Ever since I bought The Orange Box I'm stuck with an extra copy of both HL2 and HL2: Episode 1.
I've offered them to friends in the past, but none were too willing to take it. So I was thinking of making an exchange with someone, that is, I gift the games to that guy and he gifts me something back.
That something back could be on steam or here in GOG, and I'm really willing to discuss exactly what with the person interested.
Now, has anyone here ever tried this sort of thing with Steam before? Has Valve ever caused any problems to users because of this practice? Also, I'm bringing this here because I'm part of this community and I know people here have good practices with gift exchanges (the give a game, get a game thread).
Feel free to ask any questions or provide any info you may want to share with me.
Ps.: I just saw this on their support page:
" May I sell or trade gift subscriptions?
Steam Gift Purchases can not be sold or traded. Attempting to sell or trade a gift subscription is a violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement and may result in your account being permanently disabled."
What then?

Well there's a thread here called "random community draw" and people have given their spare copies of HL2 away as prizes and I've heard of no issues

I'll take a copy of episode one maniaczek494

Yeah, don't worry too much. As long as you aren't selling your gifts on Ebay and aren't posting about trading them on the Steam forums, Valve won't even know =) Besides they must be aware that a lot of us get games "gifted" to us in exchange for the payment of the exact same amount, each time we have regionally restricted games gifted cross region...

You can gift them to technically ineligible users? Wow, would have thought that would be stopped. Wonder if Direct2Drive's pointless north america obsession can be circumvented the same way

Weclock, I couldn't find that account on Steam to gift it to you. What can you gift me in return? My wishlist here on GOG is composed of:
Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive
Unreal 2
Runaway: A Road Adventure
The only thing I'm looking after in Steam is the Brothers in Arms Pack, but that's too expensive if compared to Episode 1. And thanks for the interest.
@Everyone else: Thanks for the answers!

I've already got copies of both, thanks. That said, I'm curious about whether or not you actually want to GIVE them away or if you just want to trade. If the latter, what were you hoping to trade for?

that's cool then, I'll just wait for another orange box sale.

I was willing to trade them for something of similar value (I'm using individual Steam prices for these comparisons, HL2 is USD19,99 and HL2E1 is USD9,99) from my wishlist here (mentioned above) or getting the above mentioned BiA Pack.
Or, maybe, The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition on Steam too.
@Weclock, I could gift it to your email then? Try finding me and adding me as a friend: warfalci.

You can gift them to technically ineligible users? Wow, would have thought that would be stopped. Wonder if Direct2Drive's pointless north america obsession can be circumvented the same way
Yup, you can gift cross borders. As far as Valve are concerned, they are only applying the restriction at the point of purchase. So as long as someone buys a game in a country where its sold, it can be gifted anywhere. It's one of the few remaining plus points for Steam. And just to clarify, no idea if the same holds true for D2D or GamersGate as I've never been in a position to try.

I'm not that enthusiastic about it, I already have two copies of the game.
Just figured another on that account would be nice, but no biggie, I'll just wait for the orange box to go on sale again.

Oh... That's ok then. I just hope someone interested in the trade passes by.

Unreal 2? Good God man, why?

thanks, I really didn't need to know that, please don't quote me unless your message is intended for me.

There's nothing wrong with Unreal 2. It was an enjoyable enough game. If you don't like it, that's fine. No need to sound so shocked when someone else wants to play it though.