Buying from CD Key sites

[RockyRan]

So this is weird. Apparently Russian game prices are stupid cheap, so there's kind of this underground market for CD keys that come from there. People are apparently making quite a bit of dough buying legit keys from Russia either by buying the keys themselves for dirt cheap/buying the actual retail disc for dirt cheap, upping the price a bit and making some small profit.

 

Moar details here:

 

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=437356

 

I've been thinking about this. And thinking and thinking, because if there's anything in the world that yells "THIS IS A SCAM" is underground Russian markets for anything. But like I said, after some thought I actually don't think this is bad. First of all, all these keys are 100% legit. They're not from some shitty keygen. In fact, they can't be from some shitty keygen, because the keys wouldn't work. Steam/Origin/etc., have gotten more or less sophisticated to the point where they verify the legitimacy of the keys against a big ol' database that they themselves have, so simply reverse-engineering the algorithm and spitting out more (and illegitimate) keys wouldn't actually work. And these keys do work, so there's that. There's also the fact that when you buy these keys, the vast majority of the time you get a picture of the key in the game's box, not some random e-mail with the key typed in, providing further proof they're legit copies.

 

With the fact that the actual game itself is legally bought, we now enter into a more or less moral conundrum. You'd basically be exploiting the Russian game prices for your benefit, but I don't really see it as a negative here. Game publishers have every right (and a very easy way) to region-lock these codes. In fact, many games do have region codes, in which case you'd have to use a VPN client to get the key to activate. But since a whole bunch of games (I'd say the majority, fact) are region free, these publishers really don't care where you get the key from. IMO, you're just basically taking advantage of global prices/markets. It's not really any different from sites like PlayAsia, even though PlayAsia importers are more about getting games/hardware faster or games/hardware that would never come out in the buyer's territory rather than taking advantage of cheap prices.

 

I haven't really bought anything, but my interest was piqued when one of the last posts in that topic above said that a bunch of these keys, regardless of which website you buy it from, all come form one place called plati.ru. It's a Russian "eBay" where games are found for dirt cheap, and I mean dirt cheap. Like, RAGE for $12 cheap. But the caveat (the BIG caveat) is the fact that you need to pay using WebMoney, which is a large (and very well established) "Russian PayPal". The furthest I've gotten in this process is setting up a WebMoney account, which is fairly easy considering there's an English option on their website (gotta rely on Google Translate for plati.ru, but it's perfectly legible that way anyhow), but I can't add funds at all. You need either a prepaid WM card to top up (which can't be bought anywhere but Russia and its surrounding countries), a Russian account through which to transfer money, or go through this incredibly long process of acquiring a "passport" (not a real one AFAIK) with the laughably huge minimum transfer sum of 10,000 USD (obviously this option is for businesses). So yeah, no way to add money, no way to buy through plati.ru. Unless there's some other way I don't know about, but discussion on the NeoGAF topic just completely stopped.

 

For now, I'm going to make a relatively low-risk "gamble" on this and buy a key for my Origin account (I got like two games on there I never play, so if it gets banned it'll be a good warning sign without me losing much) through one of the reseller sites. I'm confident it'll work given the lively discussion on the NeoGAF topic, but I just want to see for myself. Thoughts? Suggestions? Death threats?

[Johnny]

So, like importing but without the shipping fees, and PC only? Could be useful.

 

Incoming legal threaths from publishers in 3...

[deanb]

I bought Deus Ex through "IntKeys" If you ask Maritan he knows tons of these sites. I also had to ask Maritan to activate my key for me too though :/

 

There was an issue with Activision taking the keys off peoples accounts with MW2 a couple years back, though I've had no issues with my Deus Ex up to now. (Which I'm pretty sure is against the rules. You don't have Smirnoff pop in your home n take away the cheap booze you brought back from holiday)

 

Even though I've used it and it all went okay I am still wary of them. If it wasn't for being so god damn cheap I probably wouldn't have had a shot.

[Thursday Next]

I actually have no issue with this. You have every right to sell something you bought to someone else. So long as the key is bought/acquired legitimately in the first instance that is. Otherwise, I'll get the saddle for my high horse unpacked.

 

Seems like a risky proposition to me though. If you do get the key it could be legit, but already used, then you're going to find you have little recourse. Caveat Emptor as they say.

[deanb]

Seems like a risky proposition to me though. If you do get the key it could be legit, but already used, then you're going to find you have little recourse. Caveat Emptor as they say.

 

Not like that is something western sites are totally free from though is it?

[Yantelope]

TN, I'm surprised. I thought you'd be talking about how the license is not for use in North America or something like that. I thought your steam account can be banned if you buy cheap overseas keys. I might be wrong.

[Thursday Next]

I'm full of surprises me.

[TheMightyEthan]

if there's anything in the world that yells "THIS IS A SCAM" is underground Russian markets for anything.

This. I'd be extremely nervous about getting games this way. To the point where I wouldn't be willing to risk even $12 like you said Rage is. I'd probably try it if I could get a new $50 game for $5, but I don't think I'd be willing to risk more than that.

[Yantelope]

Yeah, if you're gonna do this then make sure you set up an alternate account and don't associate it with anything you're not willing to lose just to be safe.

[deanb]

Ah how our prejudices show.

 

Company from Washington, US sells a game for $15 it's a steal. Company from Moscow, Russia sells a game for $15 it's been stolen.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I wouldn't trust my neighbour selling games like that - there's just too many ways for it to go wrong.

 

the fact they are in Russia doesn't mean it's more scammy, but it does mean another thing that can go wrong ie a russian key not working in your own country. and any foreign sales add another level of complexity eg as Rockyran pointed out trying to pay for stuff, hell it's a faff just importing stuff from america with the transaction charges and import charges etc. add foreign languages and unknown payment options and it's a total minefield. And of course anything you buy from another country and you pretty much guarantee you don't get any comeback if something does go wrong.

Edited October 14, 2011 by TheFlyingGerbil

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, it's mostly the semi-shady nature of it. I mean, granted the fact that it's from Russia doesn't help, but it's not the deciding factor.

[deanb]

it's a faff just importing stuff from america with the transaction charges and import charges etc. add foreign languages and unknown payment options and it's a total minefield. And of course anything you buy from another country and you pretty much guarantee you don't get any comeback if something does go wrong.

 

Which is what everyone in Europe goes throw buying keys from that company in Washington, US. Unknown currencies, unsure if it's the right language and it's in another country with different/no consumer protection laws.

 

Anyway my experience with Intkeys since no one asked. The site is all pretty class. It's cheap but not the cheapest as Maritan informed me. Skyrim for $29 ain't too bad. I purchased using a temporary Visa I was given for my birthday. They're all set up quite well on support. Offering live chat in 4 major European languages. I did have a chat with them to settle a few issues I had, they're not bad. You can go chat with them now if you want. It does require VPN for activation, they even have petty decent instructions too. I kinda skipped that part since I have a real live russian on hand (sorry for hitting you up at 5am though). These are companies that are well aware people go "eugh russain, must be shady" and do suggest you share your customer experiences. They kinda rely on the fact people trust them enough. If they offered cheap games and didn't deliver then people would be much less inclined to pass them on and recommend them to friends. Whereas if they offer cheap games and it all goes okay... So yes all rather good. Pretty quick, I got my key in 10 minutes. And it obviously worked.

Would I use them again? Not sure. I did kinda pick up my next to major games (Skyrim n B:AC) cheaper than they have them for. Their prices don't fluctuate as fast as Steam either so stuff like DNF and Red Faction have been cheaper to buy right from Steam in the past week.

 

So there's my experience. I don't really find Russia any less shady than buying from US.

[Cyber Rat]

I think the bigger risk is it not working in your country, only working if your IP is from a specific country (like, if you activate it in Russia, it might not work if you log in England) and stuff like what Activision pulled with MW2 Russian keys. Those are bigger risks than actual shady practices and keys that are already redeemed.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Cyber Rat

[Eleven]

Anyway my experience with Intkeys since no one asked...

 

...So there's my experience. I don't really find Russia any less shady than buying from US.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Do you happen to know if these sites would accept a virtual Visa card?

[deanb]

That's how I paid for mine iirc.

[Eleven]

oh sorry... I read Visa but I missed the "temporary" "for my birthday" part.

 

 

I was thinking of Entropay, since I already use one for some other stuff. But if they accept a prepaid visa gift card then I guess they would accept Entropay too.

[WTF]

I've known this for a fair bit now and it's also why you have several sellers on ebay from India who used to sell PC games at an alarmingly low price at times. I mean I got dead rising 2 for the PC on release for 5 quid and that was physical retail. It was only a matter of time before sellers from such nations decided to switch from having to mail to just sell codes through their localised networks from where budding young 'entrepreneurs' would sell to the local market.

 

It's perfectly legal and a consequence of globalisation. I suppose it's not going to be a long lasting model though since there's far too much flux these days in the economy.

[Maritan]

Wow, so you have a topic even for this.

Anyway, just looked again through that site which Dean posted, they're selling Skyrim and MW3 for 35 bucks, while buying keys for about 10(maybe even less, I dunno), so do the math. Retail price for Skyrim here is 12$.

Rocky, you can buy games from plati.ru with your credit card, but I don't know if it will accept yours.

I think the bigger risk is it not working in your country, only working if your IP is from a specific country

Nah, they just need to be activated in Russia.

Also

Find Cheaper? Tell us!

And we will lower the price

and you will also receive a coupon from us!

LOL

UPD: Changing languages is a bit tricky,sometimes, because our publishers(mainly 1C) like to put only Russian version in games.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Maritan

[Eleven]

So I decided to buy Deus Ex Human Revolution from Intkeys.

 

Got the code in about 2 hours. It was for Steam activation. They ask you if you want them to activate it for you, and asks you for your Steam user ID and password, and disabling steam guard (is that what it's called? I forgot. its the 5 digit codes Steam sends you when you login from a different computer).

 

Anyway, that is not required, and you can activate the game yourself, provided you have a VPN. Even if you don't they send you a video on how to get one. But since I have a vpn to Moscow anyway I didn't have to do that, just logged in to my vpn and activated it in Steam.

 

Now I'm downloading the game. Cool!

 

Might try it for some other games in the future. It's pretty painless if you have a VPN or know someone you trust in Russia that could activate the game for you.

 

They accept Paypal too and that's what I used.

 

So, for me, +1 for the site.

[TheMightyEthan]

The ability to use Paypal makes me more likely to try IntKeys. None of the deals are good enough to entice me right now though.

[Eleven]

So Arkham City and Saint's Row the third are 19.99 and 20.90 this weekend at Intkeys.com.

 

I'm debating on whether I should get them... these are two games I was planning on getting on the PS3....