold elsewhere.