Issue with a giveaway I won

they don't HAVE to do anything.

+1

Usako will not have issues with normal giveaways on SG, but will be locked out of giveaways with SGTool if they have a check for non-activated wins.

I haven't hit the "received" button yet. I posted a comment on the giveaway itself and on their profile so now I'll just wait and see what happens. I'm not even overly concerned about getting the game itself, it wasn't wishlisted, but I just don't want to mess up any SGTools stuff.

If the giveaway creator wants to handle it that way I'm fine with it. I do believe it was an honest mistake so I'm not mad. I just wasn't sure the best way to handle the situation but I reached out to them, now to wait.

which was given away for free [..]
but I asked for another cheap key and she gave it to me and, wouldn't you know it, the exact same thing happened. I let her off the hook and just kept the keys but it was really frustrating.

That's a common scam, and one that relies on people not providing negative feedback due to trying to guilt traders into excusing the matter as a mistake (thus not leaving a trail for future traders to reference, allowing it to perpetuate unchecked). Unless it's explicitly stated that you're trading for free games, never count free games as acceptable (if for no other reason than that they're so incredibly common for use in that kind of bait-and-switch scam tactics).

While the individual in question may in fact not have intentionally scammed you, the burden of proving that they're not a scammer- and of obliging the parameters of the trade- is always on the individual who couldn't complete the trade as originally agreed.

That said, in relation to the broader matter, are you certain the standard and gold editions activate differently? Make sure to cross-reference steamdb, if you're not certain [as, in the circumstance where the already-owned gold edition is a package, Steam client'll simply report you already own the product when you attempt to activate it, regardless of the edition you're attempting to activate.]

Did you also post a reply on the giveaway page stating the situation? If so, then there is nothing else you have to do or can do at the moment except for waiting for the response. I would make sure to let them know (you) will (and have the right to) mark the giveaway as not received once the 7 day mark reaches so as to raise their attention and in case the creator requests received feedback from support.

For the time being, just let it go. Asking for rule clarification is entirely fine, but past that, publicly agonizing over the issue will only give an impression of you overly badgering the GA creator: Specifically since, as has been repeatedly indicated, not only do people have lives outside of SG, but online status can occur for countless reasons [eg, mobile use of SG, family/idling use of Steam] that don't also permit responding to certain SG matters.

The most polite order of affairs is, by my considerations, to immediately contact them on SG through the giveaway as soon as you notice an issue [which also leaves a log of sorts of the circumstances for staff to reference], then at about 5 days in, attempt to contact them off of SG. On the start of the 7th day, contact them again on SG (or Steam, if you have them friended) informing them that you're going to have to mark as Not Received- then if necessary, mark it as such, and leave the matter be until they contact you.

But whatever your approach, it's inadvisable to pester the GA creator with excessive or rude communication, as that may disincline them from anything remotely resembling a timely response.

That all said, long delays and mixed up or invalid keys are infrequent, but common enough that they're not of special concern. Don't over-stress the matter. Likewise, other than you possibly needing to start entering giveaways for the game again, you're not going to take any penalties from an outcome where you have to mark not received, so long as you do make sure to mark it as such.

In other words, let back on stress over it- it may not be an ideal situation, but there's nothing more to do about it.