I would like to add: Check the giveaways creation page for the game you plan on giving away BEFORE purchasing the game.
If it turns out that the game you bought can't be given away because it was a free game in the past, that would suck.
Of course, Steam refunds makes this less of a problem than it was in the past... However, it would still save you some time and bother to check first. :P
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Yes you can. I have personally requested refunds for two gift copies of a game in the past.
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Not related to the OP, but another interesting information about refunds: you can also refund in-game purchase like Dota 2 items if you bought directly from Dota 2 store (not from market).
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That's actually pretty neat. I'm curious about how this works, though. Games need a minimum of 2 hours played to be eligible for a refund, what about in-game items?
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Not sure about others, but for Dota 2 items, when bought, they come in a "set". You will need to "unpack" them to be able to use them.
I have successfully refunded a compendium and some unopened treasure chests before, since they are clearly "unused" in my inventory.
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This is one that bit me before Steams Refund Policy was updated to its current form.
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I just updated the title. Can I get some more gifs? ;-)
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Well dont you think if they wanted to give a game away they would have already by now!
and of those users most dont have market access so they cant sell and some are dupe accounts also just to get a game
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Among 600,000 users I'd expect that there are at least a few who could execute this suggestion and just weren't aware of it. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Let's see.
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Among 600,000 users I'd expect the same thing. But I think not even 5% of that amount of users goes to the forums. From that 5% of users that do drop by ocasionally I bet 4.5% have a higher level than 0. Now from the .5% remaining (which is still a lot) those users would not only have to have the market avaible, but also look at this thread and decide to do it. It's just a thought though.
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Well I can understand how you feel but few really bother about such. Very few people bother to check the forum and as the person above said majority of the people who drop by the forums have a level higher than 0.
The 0.5% are those people who come to the forum to beg or rant about something!
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Well, considering that you need $100 of unbundled games to register on Steamgifts, I'll just go out on a limb here and say that yes, most people who will read this guide have access to the market.
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There are retail games you register on Steam, it's still possible.
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Assuming they are capable of turning on Steam Guard…
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Like the last person said you can use retail games and also steam wallet codes. I also didnt have access to steam market when I joined up with steamgifts as I used wallet codes and retail copies.
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I wonder if going from level 0 to level 1 turns me into a handsome prince.
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That's a very nice guide. I still don't understand very well how the trading cards work and it helps to see it's not that scary ;)
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Trading cards are super easy:
- Play a game who drops cards (you can see which one in the "badge progress" page on Steam)
- Select the card in your inventory, then click "Sell"
- Sell at the desired price (I usually set my price at $0.01 under the lowest current pricing)
- Wait
- Enjoy free money
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- is already done for most games with cards ;) Now to get some courage to do the 2.-5. steps. Wait, actually 5. looks like a nice one :)
Thank you :)
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I actually prefer to sell my cards for current lowest then one cent less, and if they don't sell after a week check what is going on.
You might say "it's just one cent". But sell 500 cards losing one cent and suddenly you have $5 :P
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Yeah, well it's so much trouble to remove listings and put them back on the market, I'd rather sell them quickly instead.
Especially with slightly more expensive cards, someone is probably going to undercut you.
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Chrome's Steam Inventory Helper is... big help with that. Can show you overpriced cards on red, allowing to quickly select all overpriced items and return them to inventory.
Bigger problem is with those cards where you put them for 5 cents and there's 1000 of them, those need to be done more manually...
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I once tried using it, but it didn't work. For some reason, it wouldn't put my cards on the market. :x
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Ouch :(
I'd probably wouldn't even think about selling my cards if I didn't had it. 500 cards, one by one, sounds like fun...
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I'm affraid some people should read How to get to the forum GUIDE first before that one ;)
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Exactly my thoughts. Most of those 600.000 are either new here, or are just here for the giveaway's and don't care about spending time themselves to give away something.
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One thing to remember, you must first spend enough money in Steam to enable using the market. There are people with enough value in their library to join Steamgifts, yet haven't spent any money in the Steam store. Sucks to be them, I guess... :)
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you must first spend enough money in Steam to enable using the market.
^^ This
You need to spend real money on Steam before using the market, so you need a Paypal account or credit card. The best method is creating an account on Tremor Games, get 99 points, buy a cheap game there and create a giveaway here.
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The best method is creating an account on Tremor Games, get 99 points, buy a cheap game there and create a giveaway here.
A lot of countries are banned on Tremor so not everyone can access that website and get free games.
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You're probably right, but are they really banned or you mean there aren't offers to get coins from certain countries?
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Banned as in you can't create an account on Tremor if you're from a certain country. I personally couldn't create an account there because my country is among the banned ones.
But I assume there are also cases of countries that aren't banned but there's almost no offers for them.
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Yes, there are some countries with little to no offers to get coins, and some of them are also banned to play games with achievements to get coins (it is slower but you can still get enough coins to buy one of those 99 coins games).
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For me there are some offers, but most include giving a phone number or spending money. I guess that that site is best if you live in the USA or something.
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Not necessarily. Don't have credit card or use paypal here and did it just fine. Indeed it is the reason I like Steam as it is one of the very, very few willing to ensure people can buy from them without jumping through a hundred hoops. Really sound ridiculous when put that way but it is the way it is, companies are so sure of themselves(or lazy) they can't even be bothered into expanding their customer base.
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You never bought anything from Steam store? Prepaid cards are also accepted, I was trying to say that you always need to spend some real money anytime to enable Steam market.
The actual rules are:
You will need to spend at least $5.00 USD within the Steam store.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3330-IAGK-7663
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It is not 100% accurate though. I unlocked my alt account by adding in that amount for the wallet. I never bought anything at the store itself, but the market has unlocked after the initial 30-day waiting period.
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Adding money to your account wallet is more or less the same as spending it because is a path of no return: you can't take it back from your wallet to your bank account. I mean, if you don't spend it now, you will do it later.
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You said "so you need a Paypal account or credit card" I was pointing out that is not true as I have neither and do it perfectly well. You seem to know since you brought one of the alternate methods(though not one I use since there are easier and more convenient) so I suppose it doesn't matter to you just to others who might read your post.
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Not really a good guide considering a lot of people don't have access to steam market. You can only sell things on steam market if you bought something on steam before. So that's still an excuse people can make.
I didn't had access to steam market myself for a long time, and the only reason I have it now is because a friend bought me steam wallet.
Of course people that don't have access to market can trade their cards for games here on SG/Trades and then make giveaways. I think that's something you should add to your guide and then people really wont have any excuse.
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Don't you need to spend $5 to be able to trade now? (I'm quite confused about all those restrictions, specially since they periodically change them ><)
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Damn I forgot about that change.
According to this they can trade but they can't get steam trading cards from games (they simply wont drop for them).
They also can't send friend requests but can accept them from non-limited accounts.
That's pretty harsh.
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Nice guide, but where is the part about leveling up without spending money?
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Where did you see a step that involves spending money?
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Ah, thank you for the Lorenzo Stanco thingy. Very nice. Now I have it bookmarked.
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Hey , is there a way i can install Steam inventory helper on mozila firefox ? i really want that .. i used to use chrome
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Yes, download it here: http://vplghost.com/Download/InventPriceCheck/SIH.xpi
http://vplghost.com/ is the official website of the developer, link was copied from here
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*IF you want to add this add on and recive "Firefox has prevented this site from asking you to install software on this computer" ...just add an eception to the site from mozila firefox setting ! go to Options > Security > "Warn me when sites try to install add-ons" on the right there is "Exceptions" , click on that and add the site vplghost.com .
Thanks ORONO , thaks for the help
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In my case I get a Firefox pop-up and then I click on "Allow", probably because I have it configured that way.
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As many probably already know, another excellent source is by completing offers on TremorGames and redeeming the coins for Steam gifts and product keys. This is an easy way to acquire gifts to give away if you don't have any money. I only recommend it for those familiar with "Earn & Redeem" models and those who know which offers to avoid, however, since it requires some shrewd judgment. There are other sites similar to TremorGames, though most of them are untrustworthy or potential scams—this is especially true for sites that use referral links. If you are unfamiliar with "Earn & Redeem" models, such as Swagbucks [Wikipedia], I recommend reading into it and what to avoid before using them, or simply avoid them altogether.
[Remember: It is against SteamGifts' guidelines to share referral links from sites like TremorGames, so please don't!]
For those of you who do have money, but do not have any means of purchasing gifts because you do not have a credit card, I recommend investing in a prepaid card. Prepaid cards operate differently from credit or debit cards, in that they are not provided by the card issuer and are not purchased as part of a credit plan. Prepaid cards are tied to popular credit card issuers, but they could be purchased at your local grocery or convenience store. You store funds on the card, which you can then spend by using the prepaid card like you would any credit card. In other words, you can go to your local store, purchase a prepaid card with cash, and purchase games (or anything) online as if it was a real credit card. This is especially useful if you are too young to own a credit card, or have no interest in getting one, but you do have money. It's also excellent if you live in a developing country, or a country where credit/debit cards are difficult to acquire, since prepaid cards can typically be used globally at any store that accepts the card issuer.
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There are also virtual debit cards like Neteller but you gotta deal with commisions %s. when you charge it.
I'm not charging mine because my currency is at its lowest since over a decade.
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Thanks for sharing. I edited the OP with a link to this post.
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Another option is listia.com you can get points and buy games to give away.
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What's your suggestion then? Regifting a game you've just won on Steamcompanion? ;)
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hmm without spending money??? no way
best way to make a lot of money is buying cs go, this game brought me about 400$ profit
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Of course there are ways to get games without spending money, you can use Tremor Games or, if your country is banned, you can trade cards for games. It has been already talked in this thread, but is easier to enter here, TL;DR, and insult the OP.
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Ok for example i have not games wich can drop me trading cards or i sold dropped cards a long time ago , your suggestion?
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Wait for indiegala to give out another free game with cards?
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Free games that drops cards:
- Indiegala gives free games almost every week, and some of them drop cards.
- Grimm and Relic Hunters Zero are free games that drop cards.
- Wait for booster packs from your games.
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thats why i called him captain obvious!
because almost everyone here knows about various deals and freebies
just buy cs go and make a profit
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nope, as u said collect games from various giveaways, sell dropped cards , wait for sale and buy cs go, then make a profit
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You can't sell cards on the market without spending real money on Steam store first. It has been talked here too. And you need to sell a lot of cards to buy CS:GO. Cards from free games are sold for 0.3-0.6. You need like 7€/$ to get CS:GO on sale.
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aha wonder but i can buy cs go right now for 6 dollars
on the last christmas sale i bought it for 1.5 dollars, trading cards cost about 10 cents(on average), i need to sell just 15-20 cards it is ez
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Again:
You can't sell cards on the market without spending real money on Steam store first.
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i know thats why i said no way without spending money at the beginning
plz read attentively first of all what i wrote before
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im not wrong u just backed up what i talked about
first of all: u cant sell cards without spending money ( i wrote about it before)
2ndly: and anyone who registered here already spent at least 100$, isnt it?
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No, you can have a library value of >100$ if any of your friends/parents gifted you enough games. You don't need to spend real money with your account to get games. Think about a 12 years old boy without a credit card/Paypal.
In short: you don't need CS:GO or spend a cent to give a game here.
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War of the roses and an FPS-MMO (in sci-fi setting, I don't remember the name) also drops cards, if I'm not mistaken.
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War of the Roses not anymore, but if you remember the name of that FPS please answer to my post. Thanks.
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I think it was Defiance. Though my little note about these are like a year old, and never actually tried them, so it's not sure at all - maybe you know more about that.
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Initially there was a bug where anyone who installed Defiance as a F2P game got 4 free card drops, but this has since been fixed.
http://steamtradingcards.wikia.com/wiki/Defiance
Thanks anyway!
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So… the best way for people who have no money is to buy a game for money they don't have? :)
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I always forget that SG has its sales pages too, but randomly accidentally clicked on it while looking at this thread -- and that's another great option in addition to the SteamDB already linked...
http://www.steamgifts.com/sales/highest-savings
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Another way is turn them into addicts. I'm not looking to anyone here, I promise.
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Not in this thread of course, but there are rumours of some member(s) became addicts and they are giving too much games as result. So it is a good strategy :P
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Me neither, in this case I should write: "spread by well informed people and willing to help" :D
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actually is kinda complicated for other locations of the world, for example if i want to buy a steam game in offer is blocked only to use in Latin-america
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that is why you can restrict your game for your area in the ga. i gifted a RU+CIS thief collection i obtained a got CV however ;)
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sure, i know it sounds odd but i feel weird giving the game only to selected countries.... i think it should make a difference how many ppl get in in your giveaway, maybe im using too much giveaway sites xD
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It could sound like racism XD just kidding, it's steam's greedy policy and you can do nothing about it
However if i'm not wrong you can buy ROW games from sites at the same price of steam (GMG or indiegala?)
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actually not, those kind of sites are mostly global,except some reselles of g2a
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no amount of guides will encourage true leeches from giving away something to the community.
some of those 600k probably have a real hard time and can't give away anything but i'm sure more than half of them are just lazy/selfish/don't care.
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Still i'm pretty sure that people having 0 GA created and 50 won in 2 years, wish only to get as much games for free as possible
if you want to convince them to be more generous, you should appeal to their greed, saying that starting from level 2 they will find daily 10 GTA V giveawys :D
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nah maybe if they think a bit they would realize that just leveling up to level 1 increases your chance a lot to win
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Since i've got to lvl 4 I discovered a whole new way of using this site... I can have almost every game I want by being a little generous
People should be more smart (or kind hearthed :P) than greedy and they would recieve more :)
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wow I'm jealous level 4 how much games did you needed? approximately price in games?
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Read this: http://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/XaCbA/list-of-all-cv-levels-and-their-corresponding-real-cv
And this link to search for the games considered bundled: http://www.steamgifts.com/bundle-games
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You have to come to 100$ value of given games. If you give only bundled games I think you might need more than 50 (so you spend 15-30$ in bundles and give away stuff you don't like).
It happens often that you buy a 1$ bundle and get a 6$(40 on steam) CV game, it's not that expensive after all. Especially considering that you will start winning really neat stuff (I won Valkirya chronicles and Gothic+Arcania pack which are worth more or less the money I spend in bundles last months).
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I applaud the initiative and willingness to get us all be better gifters, a better person, yes, giving away feels nice but it only works if everybody does it, think about it, if only one gives and the other one only takes, the giver eventually wears off, gets tired, annoyed and maybe angry.
There's one thing not mentioned, region locks, it's not that huge but it is still important as one can't activate games from another region, in my case I used to giveaway more when there wasn't such restriction. Sure, we can still give away and those in the same region can still benefit from it, so in appearance it's better for our odds, right?
Now the second point, bundles and games that even tho are long gone of the cheap or free price, once in the SG bundle list, will never leave it. I understand that it may be due to the fact nobody knows if someone around there got say 100 copies and then comes here and creates ga's with them, no restrictions, no "punishment" as it may be an exploit for self benefit. So I guess it's okay the way it is, for better or worse :P
The last point is, actually, about the Star Saviors example, yes, it's cheap now, yes it has 81% good ratings, BUT it's also bundled, meaning it wont give full or even much CV value to level up... Yes, you can still do some good to others and giveaway a cheap good game, but you won't reach lv1 or 2 with bundled games. That list increases fast, like the emptiness in The Never-ending Story what? you haven't seen it? you had no childhood? don't you have a heart? XD
Anyways, see this?
http://www.steamgifts.com/bundle-games/search?q=savior
You can use this link to know which games are branded bundled by SG, before making a purchase with giveaway intents.
FREE BUMP - no HiDEn gIveAWay!
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Those are a different kind of users. They're are addicted to trading but that kind of addiction don't lead them to create giveaways. As a student, you should research about how many games are needed to give here to become a real addict.
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Why not? One variable for the study could be: Is it necessary to give Barbie to become an addict? If yes, how many times? :P
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They are different though. SG is the most convenient way to keep track of non-CS/TF2 Steam trade reputation instead of seeing the user's account messages (where the user can delete as many negative reps as they want anyway) or look up everyone on SteamRep. I wouldn't be surprised if many traders would just randomly click on a few giveaways they happen to see on the front page when they log in, nothing more.
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You can add Tremor Games website too, I started from there,giving away games that I've earned by playing funny mini-games xP
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What's the difference between creating a giveaway as a gift or as a key? I always mark the "key" option, because it's less of a hassle for me, but I see that "gift" is recommended... why?
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Gift=steam gift on your inventory, but you can also mark "gift" when giving a key and add the key after the GA has ended.
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hahaha ok, that makes sense. Thank you very much, to both!
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if you mark key, you can write the game keys so they are ready to be sent when the ga is over.
from the GA page
Keys should be separated by new lines. Please enter Steam redeemable keys, or gift URLs from Steam or Humble Bundle. Key giveaways for 50 copies or greater will be automatically distributed to the winners, while giveaways with less than 50 keys will allow you to review the winners before the keys are sent.
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Thanks, I think I'll keep marking them as keys then. I'm too much of a lazy f*ck x)
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I'll just add that only difference is that you can automate distribution of cd-key when you use KEY option.
When you click KEY, you can put key there and winner can take it, without contact between you.
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So when a Steamgifts user make 1 giveaway only they will reach Level 1? Am I right?
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Thanks for your answer. I've tried to make a giveaway before but it will be only a region restricted one. But now I have a key and luckily I will give it away. It won't be like a gift on Steam. But I'm also afraid of accused as re-gifting. I won 2 of the same game. One from Steam group's discussion page ( My comment was one of the winners) and one from Steamgifts giveaway it was 50 games giveaway I think. So you can go to my Steam account to see that I've activated the Steamgifts one, and still have the other key. If I give it away here it won't be a problem I hope. Can you answer this question too? Thanks for your concern.
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You can make a giveaway of the same title you won previously, yes.
For example, you won it, then a week later it is in a bundle you buy. Same situation.
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You mean, like this: http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/hQIiw/flesh-eaters ?
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Exactly, but hopefully with more people entering the giveaway. I forgot to mention a giveaway needs at least 5 entries to count for one's Level. I'm sure that a public (not invite-only) giveaway of the same game would have dozens of entries by now.
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Wow!!
Thank you so much for this awesome guide, especially the Steam inventory helper chrome extension !!
Never knew it was existed.
Thanks again, Yirg !!
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More than 850,000 users on this site are Level 0. This means they haven't created a single giveaway yet (at least not for a game that wasn't already given away for free). Now, I highly recommend creating giveaways for the warm fuzzies, but even if that's not appealing enough there's another good reason. It provides access to many more giveaways and improves your odds of winning.
It may sound complex or expensive to reach Level 1, but don’t fret. I'm assuming here that you already have some games on Steam but that for whatever reason you can't afford a $1 bundle. All you need to do is this:
Good Luck!
Mini on-going event
If you're a Level 0 user
who can show you don't have market access (and therefore can't use the guide below) and if you never traded, let me know. I'll be happy to send you a spare key to create your first giveaway. Offer is limited to the first 5 users who reply to this post and meet the criteria (and are not rule breakers). Reply to this comment.Edit: As several people have mentioned below, the guide is only applicable to Steam users who have access to the market (basically anyone who spent $5 or more on Steam). If you don't have access to the market see this excellent post by Nokkenbuer about alternative solutions, such as getting games on TremorGames or using a prepaid card on Steam to get access to the market.
Thread title when not doing key drops or events: "No More Excuses: Getting to Level 1 without spending money (a short & simple guide)"
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