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As for other distributors...
Sometimes GamersGate sells Steam keys. Sometimes it sells DRM-free + Steam keys, but in those latter cases you'd have to get some confirmation that that's what they actually do.
GOG doesn't sell Steam keys but I'm willing to buy from them if they have comparable prices, since I care about having a DRM-free copy of stuff I buy. Usually, they don't carry the newest big-name games, but they do carry a great selection of older big-name games -- which places like Humble don't have.
Furthermore, GOG curates their selection very, very tightly, from what I've heard. I've heard it's not as simple to upload patches to GOG, because the GOG folks actually check to make sure stuff works, or something like that. Also, for older games that don't work well with newer computers, there's often a GOG forum thread offering info on how to patch it to make it work. In contrast to Steam's more hands-off approach, I think GOG tries a more hands-on approach, and even features a return policy to back it up.
Humble Store generally offers both DRM-free and Steam keys, when DRM-free is available, so they're also a nice choice.
I've lately seen IndieGala, Humble Bundle/Store, and GOG doing occasional giveaways, for what it's worth. I haven't paid attentions to GamersGate.
Also, if you're interested in Japanese indie games, Playism-Games.com sometimes offers games at better discounts than on Steam, and they might even come with DRM-free. For example, Gunhound EX and Revolver360, right now.
I know you didn't mention this, but Indie Royale is the bundle arm of Desura apparently. A good amount of their games are indie games that haven't gotten onto Steam yet, and you may be able to catch some gems early if you pay attention to them. Generally speaking, Indie Royale bundles have given DRM-free direct download and Desura keys for stuff (and since Desura itself isn't a DRM client, it's basically DRM-free anyway). And when stuff does get on Steam, you get a Steam key to go along with it. Desura and Indie Royale have a bunch of indie games that you might never find on Steam at all -- some may be trash but some are gems, such as Flying Red Barrel. When Royales feature games that are already on Steam, they usually come DRM-free + Steam or just Steam key, depending on the game.
Groupees usually offer stuff DRM-free, often Desura keys if available, and Steam keys if available. It's also common for games to show up here before they get on Steam, and when they do get on Steam they customarily give Steam keys too. These are mostly indie games, of course. Groupees also now runs the Bundle-in-a-Box bundles.
GOG purchases are not redeemable on Steam. This discussion is focused on stores that sell Steam keys.
GamersGate has some of the deepest discounts for Steam keys. In addition, GamersGate offers "Blue Coins" for all purchases, even for games that are discounted. Blue Coins are treated just like regular money. Right now, I have 1,000 Blue Coins, which are the equivalent of US$1. In the past, I have used Blue Coins (combined with money) to pay for games at GamersGate. Blue Coins expire after a year, so I would use them ASAP.
I got XCOM: Enemy Unknown, for free, from Green Man Gaming. A free new game was the best deal I have ever gotten from anywhere, and XCOM: Enemy Within (which I bought with an 80% off coupon from GMG) has turned out to be one of my favorite games. GMG also reward credits for purchases including games that are on sales. I have US$2.30 worth of GMG credits right now. (So far I have not used any GMG credits to pay for games; I'd have to use them ASAP.)
(How do GamersGate and GMG make a profit?)
As for Humble Store, I bought a lot of bundles from them. I'm the cheapsake who would pay $1 to grab a bundle, (not all of them; occassionally I have paid more to get games I wanted from higher tiers.) Then again, I have never played anything I got from any Humble Bundles. Seriously, I have not touched a single game from any bundle. (I have 306 games on Steam and 176 on GOG. I've played fewer than a dozen of them so far. The chances of me ever getting to play anything from Humble Bundles are... remote.) Outside the bundles, I bought one Steam key from the Humble Store, just yesterday.
I buy games only when they are 66% off, at least. I would usually wait until they are at least 75% off. I never buy on full retail prices. As for now, I prefer buying from GamersGate and GMG rather than directly from Steam, due to the credits. GamersGate and GMG have the same or better discounts than Steam. Atop of the better pricing, GamersGate and GMG give credits for all purchases. Why even bother buying directly from Steam?
(Seriously, how do those stores even turn a profit?!?)
No idea :-)
For me, Humblebundle and Indiegala have a different audience; I bought a lot of bundles from Humblebundle but only one or two games from the store (so far), and I think I've never actually used the Indiegala *store*.
Still, even for those, I wonder where the profit comes from. Humblebundle seems to be well established, but the counters I see on Indiegala bundles are ridiculously low. Which, of course, might be the same reason why I haven't bought a lot of these yet... Humblebundle often has a shovelware feel as well, but every once in a while they come up with something decent. Indiegala usually doesn't... they keep putting up stuff that even Humblebundle doesn't want to touch.
GMG (and probably GG as well) are more like real shops -- and I don't think either of them is really "visible" to a large audience. I mean, how would they? They are selling games that register on Origin, UPlay or Steam -- all these platforms are well known, well established, and come with their own shops...
I check GMG a lot. For super-cheap sales -- not exactly something a shop can survive on.
On the other hand, they aren't "shops" in the traditional sense. All these "online stores" can do with very few people, and they do not need an expensive store in a popular shopping area. So, maybe surviving to feed their employees is easier than it is for a "real" store.
I have no interest in handling over my financial and personal information over to Steam, so I have never used use my credit cards to pay for anything on Steam. I always use PayPal. I do not allow Steam to store my PayPal information as well. (It irritates me that I have to uncheck the "save my payment information" box everytime I buy something on Steam: No Steam, you are NOT keeping my payment information.) I log into PayPal and authorize payment everytime I buy something on Steam, GamersGate, GMG and Humble. That is how I prefer it.
I understand. That's pretty safe using Paypal instead of actual credit/debit cards.
My one qualm with Paypal is that they can freeze your account for durations of time with/without reason if they suspect you're doing anything illegal.