How do sites like g2a work?

How do sites like g2a work?

sell keys that don't work/replicate/stolen games

buy games with stolen CC
sell keys
CC companies issue chargebacks
companies lose money

Piracy is literally less harmful than g2a

People steal credit card info, buy games, sell them for less on g2a and make money.

Thievery.

1: you got key -> you sell key -> profit
2: you got stolen credit card -> you buy keys -> you sell keys -> profit
3: some people buy bulk retail pc games -> get keys -> sell keys -> profit
4: in rare cases publishers sell a ton of keys in bulk to some people -> they get keys -> they sell keys -> profit

pretty much

>Buy global key in Russia
>Sale it on g2a for a fraction of the western price
>Make a profit

Alternatively these

Literally all of my purchases worked great. Only thing is that fucking g2a shield bullshit

If you don't like G2A shield, just use some other similar site.

Personally, I've bought around 8 games from G2A and Kinguin in the span of 2 months and never even had the need to contact support for any reason.

What's the probability of getting your key with no strings attached versus getting your game nullified in a year?

>people have moral issues about buying video games from a gray site while they dont care that their phone is made in a factory where people have killed themselves, their shoes are made by vietnamese children, their jeans made in central america by slave laborers, and the food they eat is picked by migrant workers getting paid a few dollars per hour

Idea: Ebay for steam keys

Reality: Groups go and A)buy out multiple keys from low income countries or B) use stolen credit cards to buy games then put them up for sale reaping the profit.

So then how is this legal? How has Interpol or whatever international police there are not shut these guys down?

100%

It's not their responsibility to track HOW the person selling the key bought it.
They're merely providing a place to sell a game key. Which is legal.

Because what they've said only covers 5% of the stock which they can deny knowledge of. The remaining 95% is this

What usually happens:
>People buy games in area with cheap prices, or during sale
>Put the keys on sale so that their price is lower than what Steam is offering currently
>Person buys it, and gets a legit copy for cheaper
Worst case scenario:
>People scour Twitter and shit for credit card informatio
>Spots some poor idiot posting theirs
>Immediately goes and buys million games
>Puts them on sale for dirt cheap
>People buy them and play for a bit
>The site that was selling keys notices the fraud and cancels the keys, still has to deal with chargeback costs
>People who bought the games get theirs disabled
>Key seller laughs to bank, since he got his money

Very low. But the possibility is there.

interpol doesn't a give a flying fuck about video games

Most keys are legit but some are stolen.

In the end G2A is a marketplace where anyone can sell keys

It's funny because prices at G2A are much higher than alternatives like say cdkeys which are not marketplaces. You also pay more by using shield

Take for example doos ex mankind divided

36 on cdkeys without paying for any shield shit and 41 on G2A. Hell it was actually 30 dollars on cdkeys at one point but price always increases towards launch

some months ago my CC was stolen and I got charged for arround $1000, when the bank trace the use of my CC they found someone buy keys on steam, now probably those keys are on some g2a sale.

Fortunately for me the bank change my CC with all the money, so I don't lose anything.

It's mostly keys bought in bulk quantities during sales and then sold cheaply.

Like, when a game is new, you will find it for the regular shop price for 2-3 weeks on G2A. But as soon as a Steam sale happens for that game, you will suddenly find it on G2A for a cheaper price.

Also G2A by default "assumes" that your residency is outside of the EU, meaning they (and you) pay 0% tax for the sale of the game, since it technically didn't happen in the EU. Like in some countries VAT is as high as 19%, which would make some games cost 5-10 bucks more. Of course this system is scammy if you actually live within the EU, but oh well.

Never needed G2A shield, and every single of my keys was legit and worked and still works.

Tell me about G2A game time cards/codes

>It's funny because prices at G2A are much higher than alternatives like say cdkeys

Disinformation. An example is not of statistical significance.
If you actually looked up prices on both sites over the course of a year you would have seen than they fluctuate a lot (and this even without considering sales)

g2a is a marketplace with the highest chance to get keys that might get blocked and you will lose the gaim. To top it off they display their prices without VAT which pretty much adds up to just a little bit cheaper than steam. Not worth the risk honestly.

3rd party key sellers usually offer better deals and provide a secure service unlike g2a. Dude sex and god eater 2 were already at almost 25% discount at cdkeys for example. But sometimes their key provider can fuck up and they wont be able to get your your key for a long ass time, but even so they refund at the first request outwith any problems.

>vat is as high as 19%
>tfw over here its 27%

>they dont sell drugs XD they just let people sell drugs XD

yeah this works

That's not the same at all dumbass.
It's a matter of HOW the person acquired the item.
Think of craigslist. It's legal to sell shit.
But craigslist doesn't track how people acquired that shit. They just let them sell whatever.

Are you a literal fucking retard

>g2a is a marketplace with the highest chance to get keys that might get blocked and you will lose the gaim
Any proof of that or are you just talking out of your ass like most retards in this thread?

What do you think?
It's the video games section of Sup Forums. Why care about proof and not use anecdotes or plain made up stories?

Sure there's lots. You even have this wonderful tool called google. Ever heard of it? It will help you find all the info you need.

Basically they buy key bundles and sell them over the internet. It's not magic or thievery, simple economics. For example every game is cheaper here, if I buy it at a shop (at least compared to steam prices).

Good example is TW:Warhammer. On Steam the price is 60 yuro (kek), but if I buy it in a legit local shop, it's only 32 yuro, and I get a legit key which they paid for to the publisher.

Nah, there was only one occasion when some retard sold a bunch of stolen keys and that one exact case is repeated on and off. I think half of my library is from G2A and other key seller sites, and I've never had any problems with those. Just use a reliable seller.

I dunno. I've bought easily 50+ games from G2A and only once was I fucked over. I got the ga,e but it was spanish only or something so I couldn't activate it in the US.
Lost $5 or some shit.

Saved $200-$500 buying all the other games.

Is there a website that lists confirmed legit key selling sites?

I've used GMG a few times but read about them getting in trouble around the Witcher 3 launch, I don't want to turn on Steam one day and find that my account is banned or a game doesn't work anymore...

I believe the sellers buy games for cheap in certain countries and sell it for profit, but at a lower price than normal in most countries.

There are multiple models, including

1. Buyers buy from key resellers in the 3rd world
2. Sell on G2A/Kinguin
3. Make a profit

Alternatively:
1. Rip keys from old retail copies
2. Sell on G2A/kinguin
3. Make a profit

Same way CDKeys and shit make money.

Personally, I sell my Humble Monthly dupes on there.

Accounts don't get banned for using dodgy keys. They do get revoked.

With regards The Witcher, GMG was buying from a reseller. CD Projekt was pissed, in large part because they make more money when people bought direct from them via GOG.

But there's nothing remotely illegal about buying cheap copies from, say, Poland/Ukraine and selling them in other countries.

What about kinguin
Most keys from the big vendors seems legit

Same business model, but Kinguin doesn't scream dodgy in the same way G2A does imo. Their "g2a payment" stuff is an outright scam.

I love all these G2A shill threads!

Why are so many people saying this shit is a scam? I've used G2A multiple times, never buying their shitty shield, and I've gotten the keys instantly, they've always worked, and the games have never been revoked.

The fact that they encourage you to pay for shield in the first place should ring alarm bells.

>Their "g2a payment" stuff is an outright scam.
Not really, it just gives you priority with their support if things go wrong. In fact, G2A is notorious for siding with the buyer, if he had G2A shield, even if the buyer himself was at fault. Just read some Trustpilot reviews and you'll see.

1. There are some legit scammers who use G2A
2. G2A themselves seem dodgy as fuck
3. Games devs/publishers don't like it, because they'd generally rather have sales at their Western prices rather than grey imports

It's LITERALLY identical to buying "insurance" on packages you deliver. It's a scam that everyone knows, but the difference is you have paranoid retards who think they will get scammed from the site so they buy it. As long as you purchase a game from someone with an impeccable rating 99-100%) and thousands of sales, then you're fine. If you buy from a guy who has 2 sales and a 25% rep, then you deserve to get scammed.

1. There are some legit scammers who use G2A
>And they likely don't last long on the site. Once you get flagged as a scammer, nobody is buying your shit and nobody buys from new accounts if they make another.
2. G2A themselves seem dodgy as fuck
>Mainly because their shit is so cheap. I was skeptical too, but I've bought a bunch of shit from them and no issue.
3. Games devs/publishers don't like it, because they'd generally rather have sales at their Western prices rather than grey imports
>No shit. Jews always want the most money.

They buy keys in Russia where's games are extremely cheap and sell them to the west. There might even be some stolen games in the pile.

>insurance
>on digital goods