SteamCoin - Buy Steam Games for Bitcoin

[SteamCoin]

I recently opened SteamCoin [steamcoin.com], a service that lets users buy Steam games for Bitcoin. Currently it has support for almost all Steam games and packs*. I'll be adding new features and areas to the site (next up is going to be a Sales section so you can view all the games currently on sale on Steam and add them to your SteamCoin cart).

To use, just browse or search for the game or games you want on Steam, add them to your SteamCoin cart and checkout. You will be asked for an e-mail address and a return Bitcoin address (in case, for some reason, the gift cannot be sent, your Bitcoins will be returned to this address), and upon submitting your order you'll be given a unique Bitcoin address to send your coins to, along with the amount for your order (you'll also be sent a confirmation e-mail, though for security reasons the Bitcoin address for payment will not be sent).

I know there are other services with the same function (though I didn't when I built the site and put it live), but SteamCoin offers a couple of unique features that sets it apart from competitors. First and foremost is the ability to add any number of Steam games to your cart, all in one transaction. And the second is that SteamCoin offers a competitive exchange rate as well as a low fee.

Thanks!
-SteamCoin

* - Currently some games which appear as options on a given games' page (such as Deus Ex: HR Augmented Edition) are not supported on SteamCoin. I'm working to fix this and should have an update in the next couple of weeks.

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[Vorksholk]

Hey, I just bought MW2, seems like an awesome service. At any rate, just wondering, what's your turnaround like?

[SteamCoin]

@Vorksholk, sorry for the late reply!

The general turn around is however long it takes for 1-2 confirms, assuming I'm awake and near a computer. If it's after 1am and before 9am PST, it'll likely be longer since I won't be awake to process the transaction. I automatically get updates on the orders, so I generally see them before the confirms are in.

[zerokwel]

Just ordered a cheap game. Site Looks rather good lists EVERYTHING

lets see how it goes will update when transaction is complete

EDIT...

Got the game a few hrz later. Nice and quick  Thanks again will be using you in the future

[Milkshanks]

I'm tempted to try this out. But I have a question, how do you handle steam discounts and stuff? For example, for today only Magicka is 75% off, since I'm guessing that you do all this by hand I'd have to guess that you won't update discounted prices, right?



Edit: Also, where's Binding of Isaac new DLC?

[ReginaldBuxley]

I'm tempted to try this out. But I have a question, how do you handle steam discounts and stuff? For example, for today only Magicka is 75% off, since I'm guessing that you do all this by hand I'd have to guess that you won't update discounted prices, right?

He might be using the steam API:
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_Web_API/Feedback#Provide_games_and_packages_information

Provide games and packages information
There should be something like ISteamGame to retrieve information about every game available on Steam. One method to get all games and one for detailed information about one game, e.g. appid, name, release date, publisher, achievements, store link, price (depending on the country code) etc. and all subIDs (packages) they're included in.

[Milkshanks]

Well, I'm still waiting for this guy to show up :O

[SteamCoin]

Hi guys.

I implemented sales into the site not long after I put it up. There's a tab which should list any games that are currently on sale, and sale items are marked with red text.

Certain DLC/game editions currently do not show up due to the way I populate the games list. Any DLC or game editions that do not show up in search results but are present on the base game's page are affected. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a good example of this, as the Augmented Edition version does not show up in the search results, but only on the page for Deus Ex HR itself. I'm working on fixing it so that the site will support these items as well. No date on that, however.

If you find any games which aren't currently listen on SteamCoin, just shoot me an email at support@steamcoin.com with a link to the game and I will add it manually. I typically monitor the email all day, so adding a game that's not on the list is usually quite snappy.

Regarding the Steam API, as far as I'm aware it doesn't have exactly what I need, so I'm currently using a custom script to fetch data from the search results.

Please let me know if you guys have any more questions! Thanks for your interest in SteamCoin

[Milkshanks]

Alright, thank you for your answer. Just sent you an e-mail. Btw, I think there's some sort of delay on your "On Sale" games, as you never got the 75% discount (1 day only) on Magicka, got the 50% (wich lasted for a couple days) discount, and now that the discount is over on Steam it still shows Magicka with 50% discount on your "On sale" list. You should probably look that up.

[SteamCoin]

Unfortunately that's going to happen sometimes due to the variety of sales and the fact that I usually only update the list once a day. If any game shows a discrepancy or you'd like to get in on a specific sale and the site isn't reflecting the correct price, let me know and I can fix it before your order no problem. I'd like to remedy these issues, but due to the fact that there isn't actually an API, there's not really a cut-and-dried solution. Suffice it to say I have something in the works which should alleviate the problem to some degree. I'll post an update on the site when the fix goes live (it's all back-end but it will fix the issue with some items not showing up in the list as well as incorrect prices on sale items from time to time).

Oh also, I updated the list right now as well.

[Milkshanks]

I see. Well, the main problem as I see it is not having to contact you through e-mail to get a discounted price from steam, is someone buying it as "On Sale" on your site when the game is already back to full price. Anyways, sent you a mail about Binding of Isaac DLC, Wrath of the Lamb, waiting for you to update that list

[SteamCoin]

I see. Well, the main problem as I see it is not having to contact you through e-mail to get a discounted price from steam, is someone buying it as "On Sale" on your site when the game is already back to full price.

I agree completely. That's one of the main things I'm trying to eliminate with the updates to my script. In cases where that happens I always refund the order, but I know that's small consolation when the game you wanted to grab with Bitcoin is no longer on sale. In any case, I'm working on the update and I'll put a mention of it on the news section when it's live. For now the best thing to do in the case of sales you don't want to miss that are mis-priced is to try and notify me at least an hour or two before the sale will end. I usually see emails pretty fast so as long as there's enough time to get a couple of confirms on your payment before the sale ends, I can usually fulfill the order.

Anyways, sent you a mail about Binding of Isaac DLC, Wrath of the Lamb, waiting for you to update that list

I've added the DLC

[Milkshanks]

Wah, What happened to SteamCoin? :<<<<<

[mc_lovin]

Wah, What happened to SteamCoin? :<<<<<

Read the OP, got excited, opened URL, got disappointed..

[Milkshanks]

It was up like 6 hours ago. Gonna send this guy a e-mail.

[SteamCoin]

Hi guys.

The site is currently down because the hosting was due to be up in 10 days and apparently GoDaddy likes interrupting peoples' service before their time is actually up.

In any case, I've renewed the hosting and talked to GoDaddy and the site should be up anywhere between sometime later today and tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience, I had planned to renew the hosting soon but didn't realize GoDaddy does this sort of thing.

Anyway, I haven't gone anywhere and the site should be back soon!

Thanks!

Edit: Appears the site is back up now

[Infinity1]

Very well done website, I was always planning to make a similar website.

I'm just wondering whether or not you use one of the Steam API's for fetching the prices off the Steam store because manually changing the prices would be a pain in the ass.

[SteamCoin]

As far as I'm aware the Steam API doesn't currently support getting the data I need for games. Can you point me to some information on it? I looked at the wiki a bit but it doesn't seem like it has the features I would need to use it.

[Infinity1]

As far as I'm aware the Steam API doesn't currently support getting the data I need for games. Can you point me to some information on it? I looked at the wiki a bit but it doesn't seem like it has the features I would need to use it.

There isn't an API on it. Must be hard work changing the prices everyday. Wait until a Christmas sale comes and all hell breaks loose on your updates lol.

[SteamCoin]

It's not that bad, but I do sometimes run into cases where prices have changed after someone has ordered, unfortunately. It doesn't happen all that often, though. I should be putting up a system to automate it to update every 6 hours or so pretty soon.

I did develop a system that could literally scrape every game, special edition, pack and DLC that's on the store, but crawling almost 2000 pages (it has to download the entire individual game's page in order to find special editions like Deus Ex HR: Augmented Edition) takes a long time. The compromise I think I'm going to go with is using my current style of script to scrape the main games, DLC and packs, and then when you go to select a game you can expand a drop down that will find and list any special editions that are applicable. No ETA on that system for now because it's a bit complex and I want to make it has a proper fallback for those that surf without javascript and such.