Hello everyone!
I encounter a problem and looking for help
Today my giveaway finished and as always I wanted to send steam gift to winner of my giveaway.
Unfortunately i received info that "gift cant be send due to price difference between countries" :( Never seen something like this...
Whats more i cant even pay with any other type of payment >.<
Any idea how can i solve this? For how long steam ban gifts in equipment :/?

4 years ago

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Is this premise to reroll? ( I dont want to change winner but steam disrupt my plans >.<)

4 years ago
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I don't think so, I see your region is EU (PL -- same as mine) and you didn't set a region of Giveaway as EU (always check out SteamDB as a source, (There is sub you wanted to gift, look at red frame on middle of page), ask a winner about deleting giveaway and make one in proper way

4 years ago
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Supposedly EU can gift to anywhere since Euro prices are one of the Highest in the world
Edit: just saw that the game is trying to gift is higher in US Dollar, Swiss Franc and Israeli New Shekel

4 years ago
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No. Staff may possibly allow for a deletion, but they have a policy of not allowing rerolls for region-restricted giveaways where the restriciton wasn't noted during the entry process, due to the high liklihood of rerolling into another invalid winner (causing a lengthy, stressful process for staff and multiple users to deal with).

Staff may perhaps allow a one-off deletion given that you were unaware of the matter (in line with their approach to the matter when the change to Steam gifting policies was new), but that's something to take up with them directly. Otherwise, you'll have to find an alternative way of acquiring the game, or of allowing the user to purchase it themselves (as others have already noted).

In the future, you can use SteamDB to avoid this issue. Search the game you wish to give away on SteamDB, change the active currency (via the selection bar directly to the right of the "Store Prices" header) to your own purchasing currency, and then note the currencies which list a "+10.00%" or higher adjustment in the "Converted Price" column. Any countries which utilize that currency will be unable to receive the gift in question.

While in theory putting it into the giveaway description should be enough, unfortunately it's been repeatedly proven that only a small minority of users actually read descriptions. So, as best as possible, do make sure to manually filter out associated regions when creating the giveaway (and then still include the list of restricted currencies within the description, to help add further assurance).

4 years ago
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I'm sorry to disturb you but considering your in depth answer thought you might have an answer. It seems like it would be tedious to manually check region locks if you're giving away 10+ games at a time. Is there a simpler method than individually checking each & such? As I generally do bulk GA's using ESGST & don't want to run into this issue (I haven't previously). Though now that I think on it most of my GA's are for bundles which are listed in the master thread. So it might not be an issue checking them quickly. πŸ™‚

However I'm confused as to how to interpret the information given in said threads... πŸ€¦β€β™‚οΈ

For example for clarification could you try to elucidate for me what exactly the following means?


⚠️ Region lock ⚠️
Project CARS + Limited Edition Upgrade
Project CARS 2 + Japanese Cars Bonus Pack
Everyone gets ROW keys, despite the Humble Bundle notification when creating a gift link.

In several Asia countries, buyers do not receive these games with their purchase, but are able to activate keys for them:
Brunei Darussalam, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of), Korea (the Republic of), Lao People's Democratic Republic (the), Myanmar, Mongolia, Macao, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines (the), Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Taiwan (Province of China), Viet Nam


As someone in the USA if I go to GA this bundle would I just set the region lock to "North America"? πŸ€”

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly as I've given away HumbleBundle bundles before & not had an issue. This time I see the region lock info in the thread & noticed your post & thought I'd ask for clarification before posting the GA's.

Thanks for taking the time to help answer users questions! You're posts are informative & helpful. πŸ‘

4 years ago
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SteamDB pulls its conversion chart data from the Steam API, so it's entirely possible that scripts exist which mimic that effect. Unfortunately, that's not something I have any familiarity on. That said, the 10% currency difference for steam gifts is a bit different than the region restrictions for steam keys. For the latter, yes, the best way to be informed is to browse the related SG bundle thread; SG users are solid about reporting issues, and Shakti is fantastic about keeping the thread post updated.

⚠️ Region lock ⚠️
Project CARS + Limited Edition Upgrade
Project CARS 2 + Japanese Cars Bonus Pack
Everyone gets ROW keys, despite the Humble Bundle notification when creating a gift link.

Translation:
A region restriction was noted by Humble when users attempted to activate the keys in question, but the keys activated fine worldwide, so the region restriction warning was likely in error.

Side-note, ROW is technically used incorrectly here, as ROW [Rest of World] is used to designate any keys for regions without specialized region configurations. Officially, the WW (Worldwide) tag is used for listings intended to have universal access. That said, I believe even developers have used the term incorrectly (and may have even done so here, leading to the poorly fitting labeling in the thread), so it's something you gotta intuit by precedence, rather than by expected tag application.

In several Asia countries, buyers do not receive these games with their purchase, but are able to activate keys for them:

Not sure how this can be clarified any clearer, so if this part is confusing you, you'll need to offer some clarification as to your perspectives.

As someone in the USA if I go to GA this bundle would I just set the region lock to "North America"? πŸ€”

According to the previously quoted section, there's no region restrictions, so you don't need to set any region filters on SG for those particular keys.

Of course, you can freely do so anyway, if you wish to. Assuming you don't mind excluding some of the site's users, the only real concern with making region giveaways is that some SGTools filters calculate your account value dependent on your giveaways which were not region restricted. Some users find the simplicity of filtering for their region for any giveaway that has even a hint of region restrictions related to them easier, however (and users from the region in question tend to appreciate the lower entry count that comes with a region restriction).

That said, the significant majority of the time NA users won't really run into region restrictions with keys, other than a few rare issues with censorship, such as with certain games and Germany. Similarly, EU and UK users rarely have to worry about the currency-based restriction [well, not sure if that's true for the UK anymore, post-Brexit], given the high relative value of their currencies.

So if it sounds like there's no issue with keys for NA users, then there probably isn't one.
Well, if you don't mind the risk of the site's less cordial users chiming in, it's usually fine enough just asking in any given bundle thread for clarifications where you're at all uncertain. I've always found the community's members rather solid on responding to such inquiries.

4 years ago*
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Thanks for the clear answer! I'm sorry I didn't specify which parts I wasn't clear on as I understood some of it. I just copy pasted the post & should have left out the in several Asia countries part. Whoops. πŸ€¦β€β™‚οΈ

Regardless I'm thankful for the breadth of information you presented. I tend to be the type to prefer more information than less. You can never be to informed. πŸ™‚ Thank you for providing the information & for doing so in such a clear manner. It's greatly appreciated!

Now I can make a informed decision! The best kind of decision. πŸ˜‰ Thanks again! πŸ‘

4 years ago
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The best kind of decision.

False! It is exactly the second best. No more, no less.
The best decision is always the decision which gives you cake. πŸ˜‰

View attached image.
4 years ago
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You are correct! Thanks for a πŸ™‚ this morning. πŸ‘

4 years ago
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1) You can buy a game key
2) You can buy the winner a Steam gift card so that he buys the game himself

4 years ago
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Hi, this has happened to me before so I made a topic back then too, you can ask your winner to allow you to delete the giveaway, if they are a good sport and allow you they usually are, you can just simply remove the giveaway and make a new one with regional restrictions, cheers.

4 years ago
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Due to regional problems and the fact someone else could have the same problem, rerolling is not allowed in cases like that. So you will need to find a way to give it to them like the suggestions above or just delete and remake it for the proper regions you can gift to

4 years ago
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https://store.steampowered.com/digitalgiftcards/selectgiftcard

If keys and gifts are in inventory and cannot be changed, reroll is recommended.
(Or consult about deleting GA.)

No keys or gifts at hand.
If you are having trouble purchasing and offering at the Steam store, you can work around it by giving the above gift card to the winner and having them purchase the prize.
(As an option when there is no problem in the amount of money)

Either way, a choice that is reasonable for you will be respected.

4 years ago
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As a rule of thumb if there's a region where the price is 10+ % higher than in yours, you cannot gift the game to that region.

4 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 11 months ago.

4 years ago*
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You can purchase a Steam Gift card for the winner, and he can then purchase the game for himself and mark the win as received.

4 years ago
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if the game is UEBS, the issue is complicated, because it's only sold on steam so you won't be able to find row keys for it.

in this case you could offer the winner something else (another game?) and in exchange ask for permission to delete the giveaway. it's not ideal but without ways to buy the game elsewhere it's the only thing you can do, either that or take a not-received.

4 years ago
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I may be naive, but generally whitelist entrees might be a bit more understanding. Just explain the situation to your winner and ask them to agree to a giveaway deletion; if they do, they should write so on the GA page, and all that's left for you to do afterwards is create a support ticket with the same request. Since the GA is already over, a winner's consent is mandatory for support to delete it; otherwise you'll have to deliver the game some other way or just deal with "not received".

4 years ago
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Since the GA is already over, a winner's consent is mandatory for support to delete it

With some exceptions.

Namely, staff has precedence for allowing deletions when any of the following are involved:

  • A mass key revocation related to the key in question;
  • Any other significant, large-scale, unforseen circumstance related to gifting [such as when Steam first introduced the currency restrictions];
  • The user being suspended following the end of the giveaway [technically speaking, this should actually be why a reroll based on non-activations/multi-wins goes through, rather than due to the N-A/M-W itself, given that staff has clarified to me that rule violations themselves are not justifications for rerolls/deletions];
  • The user's level dropping so that they no longer qualify to enter the giveaway;
  • The user no longer being part of any* of the groups associated with the giveaway;
    [*With the exception that users removed from whitelists cannot be rerolled on, if their giveaway access came via whitelist]
  • Or the user engaging in excessively abusive behavior towards the GA creator via any medium in direction association to their win [we're talking death threats on Steam profiles over wanting their key quicker, that kind of thing].

Staff may also potentially allow a deletion or reroll where region restrictions were clarified in the description, and an invalid user entered regardless. Not sure how often they do that now that region filters are more robust and familiar in usage, but it wasn't an unfamiliar occurance earlier on.

4 years ago*
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My suggestion - since winner knows it's a region restricted key, ask winner about allowing a reroll or deletion of the giveaway, and have the winner make a comment to that effect (agreeing to reroll or deletion) - then delete the giveaway and recreate it with region restriction (preferred imho) or ask for a reroll. Reroll runs risk of another person in restricted region winning again, so deletion is preferred imho and reduces risk.

4 years ago
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I can see giveaway was deleted, so problem is solved.

But in general in situation like that there are three options:

  • creator acquires copy that can be activated in winner's region (can be key from bundle, or different version of the same game - I had case where it was not possible to gift base game due to price difference, but creator could buy GOTY without problem. So winner get both base game and DLC, even when giveaway was only for base game)
  • winner agrees to delete giveaway
  • winner leaves not received feedback

Re-roll is not possible when region was wrongly selected, as new winner will most probably run into the same issue. And it will lead to avalanche of re-rolls.

It is possible to buy steam gift card, but to do so you need to be friends with winner for at least 3 days. Plus most of the time giftcard is worth more than game itself, due to fact it works like pre-paid.

4 years ago
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Thanks everyone for help and useful info!
Next time I will remeber what u advised me here

4 years ago
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Closed 4 years ago by Kosoff.