Buying gems outside of gemstore

[WeedyZeGreedy.8635]

So i've been wondering how much anet is earning when ppl buy gemcodes through other means than the gemstore? With gemcards and various sites offering genuine gem codes, are anets profit dimished by buying elsewhere?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Gem Cards are authorized at purchase; I doubt the minimal cost of the plastic card cuts much into revenue, nor the cost for retailers to supply the service. It's probably the same cost as using Digital River (the Gem Store).

[Haleydawn.3764]

As long as the cards/codes are from legitimate sellers and aren’t stolen or fraudulently obtained, then most likely Anets profits are not diminished via these cash ~> Gem methods.

[Ayumi Spender.1082]

Didn't know other sides did them. I would assume though the cards you can get from stores or whichever is the same to them minus however much it cost to make the cards.

[BunjiKugashira.9754]

Short answer: Yes.

If you buy gems ingame 100% of that money goes to ANet. If you buy gems at a 3rd party retailer, part of that money goes to the retailer. 800 gems are $10€ on the gemstore. ANet sells gemcards to retailers for less than that. If the retailer sells the card for $10€, the difference is his profit.

 

On the other hand having the gemcards in a store is a kind of advertising. Just like boxed copies. It makes the game visible to people who might never have heard of it or makes people buy gems when they just so happen to be at the store buying something else and see the gemcards. Also it makes buying gems possible for minors who might not have the means to buy gems online.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @BunjiKugashira.9754 said:

> If you buy gems ingame 100% of that money goes to ANet.

 

This isn't exactly true because in-game purchases are done through a third party (Digital River) that probably take parts of the profit.

[Shirlias.8104]

> @Haleydawn.3764 said:

> As long as the cards/codes are from legitimate sellers and aren’t stolen or fraudulently obtained, then most likely Anets profits are not diminished via these cash ~> Gem methods.

 

I wonder about external sites like those who sell through Kinguin and Similar.

 

I know that sometimes companies are created in countries where there are specific laws ( with allow them to buy/sell with way less taxes ), but or the purchase from store is high in order to promote gemcards ( which could have sense. Like Digital Downloads at full price, while maybe on a physical store you will find the same item discounted ) or it's all tax related.

 

But we are Talking about 25€ from the official store vs let's say, currently, 17/18 € from those sellers ( 20 € with antiscam/refound as i see ).

There difference is huge.

 

And since the official store thing was introduced with HoT for the first time, i still wonder about it.

 

Also, giving fake or stolen codes will result in negative feedbacks for the store ( though i could imagine that stores like that open and close everywhen ).

 

What do you think?

[Hemhemty.2481]

I have also been wondering about it since I am reading stuff like people are getting banned because they bought the gems from a 3rd party website or I hear there is a Blacklist of Anet for the websites that are selling these codes illegally. I dont know if either is true but they get me thinking. There is a huge difference between the prices on the gem store and the websites like Kinguin. I also see that Kinguin is selling the gems with NCSoft (which is a video game publisher) mark. Can it be taken as a Guarantee? Is this security and the possibility of getting ban really a thing, I would definetely go for the gem store. But I want to know for sure if buying gems or games from third parties is safe. In that case I would like to try some of those websites in the future maybe.

 

Any information about this matter?

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

There isn't a ban for buying from 3rd party, but you can really only be sure about gems from Anet or autorized resellers.

 

Everyone else have purchased the gems from one of those, and if they're sold cheaper there's a clear risk some are fraudulent (such as bought via stolen creditcard, etc).

Any code purchased that way will become invalid, and if the code is already applied to an account when the chargeback happens, that account will be banned.

[Tasida.4085]

> @"Shirlias.8104" said:

> > @Haleydawn.3764 said:

> > As long as the cards/codes are from legitimate sellers and aren’t stolen or fraudulently obtained, then most likely Anets profits are not diminished via these cash ~> Gem methods.

>

> I wonder about external sites like those who sell through Kinguin and Similar.

>

> I know that sometimes companies are created in countries where there are specific laws ( with allow them to buy/sell with way less taxes ), but or the purchase from store is high in order to promote gemcards ( which could have sense. Like Digital Downloads at full price, while maybe on a physical store you will find the same item discounted ) or it's all tax related.

>

> But we are Talking about 25€ from the official store vs let's say, currently, 17/18 € from those sellers ( 20 € with antiscam/refound as i see ).

> There difference is huge.

>

> And since the official store thing was introduced with HoT for the first time, i still wonder about it.

>

> Also, giving fake or stolen codes will result in negative feedbacks for the store ( though i could imagine that stores like that open and close everywhen ).

>

> What do you think?

 

Old rule : If it's too good to be true, it PROBABLY is.