Five words in a listing name — Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn, Battle-Scarred — decide whether you pay 20 dollars for a skin or 200. Yet the market prices these tiers unevenly: some upgrades cost 10%, others double the price. Let's walk through every wear tier: how it actually looks, which skins can get away with it, and where the premium is honest versus where you are paying for letters in a name.
If you haven't read our float guide yet, start there — it explains where the wear number comes from and why it never changes. The short version: float is a number from 0 to 1, generated when the skin is created, and the whole scale is cut into five fixed ranges.
| Tier | Float | Share of the scale |
|---|---|---|
| Factory New | 0.00–0.07 | 7% |
| Minimal Wear | 0.07–0.15 | 8% |
| Field-Tested | 0.15–0.38 | 23% |
| Well-Worn | 0.38–0.45 | 7% |
| Battle-Scarred | 0.45–1.00 | 55% |
The table alone reveals the imbalance: BS covers more than half the scale, while FN gets a tiny 7%. That explains both the scarcity of FN copies and the wild quality spread inside BS.
Factory New (0.00–0.07): showroom condition
The texture is nearly flawless, with microscopic scuffs appearing only at the very top of the range. FN is the display-case condition: maximum price, maximum liquidity among collectors.
Is the premium fair? Depends on the skin. The AK-47 | Slate in FN is affordable because the skin is mass-produced and its min float is low — supply is plentiful. But on skins where FN copies are rare due to a narrow effective drop range, the markup can be double or more. Before buying FN, always check how much cheaper MW is: often the visual difference is zero and the price difference is 25–40%.
Minimal Wear (0.07–0.15): the sweet spot
Light scratches along edges and raised parts. At arm's length in-game, MW is indistinguishable from FN — the difference only shows on close inspection. For most players MW is the rational ceiling: you get 95% of the FN look for substantially less money.
Field-Tested (0.15–0.38): the trickiest range
A range 0.23 wide — it effectively contains different skins. An FT at 0.16 float looks like a lightly scratched MW, while an FT at 0.36 is knocking on Well-Worn's door. Same label, median pricing — which means top-float FT copies are undervalued and beaten ones are overvalued. This is the prime bargain-hunting zone: look for low-float FT at regular FT prices.
A live example — the legendary AWP | Asiimov:
The M4A4 | Asiimov and AK-47 | Nightwish tell a similar story — always check a skin's actual min float before deciding that "FT means bad."
Well-Worn (0.38–0.45): the underrated niche
The least popular tier: a narrow range, few listings, and a reputation as "almost BS." Paint is visibly peeled and light areas have gone gray. But precisely because of its unpopularity, WW sometimes sells at an unjustifiably large discount to FT — even though a WW at 0.39 differs from an FT at 0.37 only symbolically. On a tight budget, compare high-end WW against low-end FT: you can save 15–20% for a visually identical skin.
Battle-Scarred (0.45–1.00): the lottery
More than half of the scale. A BS at 0.46 and a BS at 0.95 are two different items: the first looks like a tired WW, the second like scrap metal. Inspecting before buying is always mandatory here.
Skins that survive BS
- Dark and matte patterns. The Redline's black base, the Slate's gray body: wear shows up as faded paint and barely reads. BS versions of these skins look respectable and cost pennies.
- Skins with a "dirty" design. Camouflage, rust, and military textures — scuffs blend organically into the concept.
- Legends with history. The M4A4 | Howl remains a Howl even beaten up — collector value outweighs wear.
Skins that BS destroys
- White and light patterns. Asiimov, Printstream, light-based Hyper Beast: white paint in BS turns dirty gray with black scuffs, and the skin loses its entire appeal.
- Glossy and gradient finishes. Fade-style skins with shimmering transitions go dull, and the point of buying them disappears.
Fair prices between tiers
Rough benchmarks for mass-market (non-collector) skins:
| Upgrade | Typical markup | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| BS to WW | 10–20% | Fair if the BS is rough |
| WW to FT | 15–30% | High-end WW is often the better buy |
| FT to MW | 20–50% | Check floats near the boundary |
| MW to FN | 25–60% and up | Paying for the showroom |
The higher you climb, the more each step costs and the less visual difference you get per dollar. The best looks-per-dollar almost always sits in MW and top-float FT.
Where to find the deals
Price gaps between marketplaces for the same skin in the same wear reach 10–15%, so comparing platforms saves as much as picking the right tier. Here is a live selection of items under 30 dollars with the biggest savings versus other platforms:
AWP | Dragon Lore
M4A4 | Howl
M4A1-S | Knight
MP9 | Wild Lily
Butterfly Knife | Fade
Butterfly Knife | Marble Fade
Bottom line
Wear tiers are coarse packaging around a precise number. FN and MW charge for status, FT hides both gems and junk, WW is unfairly forgotten, and BS is a lottery that dark patterns win. Know the skin's min float, check the exact float of the listing, and compare prices across platforms — the rifles section is a good place to start.
