Fortnite is free in the PvP version, but accounts are traded for hundreds of euros on eBay and other sites. What is behind this?
Account trading is booming! If you search for “Fortnite” on an online marketplace like eBay, you will not only find surprisingly expensive physical editions of the PvE base game but also complete accounts for the PvP version. These are being sold for very high amounts. For instance, we immediately found an account for 360 euros on the auction platform. Prices of 200 euros or more for accounts are not uncommon on eBay.
But why are people selling their accounts and why are they worth so much?
Original skins from Season 1 are particularly sought after
What is so great about the accounts? After all, anyone can create a free Fortnite account and earn plenty of items in the Battle Pass. But there is a catch. Because those who start in Season 5 now will likely never get the skins and emotes from the past four seasons again. So no John Wick, no Visitor, no Omega, and no Rust Lord or Black Knight!
The older, the better: The more outdated an outfit or item is, the more valuable an account with that content is. This is especially true for Season 1. Back then, when Fortnite: Battle Royale was freshly released in September 2017, it certainly didn’t have the millions of players it has today. Rather, it was considered a blatant copy of PUBG. Only comparatively few players were on the island at that time.
The most expensive skins on eBay, Skull Trooper, Ghoul Trooper, and Royal Bomber
Everyone wants the Halloween skin: The available skins back then were quite limited, with only a few new ones being released. Epic only started with the massive skill release later when the game became more popular. Therefore, the skins from that time are very popular. The top seller is the Skull Trooper, a skin that was only available around Halloween 2017.
The rarest skin in the game: Back then, the Halloween outfit wasn’t widely sold, but now, since it hasn’t appeared in almost a year, it is one of the rarest skins in the game. Accounts containing the Skull Trooper are therefore worth a lot of money. On eBay, we found an offer for 600 euros that included the female version, the Ghoul Trooper!
Also highly sought after: the Royal Bomber! The Royal Bomber is also one of the rarest skins in the game, as it is only available if you purchase a specific deal a PS4 Slim together with Fortnite. This outfit is only included in this bundle. Some players have therefore kept only the PlayStation and are selling the Fortnite account with the skin for 100 euros or more.
Why do people sell their account?
What is behind account sales? In addition to unscrupulous hackers,who specifically steal accounts and sell them for a lot of money, there are often players behind the offers who are no longer interested in the battle royale game. Since the early days when everyone stumbled around the map cluelessly and hardly anyone had a clue about building, a lot has changed.
Many players find the skill level too high now. They do not have the time to practice enough to compete with the current super gamers. Therefore, some veteran players are reportedly fed up and are selling their accounts. Since they have plenty of old skins from Season 1, they can look forward to a nice profit.
Is it even legal?
Epic prohibits account trading: Indeed, according to Epic’s terms of service it is not allowed to share your account data. You may not share or sell your player accounts. So it could very well happen that you get banned with your freshly purchased account. Then your expensive purchase was ultimately for nothing.
