How Token Brokers Sell Discounted AI Access

Originally posted on August 10, 2026, updated on October 8, 2026.

Following our earlier blog post introducing the relays market and mapping 49 of them, this post examines the sales channels around discounted AI access: direct outreach, credit marketplaces, and broker-operated endpoints.

One seller we contacted offered what they described as “$100,000 in spend per day.” The conversation followed messages that startup founders shared with us: unsolicited pitches promising large credit balances and discounted access to OpenAI and Anthropic models. We contacted sellers to understand what they were offering and how that access would be delivered.

We use “token brokers” to describe intermediaries marketing discounted AI credits or access. Some say they source unused balances from startups; others offer access through their own API endpoints. Those arrangements can look similar in a sales pitch while giving the buyer very different things.

Startups swapping credits is nothing new, and we have known this was happening in several startup forums and groups, what’s new is the market has become commercialized.

The outbound pitch

The offers founders shared with us went beyond informal exchanges of unused credits. Sellers pitched continuing supply and substantial discounts.

One message read:

“I have millions of API credit so I am looking for partnership. I can provide for long term.”

Another promised:

“We have direct relays to OpenAI and Claude, we can offer the exact same models you use right now, at a cost that’s 40-50% cheaper than list price.”

These messages establish what the sellers advertised. They do not establish the size of their inventories, the origin of their accounts, or whether the advertised models would be delivered consistently.

Using contact details supplied by founders, we emailed sellers as prospective buyers. One responded and moved the conversation to a private messaging app, where they made the offer of “$100,000 in spend per day.”

Seller A · private correspondence · advertised daily availability.

We pretended to be interested in buying tokens from them, and through this conversation we realized these sellers have access to a lot more tokens than we initially thought they did. This particular seller was offering $100,000 in spend per day.

They aren’t handing out the provider keys directly; instead, they act as a proxy that probably picks from a pool of keys and forwards the request.

Credit Marketplaces

Dedicated websites present another route into this market. These sites offer credits at most of the major cloud and inference providers.

One service, AI Credits, describes itself as a credit marketplace. Their website reads “the marketplace for buying & selling AI credits.” They claim all inquiries made on their site are confidential, they do not share trade data with AI providers, facilitate escrow-protected transfers and confirm that most credit transfers are completed within a 24 to 48 hours time after payment is confirmed.

The onboarding process for this website, AI Credits, is pretty straightforward. Its forms ask users to specify a provider, credit value, delivery method, and discount. The research screenshots show both listings and a seller-onboarding flow.

Our research notes record submissions involving $200,000 in OpenAI credits and $10,000 in Anthropic credits. The accompanying screenshot is labeled as a seller form, so the direction of those submissions needs to be made explicit.

The distinction matters. A submitted form demonstrates an onboarding process. It does not demonstrate that inventory exists, that a buyer and seller were matched, or that a transaction was completed.

Another service, AICreditMart, markets itself to buyers seeking discounted capacity and sellers with unused credits. Its public listings distinguish between API credits and full accounts..

Its pages also give conflicting descriptions of buyer protection. The homepage advertises escrow-protected transfers. Its terms and conditions say it does not hold funds in escrow and does not guarantee credit validity, transferability, or provider compliance.

Bulk-pricing

Other services market discounted access through a single API endpoint.

CheapCredits advertises lower prices and attributes the savings to aggregating customer demand and negotiating bulk rates. Its marketing describes forwarding requests to upstream providers through a pooled account.

In the FAQ section of their website, their response to whether their offer violates the provider’s Terms of Services is as follows:

“Reselling API access is a nuanced area. Our service operates under commercial agreements with the providers. We are transparent about how the service works. Enterprise customers should consult their legal team and review the current Terms of Service for each provider.”

However at the bottom of their site, they mention in fine print “CheapCredits is an independent reseller, not affiliated with OpenAI or Anthropic.”

In most cases, a 40% discount is very unlikely unless you are one of the provider’s top customers. It appears that CheapCredits is acquiring the supply in other ways.

CheapCredits even has a Data Processing Agreement for anyone looking to stay GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant. Enacted by the European Union, GDPR sets strict guidelines for the collection, processing, and protection of personal data belonging to individuals within the EU, regardless of where the company processing that data is located globally.

This shows the market has reached European customers and resellers.

Our research also shows other marketplaces like Tokvana and Neokens.

The Market on Telegram and Reddit

Telegram channels offer a robust selection of underground marketplaces. This fact remains true for token resellers. One of these channels is relatively more active than others: AI credits marketplace.

Repeated advertisements present another difficulty. The same inventory may be reposted, promoted in several groups, or offered by multiple intermediaries.

Similar discourse can also be found on several Reddit threads. This leaves one wondering, how big this market truly is. A rough estimate, based on our exposure to these channels, proves there are probably tens of millions of these credits being offered every day. Whether these resellers deliver on the offers made as regularly as they make them, is a question left unanswered.

These tokens have become a pseudo-currency, and there is enough liquidity in the market to allow for a lot of abuse. As we see the market turn and companies become more aware of costs, crackdowns on this type of abuse probably aren’t far behind.

The same promise appears across these sales channels: access to familiar AI models at less than the official price. The uncertainty lies in what sits behind that promise.

For a buyer, the important questions are concrete. Is the purchase a transferable balance, an account, or access through someone else’s endpoint? What restrictions apply? Who processes the requests? What happens if the upstream account is suspended or the advertised capacity becomes unavailable?

The material in this blog is strongest as evidence of how sellers approach customers and present their services.

What buyers can readily compare is the advertised price. What remains harder to establish is the origin, durability, and terms of the access behind it.