Is Kinguin Legit? So Far, So Good

I had a lot of extra game keys from bundle purchases from sites like Fanatical and Humble Bundle. Many were either duplicates of games I already owned or were simply unwanted. For years these have built up into a list of over 80 keys. I wanted to find a way to trade them for games that I actually wanted.

This is how I found Kinguin. To be honest, I was quite skeptical at first. I have heard of these types of sites before and assumed they were scams. In this case, I had nothing to lose with these keys, so I decided to try it out for myself. All I had to lose was some game keys that I was never going to use anyway.

It turns out that Kinguin is actually not a scam. I have been able to sell my unwanted game keys and purchase several games using the earned credits without any issue. Read on for more information about how the process works and to see if it would work for you.

Selling on Kinguin

The process of selling keys on Kinguin is surprisingly simple. You can make an account for free and list up to five keys at a time for sale. All you have to do is search for the game you want to sell, add your key and set a price. Kinguin shows you what the lowest price is, so you can easily list your key as the cheapest option.

I put up five keys and waited to see what would happen. Each morning I checked the "My Offers" section in my Kinguin account to make sure my keys were the cheapest available. It's as simple as checking for a green icon next to the listing. If the icon turned gray, I would edit the listing to lower the price to be one cent less than the lowest listing.

Sure enough, all five keys had been sold in only a few days. When a key is sold, you get a store credit (called the eurBalance) that you can use to purchase anything on Kinguin. There is a one week delay before you can access this balance, so that the buyer can easily get a refund if the key didn't work for some reason. In nearly four months I have sold about 45 keys without any problems. No key was ever returned or disputed.

If you have hundreds of keys, you can apply to become a Merchant account, which gives you many more options, including the ability to list as many keys as you like. However, for most individuals, the 5 key limit is no problem. Games sell surprisingly fast much of the time.

One issue I thought might be a problem is the types of games I had for sale. Most of the keys I had were for little indie titles that came out many years ago. I really did not think anyone would be interested in these, yet they all sold just fine. Admittedly, most of them aren't worth very much money, but it really shows that there is an audience for just about every game out there. There are a number of games that are so common they are essentially worthless.

Buying on Kinguin

Of course, it's great to build up all this store credit, but it really isn't going to do much good if buying off of Kinguin is a scam. I'm sure everyone's fear is that you are going to get a fake key, or one that has already been redeemed. Thankfully, this has not been the case.

My experience, having bought a handful of games now, has been without issue. There is a delay between when you place your order and when the keys appear in your account. In my case, this has always just been a few minutes, but I have seen complaints from some people where they have had to wait some hours before the order goes through, but these seem fairly rare.

In terms of key validity, Kinguin does not check if the keys listed on the site are actually valid or not. As such, it is possible to buy a key that doesn't work. All the merchant accounts have a user rating just like eBay. If someone is trying to sell a bunch of fake keys, their rating will reflect that. If you do get a bad key, you can easily request a new code by contacting Kinguin's customer service. They will ask you to provide a screenshot of the key failing to redeem properly.

The main complaint I have seen is that their customer service can be slow to respond when dealing with these cases. It's not an automated system, a real person is actually looking at the problem, so it could take a day or two to resolve.

Personally, I would be more wary of buying something like a Windows 10 or other major software license rather than just a game off of Steam. I have seen a few reports where buying a gray market key backfires because Kinguin won't refund it, since the key is technically valid, but the software company won't allow the key to work without a valid proof of purchase. If you are looking at software purchases, you should do some research on the specific product's key redemption process before purchasing.

Affiliate Program

Kinguin has a free affiliate program called the "Kinguin Mafia." Once signed up, you get a referral link that you can share on social media or on your own website. If someone uses your link to buy anything off the website, you get a small percentage of that sale. Unlike selling keys, this isn't just store credit, but actual money that you can transfer to PayPal once you have reached a certain balance.

Additionally, if someone you refer also joins the affiliate program, you will get a percentage of all their sales as well. All of this is taken out of Kinguin's cut, so there is no downside for anyone you refer to the program.

I have only recently signed up for this and have had no results so far. If you have a larger social media presence you might have better results. Thankfully, there is no minimum amount of activity required, so it's not something you have to actively promote or deal with to remain part of the program.

Conclusion

My experience with Kinguin, both for buying and selling, has been very positive so far. For my uses anyway, it really is the ultimate way to trade game keys with people all over the world. If you have extra keys laying around, I really don't see much harm in trading them to someone who can get some use out of them.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.