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Alt (Steam, not SG) account to buy multipacks for gifts to give away?

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Crizyz

So, with the current sale going on, there are some games I saw that would be nice to buy in a 4-pack and thus be able to be given away, preferably after the sale ends. As the 3 games that are not activated, go into inventory the 'old way'.

Now, if I already have that game on my account, I cannot buy the 4-pack for it and get those 3 gifts.

So a solution to that problem would be, buy the 4-pack on my alt account, keep it there, and when I have a winner (to a giveaway created on main account) send it from my alt account.
I mean, I don't think it would matter how or where a gift comes from that a winner receives, as long as there is just one account involved SG wise right?

This also brings up another question, can those 3 gifts coming out of a 4-pack, be transferred the old way from inventory to inventory?
In this case, alt account to main account (and thereby making my first question irrelevant)? Or does that still have the limitation of only being able to be sent and activated directly?

snap

So, do you think it's acceptable to use an alt account in this way, or do you think it is not done?

7 years ago*

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Is it ok to use an alt account to get multipacks, store, and send gifts to winners?

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Hurr durr yesssss moar games!
No! Alt account abuse!
14 Comments
Loevli

I guess it's okay, since it's from the same person. That's just my opinion though.

7 years ago
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Crizyz

That's what I'm thinking. And by logic, it wouldn't matter much. But you never know, some people might see this differently. And especially if support thinks differently, I'd rather be on the safe side of the line. :P

7 years ago
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SquireZed

It would be fine. Where the gift comes from is irrelevant as long as the person who receives it gets it (provided, of course, that the gift/key doesn't get revoked for fraud or anything like that).

7 years ago
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Crizyz

Lol yeah, but that's quite irrelevant to the whole alt account thing I'd say. That goes for main account as well. :D

I'm talking about buying this on/from my own alt account, which is as safe as it can get from my POV, as no 3rd party is involved.

And if for some reason it'd get revoked, that would mean a -1 on sent feedback.

But good to hear that people seem to think the same as I do.

7 years ago
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Sundance85

That's completely ok. Just keep in mind that the extra copies might be region locked if you're from a region where region locks apply.
You can sent the gifts to the winner from your alt but to be completely on the safe side you might wanna add them with your main first and explain what's going on so they don't think (or pretend to think) it's an unrelated gift.

7 years ago
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Crizyz

Yeah of course, if I do this, I would mention it in the giveaway description that it will be sent from a different account.

7 years ago
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Sundance85

If you go this route I would rather add them and tell them personally. Specially in public gibs barely anyone reads descriptions :(

7 years ago
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Crizyz

True that. Thanks for reminding me of that.

7 years ago
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Crizyz

Now that I think about it, what happens exactly if I buy a game from main account as a gift to my alt account? Do I get a link through mail that I can just give to someone else? And what happens when I decline the gift on my alt account, does the main account get a refund or can I give it to someone else later on?

Anyone knows this?

Edit: found the answer partially.

Declined Gifts Resolve The Way They Should
In the old system, a declined gift would sneak back into the giver's inventory and remain on their bill. Now, if a recipient already has the title, or just doesn't want it, they can click decline and the purchase is refunded directly to the gift giver.

7 years ago
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Sundance85

Somebody here on SG claimed that the gift recipient can still add gifts to their inventory but I haven't tried it yet so I can't say first hand.

7 years ago
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Crizyz

Hmm maybe I should do some trial and error with some really cheap ass games.

7 years ago
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Jiseru

If the Gifts from a 4-pack go in your Steam Inventory, you could just send the games to the winner by e-mail or even send those copies from your alt (kind of slow if you have a lot) to your main account too.

If the game is still a Steam Gift, it can be stored to Inventory but if you buy anything on the store that doesn't give extra Gift copies it will have to be redeemed.

7 years ago
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Crizyz

Well, I saw no option for that. I also tried gifting to my alt account but then giving the link in the mail to a friend, that didn't work either.

7 years ago
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Sundance85

Thanks for confirming that. When I thought about it later I was doubtful myself if it was true because if it were it would lead the recent changes of the gift system ad adsurdum.

7 years ago
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Closed 5 years ago by Crizyz.