Buying keys cheap from a reseller

A stolen auto-radio will also work.

As mentioned before: Some publishers even prefer that you pirate their game instead of buying it on these pages.
 
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For me, when a game is listed at the likes of Steam, Gamersgate, Humble Bundle, GOG or whatever for $40 and CDKeys has it at a regular price of $25 then something just seems to be off to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be illegal what they do, but it also doesn't mean that it is, just because they sell it.
 
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For me, when a game is listed at the likes of Steam, Gamersgate, Humble Bundle, GOG or whatever for $40 and CDKeys has it at a regular price of $25 then something just seems to be off to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be illegal what they do, but it also doesn't mean that it is, just because they sell it.

based on what I read elsewhere, CDKeys mostly buys from regions where the game is heavily discounted, i.e. Russia.
 
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Steam will actually remove a game from your library if the key isn't considered legit. It happened to me once with a game I purchased from a reseller on Ebay. CDKeys has been around long enough that it would be obvious by now if they weren't a legitimate seller.
 
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I agree. CDKeys seem to be only taking advantage of regional price differences. I also buy from them occasionally and have never had a problem. I will continue using them until it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that their keys are "illegal".

That said, I stay away from sites such as G2A or Kinguin who peddle keys of unknown origin from user to user and where it could certainly happen that you are buying a copy that Jose Sanchez stole from his local game store in La Paz but CDKeys is selling their keys directly AFAIK.

I consider it all fair game and a fair practice, too. The publishers take advantage of globalization and outsource work to or open studios in countries with lower wages. But God forbid the gamer should also take advantage of globalization. Then we are all "criminals" all of a sudden for buying from international sources ;) .

If it is really such a huge issue then they can always counter it with region locks and I'd like to hear some real name&shame and let us also see some numbers and stats before I buy into the whole criminal conspiracy theories. If you ask me then they are just intentionally spreading FUD to direct people to stores with higher prices.
 
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I know this is off-topic, because this thread's idea is to point out good game discounts/promos/freebies, but since the subject "reseller cdkeys.com is not legit" keeps returning here quite often, I feel I must share my first and only unpleasant cdkeys.com experience. Beforehand lemme say I think my experience with cdkeys.com don't happened to any other buyer here, else I suppose someone would tell it here first.

On May 2017, I bought Fallout 4 base game from them (USD 16.99 at the time) using my Paypal account. I am Paypal verified and such, and I even used my Paypal account to buy from USA Ebay a lot of times. The cdkey's Order Confirmation Email told me that I could access my cd key by logging into my account and going to the 'My Downloadable Products' section.

When I go there, I am asked to enter a phone number verification, which I couldn't complete because their site said my phone number was invalid when it was not. I typed and re-typed the phone number, sometimes using the international code for Brazil (+55), sometimes not. I got no success entering my phone number and I opened a cdkey support ticket. I made myself pretty clear telling them I never saw such "safety measure" before and that all purchases I made on Steam, GOG, GMG, whatever, don't come with such burden.

Then they replied me (which, I must say, didn't take too long):

"Your order has been put on temporary hold by our verification system. You are requested to respond to this ticket or email us directly on support@cdkeys.com with a photograph (taken with a smartphone or digital camera) of a valid ID such as a Driving License, Passport or National ID card together with today's date/time and ‘cdkeys.com’ written on a piece of paper.

Please be assured that it is standard procedure for certain orders to be checked in this manner and is for the security of all parties involved. Sensitive information such as the ID/Passport Number can be redacted/blacked out. We only require sufficient information to identify you as the account holder.

Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this process may have caused. All correspondence will be dealt with as a priority by our 24-hour support team.

If for any reason, you aren't able to provide the requested information, we will cancel your order and refund your payment after 3 days.
"

So I buy a game key from a reseller using my valid Paypal verified account, and in order to access the game I just bought, I have yet to send another form of verification? When the other major outlets don't even ask this? NO WAY! Sorry, but no way!

My "pissed off" level topped. I re-replied them telling I wouldn't go through such hassle of scanning this or emailing that, only to have access to the game key I honestly bought The cdkey.com website doesn't inform us that we have to send additional info after we purchase a key. (they really didn't tell me that I should enter my phone number verification prior to accessing the game key)

I also said I purchased Fallout 4 using Paypal which is, by its turn, another safe way to do online shopping, and that I never needed to email prints or scans for the other game outlets I am registered (Steam, GOG, brazilian Nuuvem, etc). Then I asked for a refund, and yes I got refunded.

That was the unpleasant experience I had with them. Of course, I know that experience alone doesn't mean they aren't legit. They probably are and I'm not trying to tell otherwise here. But I won't buy from them again. This way they can have one less frustrated, angry customer buzzing their ears.
 
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@henriquejr; that pretty shite experience. They did ask my phone number as well the first time and send a verification code but nothing afterwards.

The problem is even sites like cdkeys get shafted by people who will buy the game, activate and then do pay pal charge back. If people did this, cdkeys is buggered since they can't revoke the key! However I don't know how phone verification is supposed to help them, since its easy to get a disposable phone number.
 
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I consider it all fair game and a fair practice, too. The publishers take advantage of globalization and outsource work to or open studios in countries with lower wages. But God forbid the gamer should also take advantage of globalization. Then we are all "criminals" all of a sudden for buying from international sources ;) .

If it is really such a huge issue then they can always counter it with region locks and I'd like to hear some real name&shame and let us also see some numbers and stats before I buy into the whole criminal conspiracy theories. If you ask me then they are just intentionally spreading FUD to direct people to stores with higher prices.

I simply don't buy the credit card fraud stuff. Yes there are people who do that but I think thats the minority. They know which key is associated with credit card fraud so why not revoke those keys? its not like steam, will not remove games from your library after you have activated it.

Don't get me started on regional pricing... its the most hypocritical reason I heard.
 
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Do not scan your ID nor any of your documents ever for any store. If they insist, ask for refund and if they refuse, contact paypal immediately. You're a buyer, not a seller.

While not every single one of such sites is involved in identity theft schemes, just stay away. Better safe then sorry.
 
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I don't want to repeat my whole wall of text yet again.

Just one thing: If you want to make sure you buy a key from a legitimate reseller use:

www.keyradar.com

This site has a database, did some investigation and let's you check if a page is actually authorized or not. And while I don't necessarily judge whether you pirate games or buy from these resellers and harm publishers/developers by doing either, I don't think that on a page like RPGwatch we should have advertisement for piracy/resellers.
 
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I don't want to repeat my whole wall of text yet again.

Just one thing: If you want to make sure you buy a key from a legitimate reseller use:

www.keyradar.com

This site has a database, did some investigation and let's you check if a page is actually authorized or not. And while I don't necessarily judge whether you pirate games or buy from these resellers and harm publishers/developers by doing either, I don't think that on a page like RPGwatch we should have advertisement for piracy/resellers.

Nothing wrong with buying from a reseller. A legitimate owner has a legal and legitimate right to resell their goods. Publishers don't like it; tough luck. As to piracy, just because a seller or reseller isn't "authorized" doesn't mean they're a pirate.

Fact of the matter is that many publishers don't like to see price competition for their products. They want to control and maintain high prices for the products. Anyone who sells below the publisher's "suggested price" is taken off the "authorized" list. Consumers suffer.

'Nuff said.

__
 
For me, when a game is listed at the likes of Steam, Gamersgate, Humble Bundle, GOG or whatever for $40 and CDKeys has it at a regular price of $25 then something just seems to be off to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be illegal what they do, but it also doesn't mean that it is, just because they sell it.

As you know there has been a lot of back and forth on this but you've never said anything till now (that I remember).

So your answer (policy?) then is CDKeys is questionable but acceptable..for now?

--

I think buying from other regions is plausible. Its as old as smuggling cigarettes across states or reselling subsidized 3rd World aids medication. In the case of places like Australia, it became such a problem that the courts there made breaking regional barriers legal.
 
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"Region" is always the easy excuse.
There is a lot of fraud going on though and due to the popularity of resellers and all the money they put in advertisement (e.g. into streamers) publishers are actually afraid to disable keys even if they were purchased via stolen credit cards other other bad means, just because it will cause bad press.
That's probably the reason why the Acid Wizard Studio called it "Cancer". It's horrible damage, silently spreading and there isn't much you can do to fight it. A chemo therapy comes with a lot of collateral damage.
@Zloth; Steam tries to fight it, but their possibilities are limited as well. They limited gifting a couple of times in the past, and most recently they also limited the amount of free codes a developer can request (which also had other reasons, considering exploits of the system by exploitative developers)
 
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"Region" is always the easy excuse.
There is a lot of fraud going on though and due to the popularity of resellers and all the money they put in advertisement (e.g. into streamers) publishers are actually afraid to disable keys even if they were purchased via stolen credit cards other other bad means, just because it will cause bad press.
That's probably the reason why the Acid Wizard Studio called it "Cancer". It's horrible damage, silently spreading and there isn't much you can do to fight it. A chemo therapy comes with a lot of collateral damage.
@Zloth; Steam tries to fight it, but their possibilities are limited as well. They limited gifting a couple of times in the past, and most recently they also limited the amount of free codes a developer can request (which also had other reasons, considering exploits of the system by exploitative developers)

I'm calling BS on this, No one, including publishers, credit card companies, and credit card victims, is afraid to go after crooks using stolen credit cards. Hell, I got a notice just yesterday from Amex about someone trying to defraud my card. Amex refused payment; asked for my verification; then sent me a new card at their expense.

Credit card fraud is not the problem here. Publishers are trying to prevent price competition. Pure and simple. The real fraud is the false, undocumented and unproven claims by those seeking to prevent price competition,

__
 
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