Hi, so I'm new to the gaming process on the computer. Also, I've been using a great tool called ggdeals.com. It's awesome because it tells me about deals. However, I don't know what key shops are trustworthy on that website. I've found a great key shop called Fanatical that I trust, but besides that, I don't know what ones to trust.
Any advice would be much appreciated!

1 year ago

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Humble Bundle is trust worthy. if you have to send them message because of key issues then never mention Steamgifts if you plan on giving away games here. They don't like that :P

1 year ago
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Yes, I've heard of them/used them before too! Thanks for the recommendation!

1 year ago
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If you aren't sure, steam itself is always good place where buy games, especially in sales.

1 year ago
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but some of these stores have real good pricessss

1 year ago
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It is easy, if you see fresh released game in some insane sale like 50% on top page, it is shady store you should avoid.

1 year ago
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That site you're using is pretty good at showing you that info.

If you're worried about trusting a site, you can assume that any store not in the "Official stores" section is shady to some degree. That doesn't mean you won't be able to make a purchase, but it means that there's something off. It could for example be that they don't disclose where they got their keys from, try to upsell you on "premium subscriptions", or that they resell keys from users. That site you're using does list the individual risks for each such site though, just click "Risks" on the keystores.

Something like Fanatical is an official store though. They get their keys directly from the publishers themselves and it's no different from buying from any other official store like Steam.

1 year ago
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All the sites that come up under official stores on ggdeals are pretty trustworthy.

1 year ago
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Fanatical and Humble Bundle are the only ones that I have used but I have heard greenmangaming is a good one too. Indiegala is another one.
You can also check isthereanydeal.com out. afaik, they list only official/good key stores.
A friend of mine uses grey market keys a lot, so if you want, I can ask them. Though grey market will never be risk free.

1 year ago
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As you're using ggdeals you'll notice they discern between official stores which source their keys directly from developers/publishers and keyshops where the origin of the keys is shrouded in mystery and the shop is only functioning as a platform for key sellers like an ebay for keys.
The inclusion of the so-called grey market keyshops is the reason why linking to ggdeals is against SG rules.

Fanatical is a trusted site although they have adopted the slimy practice of mystery bundles to sell off their shelf warmers.

1 year ago
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Most of the keyshops on ggdeals.com are legit, but please for the love of god and your sake, don't use the following: CDKeys, G2A, Kinguin. They are sketchy as hell and their support is terrible, even with buyer protection options.

1 year ago
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Use ggdeals to check shops
Here is awful rule u cant mention keyshops for some stupid reason...

1 year ago
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It's fine to mention keyshops here, you are just not allowed to mention the grey ones, the official ones are no problem at all and that's why people above you also mentioned some.

1 year ago
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Yes i know only grey markets.. only dont understand whats so big deal about it.
If key works i dont care if its grey or official site.

1 year ago
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because grey means not fully allowed by law if I understand it correct so we don't mention them here, same as we don't mention websites to pirate stuff here either

1 year ago
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If key works i dont care if its grey or official site.

A key might have been bought through credit card fraud hurting the dev/publisher as they don't get paid and have to cover charge back fees. You risk the key being revoked at any time. In fact you're a fence for the fraudsters although you might tell yourself you bought the key in good faith.

Tax evasion: the biggest operations are based in Hong Kong and happily deduct sales taxes on behalf of the authorities in your country. If the tax authorities ever see the money is doubtful.

Buyer protection: if a shop offers you to buy insurance against a faulty key something is fishy.

1 year ago
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Also, in the keyshops list of gg.deals, you'll see for each listing a "# risks" reference: "1 risk" "5 risks"

If you click on those numbers, you get a pop-out message where gg.deals tells you the specific risks of using that shop.

1 year ago
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This comment was deleted 11 months ago.

1 year ago*
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I typically use Fanatical and Humble for bundles, and Green Man Gaming for individual games. These have been my go-to stores for many years and likely will be for many more.

I also use gg.deals a lot, just with sketchy key shops turned off so I never even have to see mention of them.

1 year ago
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