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The story of grey market G2A worsens, I really do recommend to stay away

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You have probably heard of G2A by now, the grey-market where anyone can sell second-hand keys for some money. The problem is, someone pointed out how they do no actual checks on keys and that resulted in them getting banned.

This was then pointed out on the linux_gaming reddit (source), but a g2a rep has tried to clarify it, rather badly, see below:
image
I'm glad I took a screengrab of it as they have since deleted their post, in an obvious attempt to cover it all up.

The story goes even further! The person who actually did these tests posted here where they explained it further. It seems they found the reddit post from G2A in the linux_gaming reddit, where I did the screencapture from, claiming that they were talking to the seller, but the seller claims G2A were not and now G2A have removed their post.

Then there's the 12 step process to turn off "G2A Shield" see here.

I will say it again, I highly suggest staying away from G2A. Shady, shady store.

Steam, itch.io, GOG and Humble do sales all the time. I really don't get the need to use G2A, considering how many times issues have arisen from their store. When will people wake up? Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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35 comments
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ravenmocker Feb 2, 2017
Couldn't agree more. I tell people the same thing all the time
wolfyrion Feb 2, 2017
I dont know what the heck is going on but THERE IS NO WAY TO CHECK FOR VALID STEAM KEYS!!!

G2a is not selling the keys but their sellers, the simple user , anyone can put a game there for sale , anyone can do this.
G2a is like ebay..... it lets their users to sell steam keys , illegal keys , stolen keys , beta keys from game developers, steam keys from bundles, anything you can imagine.

Users are getting reputation points if they provide Valid Keys but if they provide invalid keys they get negative reputation and probably an account ban but G2A is responsible to pay back their clients if they got invalid keys and so on.
G2A gets a percentage of the sale.

And that $%^$%^$ G2A Shield is the SCUMMIEST Thing Ever!!!

It charges you every month 1-2 Euro, buy or not buying games and it enables by default on your paypal account automatic payment to G2A for every month without you noticing it.


Last edited by wolfyrion on 2 February 2017 at 7:45 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Feb 2, 2017
Quoting: wolfyrionI dont know what the heck is going on but THERE IS NO WAY TO CHECK FOR VALID STEAM KEYS!!!
If they have no way to verify, then they shouldn't be selling them. I don't see why this is hard to fathom.
jordicoma Feb 2, 2017
I never tried G2A. Some friends recommended me Instant Gaming. I bought 3 games. And, for now the service works.
I don't know how they get the keys. But buying steam keys from random sellers (not the developer or steam). It has always a risk.
natewardawg Feb 2, 2017
Thanks Liam, I will never buy anything from this store. What a terrible system :(
Colombo Feb 2, 2017
Quoting: liamdaweIf they have no way to verify, then they shouldn't be selling them. I don't see why this is hard to fathom.
Nonsense. Can Ebay verify that I own and not stole this chair that I am selling?

Its public marketplace.
Hal_Kado Feb 2, 2017
I'm with Colombo on this one. I just sold some old PC hardware on eBay and at no point did anyone verify my product was real or in the condition I claimed it was. They did however hold on to my cash for a waiting period to allow the buyer to receive the goods and verify it arrived as expected. This process seems no different on G2A.
Liam Dawe Feb 2, 2017
Quoting: Colombo
Quoting: liamdaweIf they have no way to verify, then they shouldn't be selling them. I don't see why this is hard to fathom.
Nonsense. Can Ebay verify that I own and not stole this chair that I am selling?

Its public marketplace.
I'm talking about game keys, electronic content, not furniture. I don't think even ebay should allow Steam keys being resold.
wolfyrion Feb 2, 2017
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: Colombo
Quoting: liamdaweIf they have no way to verify, then they shouldn't be selling them. I don't see why this is hard to fathom.
Nonsense. Can Ebay verify that I own and not stole this chair that I am selling?

Its public marketplace.
I'm talking about game keys, electronic content, not furniture. I don't think even ebay should allow Steam keys being resold.

Ebay is selling steam keys and other software product and I can name you another 10 "grey" markets that are selling steam keys.
STEAM is the cheapest way to get Games because of Steam Keys...

EVERY Digital License can be found in "grey" markets...
Antivirus Keys, Microsoft Windows, M$ Word , Other software just name it...everything is on the internet.

At the end is up to you how much you want to risk it or how moral you can be and support the people who created the software or the games.
TheRiddick Feb 2, 2017
The thing is G2A is like a sellers market, much in the way EBAY is. They don't physically put allot of these keys up themselves from what I gather, rather sellers just advertise with them a set number of keys.

Honestly I haven't had any issues with them like you guys, but I don't really buy much off them, only the odd occasional RISKY purchase if I can get a cheap deal on something. Such as titles on the verge of abandon-ware situation.
(Its ironic that DX:MD is at that stage now, publisher blaming customers for poor sales instead of game quality!)

It should also be noted that many PROMINENT YT streamers are still advertising G2A as the bees-nees, so that doesn't help, but what can you do?


Last edited by TheRiddick on 2 February 2017 at 10:23 pm UTC
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