How legitimate is SCDKey?

[SolidRedIron]

I've heard about this website from a couple of youtubers and was wondering how they manage to find $14 Windows Pro OEM Keys.  Kinguin also does this but for twice the price and I understand how they manage to find cheap Windows Keys.  If it isn't from another region, like the way Kinguin does it, then is SCDKey stealing OEM Keys from Microsoft?

[Snipergod87]

Buying licenses with stolen credit cards, or stealing VL keys from companies

[SolidRedIron]

2 minutes ago, Snipergod87 said:

Buying licenses with stolen credit cards, or stealing VL keys from companies

How about Kinguin, same thing?

[Shyam Ganapathy]

3 minutes ago, SolidRedIron said:

How about Kinguin, same thing?

pretty sure, but Ive bought from them anyways

[Semper]

Sites like this SCDKey (first i've heard of it), Kinguin, G2A, ETC, are considered "gray markets". They're usually peer-to-peer, and there's the potential for fraudulent keys (of varying fraudulent avenues) to be sold. There's also the potential for legitimate keys to be sold, mind you. Unfortunately, there's no way to know which of these your license is from, unless your seller is upfront and honest with how the keys were obtained (which, again, may be difficult to prove). Any seller with more than two collective brain cells is going to tell you their keys are legitimate though, even if they aren't

[LogicalDrm]

Anything lower than $80 for OEM Home key and $120-ish for Pro is grey market. Those are prices for legit OEM keys sold by authorized retailers. Thats site, like Kinguin etc. are marketplaces. Site itself doesn't sell anything directly, maybe some protection which should be big warning by itself. If site screens sellers, they don't need to sell extra protection (or operate in country which takes consumer protection somewhat seriously *cough*eBay*cough*).

 

Anyway, always read ToS of these sites. This one doesn't have usual "We aren't responsible if key is acquired by any other than authorized methods or is conflicting with suppliers ToS" which you can find from Kinguins ToS for example. For example G2A requires any Windows key sellers to provide their proof of being MS authorized resellers, reason of why there isn't any cheap Windows keys anymore. Should tell something.... And back to topic. This sites ToS says you have 36h time to check validity of key. After that, and after once activated, nothing. So if seller re-sells key or MS blacklists it later (rare, but happens), you don't get their enforcement on that issue. It would be between you and seller, but seems like they are masking sellers, so its nope all together.