Maybe //

CDkeys essentially purchases tens of thousands of games in third-world countries, scans the keys and then sells the scanned versions in first-world countries. In doing this, they pay local taxes for all their game purchases, whichever country it may be. However, if they never import the physical copies of these games to the U.S, then the question arises whether they are paying import taxes to the United States. They may be importing just photos of scanned keys, but as a single scanned key can be worth $60 or more, it’s difficult to say whether these photos should be subject to import taxes or not.

All in all, though, I have to say that CDkeys is more legally legitimate than almost every other third-party key reseller. They don’t trade stolen keys, they don’t buy out celebrities, and they state their business practices clearly on their website. //

The CDkeys terms and conditions clearly state that they “accept no refunds or returns”, and that they are “not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from lost or stolen programs or use without permission”. This means that you have no real guarantee or warranty for your purchase.

If you want a 100% safe and risk-free purchase, then your only real option is to purchase retail.

Whether or not purchasing from retail or from CDkeys is better, is up to you. You should decide whether the risk is worth it or not