Reliable places to buy keys

I have used a couple of reseller sites before for very minor purchases but I always feel uneasy doing so and would be nervous buying anything that cost enough money that I would be upset if I lost it.

The problem is I have never heard a convincing explanation of how they can resell genuine keys cheaper. With the 'official' full price stores, Steam MSstore etc where the publishers can offer discounts if they want then why should they sell keys through other sites at all? If there is a genuine reason I could understand how a reseller could offer a bit cheaper price by taking a smaller margin but not some of the large discounts that are available. Gamesplanet seem to have a reputation for being legit but they only seem to offer about 10-15%. On Flight Simulator 2024 that I have been looking at since launch CDKeys have been offering huge discounts from the beginning. It is now at 47% on CDKeys and still full price at the store and Steam. I cannot think of a reasonable explanation why MS should be selling keys for such a big discount that a reseller can offer a 47% discount and still make a profit.
 
freebooter said:
It is now at 47% on CDKeys and still full price at the store and Steam. I cannot think of a reasonable explanation why MS should be selling keys for such a big discount that a reseller can offer a 47% discount and still make a profit.
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Cheaper key from other regions. Flight sim is a worldwide key, so it will just be bought from a cheaper region. Cheaper region + cdkeys taking less from their cut=much cheaper than "official" sources.

You'll often see the same with EMEA games vs worldwide for Steam. Cdkeys will have the EMEA version for even cheaper than worldwide because for whatever reason a lot of publishers throw the middle east and africa into Europe. Keys there are cheaper, the game is exactly the same and can be activated in Europe because it's the same region.

You used to see the latter with physical console games as well. Online stores would sell some games much much cheaper than "official" places, but the games had a yellow dot on them. Yellow dot=middle east copy. Exactly the same as the UK one though, just a yellow dot on the cover.
 
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Perhaps that is it. The worry with buying via these sites is that they declare the key invalid and cancel it or even the account. With msfs it is possible to have much more money spent on addons that are tied to the account as well. With the discounted keys being constantly and openly available I can only assume that MS aren't that bothered even if they are being sold outside of region or similar. I have seen a lot of people on the msfs forums say they have bought via cdkeys without any problems.

Interestingly with msfs the only keys available seem to be for the MS store and none for Steam. I did wonder whether as it is their own title MS are using the discounted keys to get people to use MS store rather than Steam.
 
I've used CD Keys twice (one time for a pre-order, one for a current release), and no issues either time. Discounted price compared to Steam direct, still got my pre order bonuses and stuff.
 
freebooter said:
Perhaps that is it. The worry with buying via these sites is that they declare the key invalid and cancel it or even the account. With msfs it is possible to have much more money spent on addons that are tied to the account as well. With the discounted keys being constantly and openly available I can only assume that MS aren't that bothered even if they are being sold outside of region or similar. I have seen a lot of people on the msfs forums say they have bought via cdkeys without any problems.

Interestingly with msfs the only keys available seem to be for the MS store and none for Steam. I did wonder whether as it is their own title MS are using the discounted keys to get people to use MS store rather than Steam.
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I think if you buy the steam version it is still opens up whatever Microsoft's thing is anyway, so kinda pointless.


For what it's worth I got the new flight SIM on cd keys and no issues.
 
I use CDKEYS.com CJS-cdkeys ,kinguin (occasionally) , humbke bundle , greenmangaming mostly. Have tried a few of the more obscure sites too and luckily so far i have never been stung yet!
 
BUDFORCE said:
I think if you buy the steam version it is still opens up whatever Microsoft's thing is anyway, so kinda pointless.


For what it's worth I got the new flight SIM on cd keys and no issues.
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I think the Steam version installs to a different location and didn't encrypt some of the files that were encrypted in the MSstore version. Although I am not sure whether that is still the case.

I bought 2020 via MSstore and haven't had any problems but some people on various msfs forums swear that the Steam version runs better and gives fewer problems. As the files are same I can't believe it makes any difference tbh.
 
freebooter said:
I think the Steam version installs to a different location and didn't encrypt some of the files that were encrypted in the MSstore version. Although I am not sure whether that is still the case.

I bought 2020 via MSstore and haven't had any problems but some people on various msfs forums swear that the Steam version runs better and gives fewer problems. As the files are same I can't believe it makes any difference tbh.
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YEah im not sure I believe that either, but who knows.....
 
I've used G2Play/Kinguin for years to buy 100s of games and never had any issues with any of the keys. I do stay clear of buying accounts though, that does seem a little dodgy.
 
I'm living in France, and CDKeys is now blocked here. The site can't be reached, but interestingly Kinguin, G2Play are still accessible.
 
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