How we source our keys

The question every honest key shop should answer in public.

"Why is this key a third of the retail price - and is that even legal?" It's the most reasonable question in this business, and most stores dodge it. Here is our actual answer.

Where the keys come from

We buy licenses in volume from authorized distributors and wholesale partners across the European Union. Software pricing differs meaningfully between EU markets and between sales channels - the same genuine license that retails at full price in one market is available to volume buyers at a fraction of that in another. We buy where the pricing is efficient and pass the difference on to you.

Why reselling licenses is legal in the EU

The Court of Justice of the European Union settled this in UsedSoft v Oracle (C-128/11, 2012): once a copy of software is first sold in the EU with the rightholder's consent, the distribution right is "exhausted" - the license can lawfully be resold. That ruling is the legal foundation of the entire European license-resale market, and it's why a genuine key from a legitimate EU reseller activates and stays activated. We explain the whole gray-market landscape in Are cheap Windows keys legit?

What we refuse to sell

• KMS "activations" - volume-activation tricks sold as lifetime licenses. They silently expire and were never yours.
• Keys of unknown origin - marketplace-style stock from anonymous third parties, where stolen-card purchases get revoked weeks later.
• MSDN / developer keys - licensed for testing, not resale. They work until they're blocked.

Every product we list is stock we bought, from a channel we can name to a distributor invoice. If we can't trace a batch, we don't sell it.

Verified before delivery

Keys are verified against the vendor's activation infrastructure before they enter our delivery system. When you order, the key that lands in your inbox seconds later has already been checked - along with the official download link, a step-by-step activation guide and your invoice.

And if something still goes wrong

Software licensing has edge cases - a key already bound to a forgotten account, an edition mismatch, a typo at activation. That's what our activation guarantee is for: if your key doesn't activate, we fix it or refund you in full. No forms, no fine print, and a real person answers every day.

The short version

• Genuine licenses from authorized EU distribution - legal under EU exhaustion law.
• Volume + regional pricing = our discount. Nothing shadier than that.
• Verified before delivery, guaranteed after it.

Questions about a specific product's licensing? Ask us before you buy - we'd rather explain than refund.