Is it safe to buy Steam keys on eBay? I mean are they likely to be legal or grey market?

[Bleedingyamato]

I have Alien Isolation on Xbox One but I'd really like to get it on PC.  But Steam doesn't have it on sale currently so I thought I'd look on eBay but all I'm seeing are sellers offering Steam keys.  

 

I have no interest in buying a grey market key since those aren't legal since they're often stolen, fraudulently obtained with things like scams or stolen credit cards, or some other way that doesn't support developers or publishers who are trying to make a fair profit and have money to keep making games with.  

 

So are steam keys on eBay legit or grey market crap?

 

I messaged the seller and they responded which is good but a few things they said make me nervous.

 

They say they get keys from "approved Steam resellers" and mentions the possibility of proof of identify before sending a key.

 

I'm attaching the seller's response to my questions so anyone looking at this can see for themselves what was said.

 

 

[Techicolors]

at that point you may as well buy the key from g2a or kinguin... 

[Bleedingyamato]

Just now, Technicolors said:

at that point you may as well buy the key from g2a or kinguin... 

No.  I won't buy grey market keys.  Not every key out there is going to be grey market.  I just want to know if it's likely that this is or not.

[minecraftyeet1]

It's illegal to re-sell a game. Just buy it on steam when it comes out.

OR you could buy it, and take a risk.

[Bleedingyamato]

56 minutes ago, I Need A PC Build ASAP said:

It's illegal to re-sell a game. Just buy it on steam when it comes out.

OR you could buy it, and take a risk.

It's been out for a long time but just not on sale atm.

[Monte_Carlo]

Alien Isolation has been out for a while.  You can wait a couple of months for the winter sale.  Safer thing to do imo. 

[RZeroX]

Currently on sale, and a authorized key re-seller.

https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/alien-isolation-steam-key--1096-1

[LogicalDrm]

Last time I heard eBay doesn't allow software sales or rather selling "digital only" content (keys, codes, accounts etc.). Any place which is reselling key bought from legit resellers is grey market. I'm not 100% sure, but it might even be said in some legit resellers ToS that reselling their keys isn't allowed.

[sgtcool]

Just buy from G2A

[Zangashtu]

Ive used CJsCdKeys for about 2 years and never had an issue with them

[Bleedingyamato]

On October 1, 2016 at 3:18 AM, Monte_Carlo said:

Alien Isolation has been out for a while.  You can wait a couple of months for the winter sale.  Safer thing to do imo. 

Probably.  It's not like I can't play my Xbox One copy for now anyway.

[Bleedingyamato]

On October 1, 2016 at 3:30 AM, RZeroX said:

Currently on sale, and a authorized key re-seller.

https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/alien-isolation-steam-key--1096-1

Will that activate for me if I'm in the US?

 

Whar exactly makes something an "authorized" reseller if reselling isn't supposed to be legal?     I'm confused..

[typographie]

21 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Whar exactly makes something an "authorized" reseller if reselling isn't supposed to be legal?     I'm confused..

What makes an authorized reseller "authorized" is by having a contractual relationship with the publisher of a game. Normally it means they sell the game for a price (or within a range of prices) that the publisher has either set themselves or approved of.

 

It's a bit more confusing than that because I think it's possible for a vendor to be authorized by Valve to sell Steam keys (a "Steam authorized reseller"), but not necessarily authorized by every publisher (an "Ubisoft authorized reseller"). Green Man Gaming may be an example of that—they're usually considered a legitimate source, but some individual publishers have accused them of selling their keys without their approval. I'm not sure about those sites.

[Bleedingyamato]

9 minutes ago, typographie said:

What makes an authorized reseller "authorized" is by having a contractual relationship with the publisher of a game. Normally it means they sell the game for a price (or within a range of prices) that the publisher has either set themselves or approved of.

 

It's a bit more confusing than that because I think it's possible for a vendor to be authorized by Valve to sell Steam keys (a "Steam authorized reseller"), but not necessarily authorized by every publisher (an "Ubisoft authorized reseller"). Green Man Gaming may be an example of that—they're usually considered a legitimate source, but some individual publishers have accused them of selling their keys without their approval. I'm not sure about those sites.

What concerns me is that I have no way of knowing if the gamesplanet site is legal or just claiming to be.

 

Same for the eBay seller.  They make legit sounding claims but again they could be lying.

 

Is Green Man Gaming legal?  I've heard of them buy never bought anything.  They don't have Alien Isolation on sale though.  I checked.

[RZeroX]

6 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

What concerns me is that I have no way of knowing if the gamesplanet site is legal or just claiming to be.

 

Same for the eBay seller.  They make legit sounding claims but again they could be lying.

 

Is Green Man Gaming legal?  I've heard of them buy never bought anything.  They don't have Alien Isolation on sale though.  I checked.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/2yhlw4/key_resellers_and_what_they_mean_for_you/

https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/Faqs/Details/kA030000000em6HCAQ?name=list-of-approved-retailers

http://whosgamingnow.net/discussion/2149/how-to-tell-if-a-site-is-an-unauthorised-reseller

https://uk.gamesplanet.com/support/15-faq/117-who-are-we-and-are-we-legal#a7

6 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Will that activate for me if I'm in the US?

 

Whar exactly makes something an "authorized" reseller if reselling isn't supposed to be legal?     I'm confused..

Yes it's pretty much worldwide excluding certain countries.

Edited October 3, 2016 by RZeroX

[typographie]

12 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

What concerns me is that I have no way of knowing if the gamesplanet site is legal or just claiming to be.

 

Same for the eBay seller.  They make legit sounding claims but again they could be lying.

 

Is Green Man Gaming legal?  I've heard of them buy never bought anything.  They don't have Alien Isolation on sale though.  I checked.

First of all, all of these sites are "legal," even G2A. Buying from a grey market site is not a crime, because you're not stealing. This is an issue of ethics, not legality.

 

I've personally never heard of Gamesplanet, so I don't know if they're authorized or not. Ebay is absolutely not authorized—the seller can make whatever claim they want, but a random guy on Ebay selling a game key is the definition of a grey market sale.

 

Like I said above, GMG has been accused in a few isolated cases of being a grey market site, but only by certain publishers (CDProjekt Red & Ubisoft), and usually for a few specific games. Most sources will tell you GMG is an authorized reseller. I have made many purchases from GMG, though I'd probably think twice before I bought another CDPR or Ubisoft game there now.

[LogicalDrm]

13 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

What concerns me is that I have no way of knowing if the gamesplanet site is legal or just claiming to be.

Easiest way to tell is price of games. Retail AAA games go for $40-70. If games "normal" price is in that range, seller is real retailer. Those which sell much lower, like $20-35 for GTA V, would be grey market.