When wallets and F5 keys gather ’round the campfire to tell scary stories to each other they all involve Valve’s infamous Steam sales. It’s that special time of the year when a flood of sales will wash over Steam and PC gamers suddenly become no different from meth addicts as they stare wide eyed at the countdown timer to get their next fix of sales. Every year though I keep seeing people make rookie mistakes like buying games full price when a sale is right around the corner or not understanding the difference between a daily and flash sale. That’s why I wrote up this helpful guide for Steam sales and hope you use it (and your wallet) responsibly during the next two weeks.
Do NOT Buy Anything That Isn’t a Daily, Flash, or Community Choice Vote
When Steam sales pop up nearly everything will get some sort of discount and a -25% or -50% price drop might seem like a steal but you’re going to be kicking yourself when that game gets a -75% discount the very next day. Trust me, it’s happened to everyone at least once. So there are the regular default discounts every game will get for the duration of the sale and a further discount that can appear in a daily deal, flash sale, or community vote.
Let me quickly breakdown the difference between the three. Daily deals last 24 hours and are usually popular titles or niche games that have been getting a lot of notice lately. Flash sales are three games not part of the current daily that are on a short timer, hence the name flash sale. The final one is the community vote which is where the Steam community votes for one game out of three to be given an additional discount for 24 hours.
Now the one thing these three types of sales have in common is that they all share the same additional discount. Let’s say The Witcher 2 has a default -50% discount and you see it go for -75% off in a flash sale. Don’t wait for it to appear as a daily deal because if it does it’ll just be -75% off like the flash sale and there’s a chance it’ll only show up that one time. The additional discount remains the same across all three categories and you don’t want to risk potentially missing a great sale because you decided to wait to see if it appears as a daily. I’ve seen too many people make the mistake in thinking that daily, flash, and community vote sales have different discount prices when they’re all the lowest a game’s going to go.
Community Choice Vote Etiquette
I know people have varying opinions when it comes to voting, but you can actually do some good for your fellow man with the community choice votes. There are always three games to vote for but you shouldn’t just vote for whatever you want. For example, if you see something like Grand Theft Auto 4 show up with two other not very well known games (this happens a lot) DON’T vote for GTA4 right away. There’s a very good chance the game will show up as a daily or flash sale which makes having it appear in a community vote redundant. You’ll see big games like GTA4 or Fallout that’ll show up in daily deals, flash sales, AND show up in a community vote; something like Fallout doesn’t need three separate sale days (plus a possible encore spot) when something that doesn’t go on sale very often could get the vote instead. Instead, why not take a look at the other games and if they’re interesting enough give them a vote; there’s a good chance this is the only chance those smaller games will get in the spotlight. If you still think they’re look like total garbage then go ahead and vote for what you initially wanted, but just try to keep this sort of mindset during each of the voting blocks.
Now these voting periods always come in threes and last around eight hours each. Depending on your time zone the last vote might be deep in the early mornings but if you don’t sleep in you should easily be able to quickly vote for it before the next day’s vote kicks in. [Update:] Valve’s changing things up by only having a single 24 hour long vote which means there’ll be less games in the community vote, but now you have no excuse for missing one.
The addition of trading cards has also created a new incentive to vote. Every 3 votes nets you a free card and since there are 3 voting sessions before the next day of sales starts you should be able to get a card a day. Currently the seasonal cards are averaging around 25 cents each which means you could easily pocket a nice bit of change by the end of the sale and save a few bucks.
Summer 2015 Update: Valve has now done away with the voting and instead implemented a little game you can play. Playing the game will earn you trading cards (instead of voting like before) and you’ll unlock special game discounts by achieving certain milestones in the game with the community. Each day has a new set of game discounts to unlock and it seems like we’ll be able to have nine community discount items at the same time assuming the community hits each day’s milestones. The games are a mystery which is kind of a bummer, but there are clues to give you a vague idea of what game it could be.
Quick Tip: Don’t forget to install the Steam app on your smart phone so you don’t miss out on any of the voting sessions.
Don’t Buy Cheap Games Because They’re Cheap
I know that game for $1 is a steal but are you seriously going to play it? Are you even going to install it? If it’s not something you’re actually going to play don’t waste your time and money buying it.
Don’t Wait to Buy Publisher Packs
The big publisher packs that contain a slew of games from publishers like Valve or Sega don’t get daily or flash sales since they’re already discounted by a lot. Individual games in the packs will likely get further price cuts but if you’re interested in a collection of games from a specific publisher it’d be smarter to just grab the pack.
Wait For Anything That’s Not a Daily/Flash/Community Vote
The phrase “Patience is a virtue” is clearly in reference to Steam sales. Never buy anything that has a default discount until the very last day. You don’t want to risk buying something only to see it get thrown up as a flash sale. The very last day is encore day where the most popular daily deals get a repeat which means there will be no new deals. If the final day comes and your game still hasn’t gotten an additional discount or you missed it then it’s now safe to buy it.
Games in a Franchise Are Included in Daily, Flash, and Community Votes
Usually when you see a game get thrown up in one of these it’ll just show that one game but there’s a good chance that the entire franchise, not just that game, shares the same discount. So if FarCry 3 shows up as a daily deal for -75% off that means that FarCry, FarCry 2, and FarCry 3: Blood Dragon will also get that same price cut but Steam won’t mention it. This is always good to keep in mind when you see a game that’s part of a series pop up in something like a flash sale but you’re more interested in a different game from that series.
Consider Purchasing A Steam Wallet Card
These sales usually last for two weeks and you might be making a lot of quick purchases in that time. Sometimes something might happen with your credit card which could cause you some unfortunate issues if they put a hold on your account because they mistook your enthusiasm of sales for credit card fraud. It’s happened to me, people I know, and it could happen to you so it’s best to play it safe. Purchasing a steam wallet card (or two!) not only keeps you from needing to use your card, but it’s also a good way of making you stick to a budget if you need to. Last year I bought myself two cards because I didn’t really want to spend more than $40 on games since I tend to amass a large backlog of games from these sales. Having that limit in my wallet allowed me to focus on getting the games I was going to play now instead of the ones I’d play sometime in the foreseeable future, i.e. never.
Use Your Phone to Buy Games
If you’re out and about at work or something and you’re not sure if you’ll be home in time to buy a game that’s in a flash sale you can always use your phone to make purchases. People have work or social gatherings to go to, but don’t let that silly stuff stop you from taking advantage of all those sick savings. Already having money in your Steam wallet will help speed up this process as well.
Take Advantage of Glitched Prices
Every once in a while you’ll see something like Dishonored GOTY mistakenly get a -92% discount. This lasted maybe 10 minutes before it was corrected. I’m still bitter about missing out on it since I sat there like a complete idiot waiting to see if it was a glitch or intentional. If you take advantage of one of these mistakes you won’t have the game taken away from you and your money returned so feel free to take full advantage of the moment when it comes.
Lastly, Don’t Just Buy on Steam!
Most of the other major sites like GOG or GMG have already had their seasonal sales but that doesn’t mean you still won’t see the occasional good sale elsewhere. Amazon is also a good place to check out and lots of these sites also give Steam keys too.
Quick Tip: Use the site isthereanydeal to see if you’re really getting the best price from Steam.
Well that’s all the knowledge I have to give on Steam sales and hope you pass this information onto others. And don’t forget the #1 rule of Steam sales: if it’s not a daily, flash, or community vote DON’T BUY IT!
