Purchasing a collection, or bundle, that have items that I already own.

[ptick16]

If I purchase a collection, or bundle, that have items that I already own, am I paying for them again but not receiving them? This is not the least bit clear. If I am paying for something that has a game that I already have, why am I being told at checkout that I will not receive another copy? Am I being discounted for the difference, thus not paying for any item that I already own? If I am paying for it again, why wouldn't I get the second copy included in my current purchase to gift to someone? This, to me, seems like a rip off. I've avoided making many purchases because of this.

[Pigeon Pecking Keyboard]

When you look at the bundle, the game you owned will be tagged as "In Library". You will see the price will be strike-out.

Sometimes, but uncommon, it will be included. Could be a set-up issue, could be publisher's decision, idk. It's rare you will get an extra key, Steam will tell you in your cart you will not receive an extra key. It's all a pretty good system.

It's like buying a retail bundle, I guess. This is obviously an advantage about digital distribution, but you can see some devs POV that they only bundle it all together to sell to those who have not purchased before.

I have ended up buying 1 GOTY bundle which include some of the main and dlcs I owned, because I get all the DLCs cheaper that way. In that you calculate whether it's worth it to you to pay X as price of remaining DLC.