Read this if thinking about buying CD Keys online

[LuxServus]

I was looking into CD Key Resellers. [The post doesn't even allow the names of the resellers I was looking into.] In the process I came across a really great article about the behind the scenes of these sites published by Polygon: article link here[www.polygon.com]

In summary it goes about showing that many of these site are simply seller aggregates, similar to ebay or amazon independent resellers. Individuals or entities that have a key to sell simply register an account and then list their keys.

But they also found the issues with these sites are that they have no way of knowing whether the keys are legit. They are simply the platform for others to sell, but don't actually provide the keys. What this means is others who have attained the keys in illegal ways can use these sites to distribute the ill-gotten keys.

This grey area leaves publishers in a bind, because if the key doesn't work buyers often don't call these grey sites first, but the publishers. This means higher support cases and more resources spent by the publisher trying to figure out why the key doesn't work, and then if the key isn't legit they have to decide whether to honor the shady purchase or not.

Publishers have started listing approved resellers on their websites to combat these issues:
Ubisoft: APPROVED RETAIL VENDOR LIST[support.ubi.com]
Devolver Digital: Approved Vendors[www.devolverdigital.com]

So the best thing to do to make sure you're getting what you want, staying above board legally, and allow the devs and publishers their due is to check the lists like the ones above, and stay away from these other sites.

[Ryo]

thats why you use the protection for an extra dollar so you can get a refund if the key doesnt work, and i rarely do that and every key i ever bought off g2a or kinguin have all worked

[LuxServus]

Originally posted by Pamaj:

thats why you use the protection for an extra dollar so you can get a refund if the key doesnt work, and i rarely do that and every key i ever bought off g2a or kinguin have all worked

The main point isn't that it works, but the delima of legality. As the article I linked to points out, one possible senario is that credit card theives can purchase game keys with stolen cards before the cards are deactivated, then flip the games for cash on these grey sites.

I'm also not debating whether those that sell their keys have the legal right to do so under various copyright laws, but rather you can usually find deals just as good from approved vendors rather than these other sites.

[illage2]

Yep there's an excellent Post over on r/steam that goes into this in more detail. https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/2yhnsw/key_resellers_and_what_they_mean_for_you/

[76561198001062896]

Kinda pointing out the obvious we have been repeating so many times.

[Pheace]

GOG just largely solved this by making any gift you buy be priced at the US equivalent, even in countries where the game is sold for far less if you buy for yourself.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by Pamaj:

thats why you use the protection for an extra dollar so you can get a refund if the key doesnt work, and i rarely do that and every key i ever bought off g2a or kinguin have all worked

these protection is like "Pay us money, so we don't rob you"

Originally posted by Pheace:

GOG just largely solved this by making any gift you buy be priced at the US equivalent, even in countries where the game is sold for far less if you buy for yourself.

are regional taxes applied and pointed out on the receipt, otherwise this doesn't make it good. if this is not done then they drop the "pay your taxes" responsibility on the user and that is in general bad business, since no one will actually claim a digital import and pay their general import fees and taxes.

[Pheace]

Originally posted by wuddih:

are regional taxes applied and pointed out on the receipt, otherwise this doesn't make it good. if this is not done then they drop the "pay your taxes" responsibility on the user and that is in general bad business, since no one will actually claim a digital import and pay their general import fees and taxes.

While it may not solve tax issues concerning reselling, it solves the problem for GOG at least since they don't have to support reselling, nor do they have to let you buy a gift for someone else at the same low regional price. It was either that or lock gifting completely as they were doing for some games.

Now those people can at least buy a game as a gift, even though it's far more expensive than it would be buying for themselves, and on top of that GOG pretty much cut out cheap reselling of GOG gifts entirely.