Account marketplaces are where most people buy League of Legends accounts, but the risks are real
You can buy League of Legends accounts from third-party marketplaces like PlayerAuctions, G2G, and Eldorado, where individual sellers list accounts for sale. These sites act as middlemen — they hold your money in escrow while the seller transfers the account to you, then release payment once the transfer is complete. The accounts sold range from low-level fresh accounts to high-rank accounts with rare skins and champions unlocked.
The catch is that buying accounts this way violates Riot Games' Terms of Service, and your account can be permanently banned at any time. Riot does not recognize the sale as legitimate, so if something goes wrong — the seller takes the account back, the account gets hacked, or Riot detects the unauthorized transfer — you have no recourse and lose your money. The marketplace itself cannot force Riot to restore a banned account.
Beyond the ban risk, you are also trusting a stranger with access to an account that contains payment information, email addresses, and sometimes linked social media. If the seller keeps a backdoor into the account or the marketplace is compromised, your personal data is at risk.
Key Takeaways
- Third-party account sales violate Riot Games' Terms of Service and can result in permanent account bans without warning or refund.
- Marketplaces like PlayerAuctions and G2G offer escrow protection between buyer and seller, but cannot protect you from Riot's enforcement.
- Buying accounts exposes you to account theft, credential theft, and the loss of any money you spent on the purchase.
- Riot's official path is to purchase cosmetics and battle passes on a single account you own and control.
How third-party account sales actually work
When you buy an account on a marketplace, the seller changes the account's email address and password to ones you provide, then you log in and change them again to find the account. The marketplace holds your payment during this window — usually 24 to 48 hours — to give you time to confirm the account works and the seller has not kept access. Once you confirm, the marketplace releases the money to the seller.
This process assumes the seller is honest and has not already sold the account to someone else, kept a recovery email on file, or set up two-factor authentication that locks you out. Many sellers do keep backdoor access intentionally, either to resell the account again later or to steal it back once you have invested money in it. Even if the seller is trustworthy, the account itself may have been obtained through account theft, phishing, or fraud — which means the original owner can recover it at any time using Riot's account recovery process.
Why Riot Games bans purchased accounts
Riot's Terms of Service explicitly forbid buying, selling, or trading accounts. When Riot detects an account that has changed hands — through login patterns, payment method changes, or reports from the original owner — they disable it permanently. You cannot appeal this ban or recover the account, and Riot will not refund your purchase price because the sale was never authorized.
Riot enforces this rule to protect players from fraud and to prevent a secondary market where accounts with rare cosmetics become more valuable than the game itself. It also protects new players from buying accounts that are actually stolen property. From Riot's perspective, every purchased account is either stolen or will be stolen, so the safest policy is to ban all of them.
The legitimate way to get cosmetics and progression
Riot's official path is to play on a single account you create and own, then purchase cosmetics — skins, emotes, chromas — directly through the League of Legends client using Riot Points (RP), which you buy with real money. You can also earn cosmetics through battle passes, seasonal events, and free weekly champion rotations.
This takes longer than buying a high-rank account, but your account will never be banned for it. You also own the account permanently, can link it to your email and phone number for security, and can recover it if you forget your password. If you spend money on cosmetics, that money stays with you because Riot has no reason to remove your account.
If you want to play ranked without grinding through low ranks, you can create a new account and play normal games until you reach level 30, then jump into ranked. This is slower than buying an account but carries no ban risk.
Red flags that signal a scam or stolen account
Accounts priced far below market rate — especially high-rank accounts with expensive skins for a fraction of their cosmetic value — are usually stolen or about to be recovered by the original owner. Sellers who rush you to complete the transaction before you can fully test the account, or who refuse to let you change the email address when ready, are often planning to keep access and resell the account.
Accounts with a long history of bans, suspensions, or chat restrictions are flagged by Riot's systems and more likely to be permanently disabled. If the seller cannot show you the account's match history or ranked tier, they may be hiding a ban or suspension that will set up once you take ownership.
What happens if your purchased account gets banned
If Riot bans the account, you lose access to it when ready and permanently. You cannot appeal the ban or request a refund from Riot because the account was purchased in violation of their Terms of Service. The marketplace where you bought it may offer a refund or replacement account, but this depends on their policy — some offer money-back guarantees, others do not.
Even if the marketplace refunds you, you have lost the time you spent playing on that account and any cosmetics or progress you earned. If you had linked payment methods to the account, you should change your passwords on any other accounts that use the same email address, in case the seller retained access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Riot detect that I bought an account?
Riot can detect account sales through login pattern changes, payment method changes, and reports from the original owner. They do not catch every purchased account when ready, but bans can happen weeks or months after purchase. There is no way to know when or if your account will be flagged.
Is it safer to buy from a friend than from a marketplace?
No. Whether you buy from a friend or a stranger, the account is still being sold in violation of Riot's Terms of Service and can be banned at any time. Buying from a friend may feel safer, but Riot's enforcement does not distinguish between friend sales and marketplace sales.
What if I buy an account and the seller keeps the password?
If the seller keeps access to the account, they can change the password, email, and recovery options to lock you out. The marketplace's escrow protection only covers the first 24 to 48 hours — after that, you have no recourse. This is one of the most common scams in account sales.
Can I sell my own League of Legends account?
No. Selling your account violates Riot's Terms of Service, and both you and the buyer risk permanent bans. Riot does not recognize account sales as legitimate transfers of ownership, so you have no legal protection if the buyer disputes the transaction or the account is later banned.
How much does a League of Legends account usually cost?
Prices vary widely depending on rank, number of champions owned, and rarity of skins. Low-level accounts with few champions might cost $5 to $20, while high-rank accounts with rare skins can cost $50 to several hundred dollars. Higher prices do not may provide the account is legitimate or will not be banned.