Purchasing Game Activation Keys from 3rd-Party Websites

[dumbasscat]

I've found out that some third-party sites sell game activation keys and some of them are somewhat supported by Steam itself.
But I've also found others sites not included in the list.

I've done some digging around and always got mixed results regarding this.
Results I've gotten state that accounts have been banned/terminated for purchasing keys from said websites, as well as people saying that accounts have never been banned and if the key was attained fraudulently worst case scenario would be the game alone being removed from library with nothing else done to the account.

I've also tried reading the Steam's Terms of Service and the Subscriber Agreement and to be completely honest, I am still confused. Nothing there stated accounts would be affected, but the opposite isn't stated either. (Perhaps I missed something?)

Some activation keys are sold for a price much much lower then the games themselves which seems almost too good to be true. And I was tempted to purchase some keys for myself untill a friend told me about accounts being banned and such, which led me to do some research which has still not given me definite answers.

I just want some clarification.

This all leads to my question:
Is it okay to purchase Steam keys from third-party websites?
(even those not listed as trusted by steam)

If there is something wrong with the keys themselves, will my account be affected or like stated previously, will the game alone just be removed?

And could you provide the source to your answers?

Thank you.

[Glimmer]

Accounts aren't banned/terminated for redeeming keys. (setting aside the cooldown if you redeem a lot of keys)

Assuming it's not an honest sale, most likely all that will happen is the game gets removed from the account. In such occurrences, Valve will give no reparations, and it's entirely up to you to deal with whomever you bought the key from. They will likely give you the run-around insisting you provide info you can't access and they know Valve won't provide.

While I've never heard of it occurring, it's not impossible for someone to use that key to initiate an account recovery and steal the account if it's from a physical copy. You could then initiate and account recovery of your own and since you (presumably) have the older Proof of Ownership you will win.

[Crazy Tiger]

Keys bought from shady sites can be revoked. If a developer isn't getting paid by the site where you bought the key from, they''ll revoke the keys. As said by Glimmer, that means that the game is removed from your library and that you have to deal with the shady site to get a refund.

Same goes with duplicate keys. That also happens, we've seen threads from people who got a duplicate key and had issues with the shady site getting a refund for it.

A video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hBXtrpikqA&t=342s

Purchasing games on 3rd party sites is, simply put, completely at your own risk. Use sites listed on www.isthereanydeal.com, as they're authorised sellers.

[dumbasscat]

Thanks for the replies.

But how come there are so many people out there just saying you can get banned?
Where did that come from?

[Wolf Knight]

Originally posted by A Communist Cat:

Thanks for the replies.

But how come there are so many people out there just saying you can get banned?
Where did that come from?

you can get banned if you try to bypass region restrictions when activating keys

and the shady sites will sell you out of region keys and try to get you to use a vpn to bypass the region restriction

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by A Communist Cat:

Thanks for the replies.

But how come there are so many people out there just saying you can get banned?
Where did that come from?

They say they were banned when they really meant that their key was revoked.

I don't think they can actually link keys they are trying to revoke to accounts so they can also issue game bans.

[Satoru]

i would recommend you only purchase from authoirized 3rd party resellers

www.isthereanydeal.net

while not 100% exhaustive, lists the major authorized resellers

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by A Communist Cat:

some of them are somewhat supported by Steam itself.

None of them are. Any that say otherwise are lying to you.

Developers can give Steam Keys to sites they have an agreement with, in order to sell those keys. Valve allows developers to make as many keys as they want and Valve does not take any cut from those sales.

Some shady 3rd party sites are unauthorized key sellers who don't get their keys from the developers, but from unknown sources. Those sources can lead to a key being revoked and the user out the money for the game.

[dumbasscat]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by A Communist Cat:

some of them are somewhat supported by Steam itself.

None of them are. Any that say otherwise are lying to you.

Developers can give Steam Keys to sites they have an agreement with, in order to sell those keys. Valve allows developers to make as many keys as they want and Valve does not take any cut from those sales.

Some shady 3rd party sites are unauthorized key sellers who don't get their keys from the developers, but from unknown sources. Those sources can lead to a key being revoked and the user out the money for the game.

Alright. Thanks.