How do people make money by selling steam gifts for tf2 keys

[WHAT THE HELLY]

My friend has from people who sell steam games at a much lower price than the steam store. How do they make money/Profits out of it?

[Acey]

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

[WHAT THE HELLY]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Dark Ace:

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

But the thing is that they sell it @ the price of the sale
For example,
Surgeon sim is $10
They sell it for 2 keys which is equal to almost $5

And currently surgeon sim is $5 on the sale. So how are they making profit?

[Acey]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bag-o-Chips™:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Dark Ace:

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

But the thing is that they sell it @ the price of the sale
For example,
Surgeon sim is $10
They sell it for 2 keys which is equal to almost $5

And currently surgeon sim is $5 on the sale. So how are they making profit?

Ask them?
Some wait, other want to sell immediately.

[WHAT THE HELLY]

oh i see

[Lostedge]

Regional pricing when the game is not region logged. Lets imagine that american will buy a full priced game for 50$ and that same game is 50€ in europe.

Basically the european pays 14€ more than the american after currency conversion. Of course some countries have even larger difference between prices ...

[Frank Maiyazu]

I dont get it either. Game on steam early access is 14.00 usd. I just got a key for 7.00usd, or another example, watch dogs on steam is 59 usd.... I just bought a uplay key for 10 usd.... and yes it worked. Did the same with ac4bf .... and there are tons of these things.... so If I am a guy, where am I getting all of these keys from because if a game cost 59 usd and to get a key, you got to buy the game from uplay or steam, but to sell it for 10 usd.... I dont get it

[hotdogPi]

Games trade for their sale price, not for their normal price.

Terraria was $2 in the Steam Summer Sale (normally $10 not on sale). If I bought it there, sold it for 1 TF2 key, and sold the key on the market, I would make about a $0.10 profit. If I sold the game for 2 keys, I would make a $2.20 profit.

[Хан в соло]

Кто в доту ? Добавляемся

[Kargor]

Also, you don't know whether they are making a profit.

[Fly Guy]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Dark Ace:

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

This isn't how it works. Most people aren't dumb enough to not look up the pricing history of games. Hell, I don't even buy a Steam game until I look up its price history.

Example conversation:

Joe: I have a game that is valued at $49.99. I'll sell it to you for $30.00
Sue: Hell no, the game was on sale for 75% off two weeks ago.

[crunchyfrog]

You also have to factor in that some games come from indie bundles and other deals OUTSIDE of Steam. Granted some of the indie bundles have restricted key dealing to a degree, but for something like Surgeon Simulator, it may well be $5 NOW, but I picked it up in an indie bundle for a few pennies.

VERY, VERY easy to make money at that price.

[Xtallas55ru]

Вообще это неплохая игра, вполне можно поиграть, пофанить или же расслабиться, но все, что я перечислил нельзя сделать на мм, уж тем более без тимы. Я вам зуб отдам, что нет такого человека на свете, у которго звание выше 4 звезды и он ни разу не злился или же не было испорчено настроение из-за мм. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ьноватая ранговая система, пример из жизни, выгрывал подряд игр 8 и не повышали звание, потом же (не после этого,а вообще) просирал 3 игры подряд, выйграл после этого 2 и меня повысили. Туповатые тимейты или же сильные враги, хотя вам может повести, т.к. в игре очень много бустеров (бустер-это человек,который берет деньги, за то,что тот повысит ему ранг, после этого, заплативший, пойдет на мм и тупо будет как мясо отдавать дроп врагам. Так же встречаются и читеры и учтите, что за хорошую игру тоже банят. Мой друг имеет вак бан,за то, что тот рандомно простреливал через стены. Так же рандомно выпадают вещи и на этой игре можно реально заработать, просто играть в то время, когда вышел новый ящик и вполне вам может повезти. С каждым разом билеты с новыми мапами и ящиками все хуже и хуже,не советую вообще их покупать в игре. А так игра стоит своих денег, но ваша голова все равно надуется и будет красной, если же игра вас затянет.

[crunchyfrog]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Genghis Khan:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Dark Ace:

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

This isn't how it works. Most people aren't dumb enough to not look up the pricing history of games. Hell, I don't even buy a Steam game until I look up its price history.

Example conversation:

Joe: I have a game that is valued at $49.99. I'll sell it to you for $30.00
Sue: Hell no, the game was on sale for 75% off two weeks ago.

Actuallly, he's not that far off, and IT does happen.

They won't sell them for FULL price, just a bit of mark up. I've had several offers myself from people who have done this - say, bought a 4-pack during the sales, had a couple of copies left, and will happily trade them for anything above what they paid.

Of course, the saient point here is that the OP and others here have it wrong - they're ASSUMING profit is the driving force - I'm not convinced it's even relevant in most cases.

[Acey]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Genghis Khan:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Dark Ace:

Well they probably bought the games when there is sales, wait til sales are over and then they sell them for around the full price. Profit

This isn't how it works. Most people aren't dumb enough to not look up the pricing history of games. Hell, I don't even buy a Steam game until I look up its price history.

Example conversation:

Joe: I have a game that is valued at $49.99. I'll sell it to you for $30.00
Sue: Hell no, the game was on sale for 75% off two weeks ago.

That necro came out of nowhere... There are other ways of course, like what Lostedge mention if the game isn't region locked or as crunchyfrog mention about bundles.

[crunchyfrog]

Good catch -didn't notice the date.

Genghis Khan, please don't necro old threads.

Plus there's another factor you haven't took into account - PATIENCE, or lack of it. Many people WILL buy a game at any cheaper price regardless of whether it was recenty on sale.

Look at Left4Dead 1 and 2 - both of them were used by Valve to try out deep discounting. They've stated that immediately AFTER the sales, it keeps selling FAR more than normal.