Unless you plan to resell a skin as a collector piece, Minimal Wear is usually the better buy: at normal viewing distance it looks almost identical to Factory New, yet it costs noticeably less. Factory New is worth the premium on skins with fine detail or light areas, and on knives, where every scratch shows. Below we explain where the price gap comes from and on which skins it is worth paying.
A skin's wear in CS2 is set by its float value, which is fixed when the item drops and never changes afterward. Battle-Scarred is easy to get because it covers over half of all possible values (0.45 to 1.0). Factory New is much rarer: the float must land between 0 and 0.07, while Minimal Wear takes the next band, 0.07 to 0.15. These ranges are the same for every weapon, but some items have their own minimum and maximum float limits, so they do not exist in every wear. For the full scale, see our guide to skin wear levels in order.
Since "Factory New" looks the best and is rare, skins with this characteristic usually cost more compared to other variants. The difference from "Minimal Wear" can be quite noticeable, even when there is no significant visual difference between the skins. Additionally, the number of visual defects on the weapon's surface changes gradually as the parameter increases, so it's hard to spot the difference between variants with values of 0.06 and 0.08 with the naked eye, although formally they fall into different categories. Our CS2 float and wear guide explains why, and why weapons do not age in game.
If you're not planning to resell rare skins and simply want to diversify your collection, not overpaying for "Factory New" is often a great option. This is especially true for skins with metallic finishes, which simply show more patina at higher floats. They do not get scratches, and the color shift from one wear to the next is gradual.
Furthermore, in some cases, other factors influence the cost of a skin more than the float. For example, the price of AK-47 Case Hardened depends on the pattern index, which determines the distribution of colors on the surface (see our AK-47 Case Hardened pattern guide). Ordinary copies cost about $260 in Minimal Wear and about $430 in Factory New. As a result, the amount of blue on a specific specimen can affect the price much more than the wear. Even at high floats, the pattern on the surface of this skin darkens but remains intact.
Here are a few more examples of skins that look great as Minimal Wear:
USP-S Stainless with a shiny steel surface: the StatTrak version costs about $40 in MW.
Desert Eagle Kumicho Dragon, adorned with a dragon engraving: about $25 in MW, StatTrak about $55.
AWP Atheris, since scratches only affect certain details, leaving the pattern untouched: about $7 in MW, StatTrak about $15.
The opposite case is skins with a large number of small details or thin patterns. For instance, AK-47 Safety Net is covered in an orange net pattern. In the Minimal Wear version, noticeable scratches appear, the paint becomes paler, and the pattern starts to wear off around the stock and handle. As a result, Factory New sells for about $10 while Minimal Wear costs about $4, a gap of more than two times.
Here are a few skins with detailed artwork where a low float is worth paying for:
AWP Sun in Leo with a pattern inspired by astrological charts: about $25 in MW versus about $65 in FN.
M4A4 Dragon King with detailed Asian-style artwork: the StatTrak version is about $90 in FN and about $50 in MW.
Karambit Lore and other knife skins, because any flaws are easily noticeable on the smooth surface of the blade. Karambit Lore costs about $820 in MW and about $1,150 in FN.
Remember, there are even more ambiguous situations where skins with high floats are expensive because they acquire an unusual appearance. We covered some of them in our list of good-looking high-float skins. Thus, while float undoubtedly affects the price, often everything is not so straightforward. If you are still picking a weapon, our guide to choosing a skin in CS2 helps too. On LIS-SKINS you can compare the same skin across every wear, from Factory New to Battle-Scarred, and pick what fits your taste and budget.
