Two identical AK-47s. Same skin, same name, same wear label. One costs $14, the other costs $140. The Hive did not glitch. You just met float value, the most obsessed-over number in CS2 trading.
Here is what it is, why it moves prices so hard, and how to check it before you get bitten by a bad deal.
What a float actually is
Every skin in CS2 carries a hidden decimal between 0.00 and 1.00, called the float or wear rating. Lower means cleaner. It is rolled once, when the item is created from a case, a drop or a trade-up contract, and it never changes after that. Spraying a thousand rounds through your Redline will not scratch it. Your aim, sadly, is the only thing that degrades.
The float decides which of the five wear brackets the skin lands in. Those brackets are what you see in the item name.
The five wear brackets
| Wear | Float range | What it usually looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Factory New (FN) | 0.00 – 0.07 | Crisp, full-color, no visible scratches |
| Minimal Wear (MW) | 0.07 – 0.15 | Light wear on edges, often hard to spot in game |
| Field-Tested (FT) | 0.15 – 0.38 | Visible scuffs, the classic value sweet spot |
| Well-Worn (WW) | 0.38 – 0.45 | Heavy fading, paint peeling on high-contact areas |
| Battle-Scarred (BS) | 0.45 – 1.00 | Survived an eco round on Nuke. Barely. |
Not every skin can reach every bracket
Each finish has its own minimum and maximum float. The AK-47 | Redline, for example, is capped at roughly 0.10 – 0.70, which is why there is no Factory New Redline. Doppler and Fade knives sit in 0.00 – 0.08, so they only exist as FN or MW. Always check a skin’s range before you go hunting for a version that cannot exist.
Why 0.00 costs a fortune
Inside a bracket, price is not flat. Collectors pay a premium for floats at the very bottom of a range, and that premium grows fast the closer you get to zero.
- Low-float premium: a 0.001 FN is objectively rarer than a 0.065 FN. Same label, very different flex.
- Float rankings: the community tracks the lowest known floats for popular skins. Holding a top-ranked float is its own collectible tier.
- Trade-up fodder: trade-up contracts use input floats to determine the output float. Low-float inputs are in constant demand from people trying to craft FN outcomes.
- Fun numbers: repeating or meme-adjacent decimals sometimes sell for more than they logically should. Traders are not always logical.
The flip side: the top end of a bracket can be a bargain. A 0.149 MW is still labeled Minimal Wear, but it often trades close to Field-Tested money.
How float changes the look
Wear is not a uniform grey filter. Each skin has a wear map that decides where the paint fails first, usually edges, the magazine and the grip. Some skins hide wear brilliantly. Others fall apart the moment they cross into FT.
- Forgiving skins: dark or busy designs often look nearly identical from FN to low FT. Paying the FN premium there is mostly for the inventory screenshot.
- Unforgiving skins: clean white or bright designs show every scratch. Spend for the lower float.
- “Looks like a better bracket”: a 0.15 FT can look closer to MW than to a 0.37 FT. Smart buyers shop the float, not the label.
Buy the skin you will actually see in first person. Nobody inspects your scuffed stock while you are planting at B.
How to check a float before you buy
- Inspect in game. CS2’s inspect view shows the wear rating and pattern template for items you can inspect, including via inspect links.
- Use the inspect link. Most marketplaces expose a link that opens the exact item in your client. If a seller will not share one, that is your answer.
- Read the listing. On VenomSkins every listing shows the exact float and pattern of the item you are buying. Not a range, not “similar”. That one.
- Compare inside the bracket. Before you pay a premium, check what floats near the top and bottom of the same bracket are going for.
The Hive’s float cheat sheet
- Float is fixed for life. It is part of the item, not a condition that changes.
- Bracket first, then position inside the bracket. Both move price.
- Low-float premiums are real but niche. Pay them only if you care, or if you plan to resell to someone who does.
- High-float bargains are underrated. Top-of-bracket items let you run the skin for less.
- Always verify the exact number. Screenshots lie. Inspect links do not.
Floats are a rabbit hole, and the Infected love rabbit holes. Start with a bracket you like, learn what the wear looks like on your favorite skin, and let the decimals come to you. Silver to Global took you years. Float literacy takes about ten minutes.