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Where is it ok to buy gems


Jinx.8356

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Don't bother with buying gems anywhere else but from the in-game store. Some websites can be untrustworthy and will try to scam you. Just wait and pay attention for gem store discounts during [March](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gem_Store/March_Sale "March") or the [anniversary](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gem_Store/Anniversary_Sales "anniversary") sale (August through September) on the items you like.

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ANet has an official list of retailers where it's safe to buy their stuff. Can be expansions, gem-cards or anything else they're selling.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/retailers/

 

For any other website or retailer it's always on your own risk. I'd especially stay clear of any market-places that buy their keys from various sources. In any case: If the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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Gem Cards from Authorized retailers have the same value equivalent as buying through the game directly...at least in the US. It still breaks down to where 400Gems = $5US.

It may seem like a better deal but that illusion shatters once you do the math. Outside of an Authorized dealer (WalMart, GameStop, BestBuy, etc) or directly from ArenaNet in game...I wouldn't chance it.

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> @"moonstarmac.4603" said:

> Gem Cards from Authorized retailers have the same value equivalent as buying through the game directly...at least in the US. It still breaks down to where 400Gems = $5US.

> It may seem like a better deal but that illusion shatters once you do the math. Outside of an Authorized dealer (WalMart, GameStop, BestBuy, etc) or directly from ArenaNet in game...I wouldn't chance it.

 

That's what I thought.

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> @"BunjiKugashira.9754" said:

> ANet has an official list of retailers where it's safe to buy their stuff. Can be expansions, gem-cards or anything else they're selling.

> https://www.guildwars2.com/en/retailers/

>

> For any other website or retailer it's always on your own risk. I'd especially stay clear of any market-places that buy their keys from various sources. In any case: If the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.

 

This page is so outdated there are dead links, links to pages that no longer sell any GW2 or only the expansions or game guides and only very rarely can you find one that sells gem cards and they sell them above the suggested retail price. I especially love the one that has the picture with the price 24.99 on it and they sell it for 28.99. For comparison the 24.99 one matches the GW2 pricing in game.

 

So this page is UTTERLY useless. And since ArenaNet doesn't seem to want to maintain a network for this then they clearly have the monopoly of price. I think their prices are too high so when I buy gems I go to third party sites. I avoid the ones that I know are bad news or I don't trust for various reasons but all in all their pricing is not ridiculously low and certainly more fair than ArenaNet's prices. I think that 19 Euros for 2000 gems is already very pricey considering what it actually gets you, let alone having to pay 20 Euros for 1600 gems in game.

 

Everybody has to make their own decisions in this. I know people may fear losing what they built up here over the years but if that fear pushes you to accepting ridiculous prices then ArenaNet does have you by the proverbial round things. I'd rather not play this game than be in that situation frankly, if it were to come to that. So far the codes I got were good and so I'm good.

 

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> @"BunjiKugashira.9754" said:

> For any other website or retailer it's always on your own risk.

It's generally more than "at your own risk," because it's against the rules to buy gems (or the game) outside of authorized sites. There are no authorized "resellers" of keys or gems.

 

> @"Gehenna.3625" wrote:

> This page is so outdated there are dead links, links to pages that no longer sell any GW2 or only the expansions or game guides and only very rarely can you find one that sells gem cards and they sell them above the suggested retail price. I especially love the one that has the picture with the price 24.99 on it and they sell it for 28.99. For comparison the 24.99 one matches the GW2 pricing in game.

Then please be specific about which sites and what's wrong so that ANet can fix it.

 

Sometimes the website will be accurate but the retailer frequently runs low on stock (in the US and Canada, for example, Target & Bestbuy have often been listed as sites to buy gem cards even though you could hardly even find them in the store; they simply didn't sell enough that most managers prioritized keeping them out on the floor for purchase).

 

There's no defense for having dead links, but unless someone at ANet checks every day, it's inevitable that stuff will get stale. If the retailer doesn't tell them about a site update or policy change, they won't know for a while. A simple support ticket gives ANet an opportunity to fix it.

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> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"BunjiKugashira.9754" said:

> > For any other website or retailer it's always on your own risk.

> It's generally more than "at your own risk," because it's against the rules to buy gems (or the game) outside of authorized sites. There are no authorized "resellers" of keys or gems.

>

> > @"Gehenna.3625" wrote:

> > This page is so outdated there are dead links, links to pages that no longer sell any GW2 or only the expansions or game guides and only very rarely can you find one that sells gem cards and they sell them above the suggested retail price. I especially love the one that has the picture with the price 24.99 on it and they sell it for 28.99. For comparison the 24.99 one matches the GW2 pricing in game.

> Then please be specific about which sites and what's wrong so that ANet can fix it.

>

> Sometimes the website will be accurate but the retailer frequently runs low on stock (in the US and Canada, for example, Target & Bestbuy have often been listed as sites to buy gem cards even though you could hardly even find them in the store; they simply didn't sell enough that most managers prioritized keeping them out on the floor for purchase).

>

> There's no defense for having dead links, but unless someone at ANet checks every day, it's inevitable that stuff will get stale. If the retailer doesn't tell them about a site update or policy change, they won't know for a while. A simple support ticket gives ANet an opportunity to fix it.

 

With all due respect, but it's not up to me to do their job for them. I will tell you this though, as far as the EU is concerned it's better they scrap them and start over. I know some of these sites as I use them also for other games and they haven't had GW2 stuff stocked for ages now. Not a matter of being out of stock temporarily.

 

This is not a matter of them checking it every day, but considering how long some of these sites don't actually even stock the game anymore, I'd say they haven't done a thorough check probably in at least a year. I'll give you one example. I filtered on Netherlands (my country) and I got 5 results. One site sells gem cards but more expensive than the gems in game. Another site sells HoT for 45 Euros, which is also more expensive than here. One site sell only GW2 game guides, but not the game and no gem cards either. And the remaining two have nothing at all. And I'd say this is pretty representative for the EU countries from what I could tell.

 

If it had just been on or two issues I'd list them, but this list has just been neglected.

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  • ArenaNet Staff

I talked about this with folks on our sales team, and they suggested that you would be best to purchase directly from us or through a major retailer, such as Gamestop, Amazon (Amazon itself, not the individual seller pages), BestBuy, and Mediamarkt. Other pricing may look good, and it may be tempting, but I remember a thread when the forums first opened where dozens of people were lured into buying the game from a "low-cost" seller that was, in fact, a fourth-party that had acquired codes from an unscrupulous third-party vendor, and that vendor was distributing fake or used codes. When that happens -- as when people get unauthentic gem codes -- there is nothing we can do to help, because the codes were not purchased through us.

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> @"moonstarmac.4603" said:

> Gem Cards from Authorized retailers have the same value equivalent as buying through the game directly...at least in the US. It still breaks down to where 400Gems = $5US.

> It may seem like a better deal but that illusion shatters once you do the math. Outside of an Authorized dealer (WalMart, GameStop, BestBuy, etc) or directly from ArenaNet in game...I wouldn't chance it.

 

Doesnt seem that way

a person here linked a sitet that sells 2000 gems for 20$

Which is 25% cheaper

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> @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > @"Myrdreth.6829" said:

> > > Why would you want to buy gems on another site rather than directly ingame?

> >

> > Because it's way cheaper.

>

> Isnt it extreme stupid? xD

 

It's risky and most likely against the rules. But I would never call somebody stupid who's trying to save money.

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> @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > > @"Myrdreth.6829" said:

> > > > Why would you want to buy gems on another site rather than directly ingame?

> > >

> > > Because it's way cheaper.

> >

> > Isnt it extreme stupid? xD

>

> It's risky and most likely against the rules. But I would never call somebody stupid who's trying to save money.

 

What I meant is that the fact that thete are vendors(that dont steal) that sell gems cheaper than the game itself is stupid.

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As Gaile said, either directly in game or from a box store (Walmart, Gamestop, etc). Don't trust the sites offering major discounted prices. I do remember the 'scam' that ran around in the early days. If you are able to acquire gems at the lower price via these sites, and the codes work...great assuming Anet doesn't care. But if you are scammed and the codes don't work, there isn't anything they can do to help.

 

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> @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > > > @"Myrdreth.6829" said:

> > > > > Why would you want to buy gems on another site rather than directly ingame?

> > > >

> > > > Because it's way cheaper.

> > >

> > > Isnt it extreme stupid? xD

> >

> > It's risky and most likely against the rules. But I would never call somebody stupid who's trying to save money.

>

> What I meant is that the fact that thete are vendors(that dont steal) that sell gems cheaper than the game itself is stupid.

 

Why? The cheaper something is the more likely it's going to be bought. So by making something slightly cheaper you could potentially earn more.

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> @"Gehenna.3625" said:

> This page is so outdated there are dead links, links to pages that no longer sell any GW2 or only the expansions or game guides and only very rarely can you find one that sells gem cards and they sell them above the suggested retail price. I especially love the one that has the picture with the price 24.99 on it and they sell it for 28.99. For comparison the 24.99 one matches the GW2 pricing in game.

>

> So this page is UTTERLY useless.

 

@"Gaile Gray.6029"

*This* is a problem though. The list of authorized retailers is *very* poorly maintained, at least among nordic countries but I suspect it's quite general.

 

Several of the links to retailers in my country (Sweden) lead to **HoT pre-purchase** items! Of the 8 retailers, only **2** stock *anything* GW2 related, and _**just one** actually stocks the game_! (one more still shows out-of-stock search hits)

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> @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > > > @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> > > > > > @"Myrdreth.6829" said:

> > > > > > Why would you want to buy gems on another site rather than directly ingame?

> > > > >

> > > > > Because it's way cheaper.

> > > >

> > > > Isnt it extreme stupid? xD

> > >

> > > It's risky and most likely against the rules. But I would never call somebody stupid who's trying to save money.

> >

> > What I meant is that the fact that thete are vendors(that dont steal) that sell gems cheaper than the game itself is stupid.

>

> Why? The cheaper something is the more likely it's going to be bought. So by making something slightly cheaper you could potentially earn more.

 

The retailers have to get the gem codes from ArenaNet.

ArenaNet gives them a volume discount that allows the retailers to make a profit.

If the retailers are able to undercut ArenaNet by a large margin and STILL make a profit, then ArenaNet was stupid with their pricing model.

Ergo, if you see a deeply discounted gem code, the three most likely scenarios (in order of likelihood) are:

1. No one is buying gem codes, so the retailer is selling at a loss/no profit point to recoup some of their money.

2. The retailer is selling illegitimate codes that were either stolen or purchased with a stolen credit card and because it cost them nothing, are able to sell it for a cheap price.

3. ArenaNet was very bad at their pricing model and thus went bankrupt 6 years ago (seems unlikely without some form of time travel).

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