Anybody know anything about this?

https://www.amazon.com/Tina-Art-Random-Steam-Worth/dp/B083QW1K83/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=steam+key&qid=1588860822&sr=8-2

The seller is called Tina Art. There are no reviews.

4 years ago

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As always, if the keys were worth anything, they'd be sold normally.
They're not, so they're trying to repackage them to empty their unsellable inventory.

They get around the bad feedback with two methods.

The first is to use games that were acquired, farmed or bundled dirt cheap / free, but that without sales are still listed at high prices. My go-to example is "Spirited Heart Deluxe". Absolute garbage filler, a VN posing as having vague erotic content while also being a 'raising sim', and yet always stays at £15. Now, when this kind of game would show up in a 'mystery keys' result, despite the new owner knowing full well they will never actually play it because it looks like trash, in an attempt to combat their own buyers remorse, they look at how much it sells for. They see £15. They shrug and tell themselves 'hey thats a pretty good deal' before throwing it to the bottom of their backlog, never to be played. Those who actually try to play it get that illusion shattered.

The second is to mix in an occasional key that may actually be vaguely worth something. For every 10,000 keys that are blatantly garbage, if you add 1 key that is only 'low value' (a decent game, but that goes on sale regularly for £3), then it creates a false sense of worth, and that maybe you simply had back luck otherwise. For every 100,000 keys that are garbage, if you add a single moderate or high value key, the customer is more likely to buy again AND will draw in other customers when they go around telling everyone how lucky they are, and that the random key bundles are actualy legit and sometimes worth it.

This allows the random key sellers to claim their bundles have a chance of winning (insert specific hot / new title here), because it is technically true. What they often do not mention however, is that they have a very small supply of said high-value keys they are willing to sacrifice, and that once their stock is depleted, they will not be adding any more, so all other random key bundles are solely low value or farmed / free keys. They only need a small presence of excited "Look at what I won!" replies, and the "I checked its value on the store" buyers remorse folks take care of the rest.

This has always been the case in the past, since the conception fo the random key bundles.
It will likely always be the case in the future, while people continue to buy into it via the excitement of 'what if'.

So far the only remotely decent or honest random key thing I can recall has been the ones held by GOG. In which they actually weighted the algorithm so that it was less likely to give you a key you already owned on your account. They also messaged the forums when they restocked, and if my memory serves me, they also mentioned a few times when certain higher value keys were out of stock (and allowed their posters to list their finds locally). The only drawback of GOG related events is that while you can gift duplicate keys, those giftables also expire if not used.

Please.
Please.
Stop buying 'hot random key' style bundles. For the love of god.

4 years ago*
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+1

4 years ago
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Not worth it.

4 years ago
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Interesting note:
"Features & details
15 random steam keys, total value greater than $120 at US Steam Site (base prices not ones on sale)
All the keys are REGION FREE.
You will receive the keys via physic mail in 3 days and email in 48 hours
After payment, the Keys will be selected randomly
No refund possible if the keys are already sent"

4 years ago
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What a nice subtile advertizement...

4 years ago
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Lol, Someone finally took the bait and got burned good.

4 years ago
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Guaranteed trash. Do not do it.
Fanatical has similar bundles too, but at least you know the poll of games you can possibly get

4 years ago
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Poor guy trying to get some money during isolation, can't blame him

4 years ago*
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i bought 50 keys for 10$ a while back, totally random pretty terrible games, half of them had thier keys revoked but the seller provided me with replacements lol. usually not worth but it can be a little bit fun. once in a while you get something worth a couple bucks. However most often its just junk.

4 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

4 years ago
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Closed 4 years ago by kinggraham.