Thinking of buying from eBay?

[BobLevine]

Edited October 23, 2008

The original article that this post referred to has expired but there's still quite a bit of good information in this thread.

The point is that eBay software is a risky purchase with much of it illegally pirated.

Bob

[Michael D Sullivan]

Some of the pirated versions have a hacked activation and registration system that makes it look like it is being activated or registered with Adobe when it isn't. If you use the Adobe registration system, you will get a confirmation screen that says there will be a followup email with a free bonus (font or training video) -- although the email sometimes comes months later. Do you remember getting that screen and the email offer?

[Guest]

> Now wait just one minute here.

ok.

> Do NOT put words in my mouth.

I was putting forth a scenario as an EXAMPLE. i never put words in your mouth. you asked a question, i answered and now you want to get all huffy with me?

> Now that I know, I will never buy from Amazon again, and I have bought a lot.

I was trying avoid that impression. i buy tons from there. the point i was trying to make is just be careful. same as you would anywhere else! would you consider buying the stereo from a guy out of the trunk of his car when it's parked in front of circuit city or best buy? if so, then you take your chances. why would ANYone consider it? well to save a buck of course. so just because i picked $100 out of the air as an example when maybe it was $50 or $25 doesn't invalidate my example. if she WASN'T trying to get over, she would've bought directly from amazon instead of a 3rd party. the same reason anyone might buy from the guy with the stereos in the trunk instead of walking in the store.

for the record, I believe she has a BIG beef with amazon, especially if she does a lot of business there. I'd talk to them and then escalate to a manager. I BET you they'd give her her money back if she pushes hard enough. repeat... the front line drones won't be able to help her, but a customer service manager might.

>All of your barbs are failing to address the issue.

I flung no barbs. sorry if you got that impression. YOU specifically asked ME for my opinion, and i gave it.

>Adobe accepted the serial number when she registered it. 9 months later, when she wanted to sell the program, Adobe told her it was a pirate copy.

THAT'S a problem. did you mention that before? if so i missed it. (reading back i see you did say: "she installed and registered it".) I believe adobe should bear some responsibility there if they indeed accepted it as a valid # at one point. if they registered it at first they should probably stick by that. i'd escalate with adobe in that case.

>"Sometimes you just get screwed." THAT is your solution to this mess?

no, that's my answer to your question. is it wrong? if you think it is, i'd like to live in the world where you're living. someitmes you DO get screwed, everyone does.

like john said, i don't work for adobe and no one else here does either. this is a user to user forum.

>and was not expecting the members here to be rude.

was i rude? please go back and read my post. i went out of my way NOT to be rude about a sensitive situation and in fact apologized ahead of time when i felt i had to state something bluntly to get the point i was making across clearly. WHO'S being rude here?

>However - this program sailed through the registration process without a hitch. It was only 9 months later that Adobe decided this copy was pirated.

again, that's a problem to take up with adobe, and maybe a lawyer if she's so inclined.

so sorry if i appeared rude. you seemed to me to be an adult so i tried to respond in an adult manner, in an adult matter. if i knew you were going to react so childishly, i would've not bothered to respond at all.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

> "However - this program sailed through the registration process without a hitch. It was only 9 months later that Adobe decided this copy was pirated."

Not to cast aspersions, but this claim smells funny to me, or there's info you have left outwhether by intention or notwhich would serve to deodorize it.

[Michael D Sullivan]

Again, if it was a pirate copy, it could well have had a hacked registration module.

[Guest]

>if it was a pirate copy, it could well have had a hacked registration module.

true. no way to tell for an average person, until a problem like this occurs.

[Guest]

> I was not aware that "private parties" are allowed to use Amazon to screw Amazon's customers. And obviously she was not either. caveat emptor my eye, Amazon brags about their resellers and how if it is not right, then they will fix it. Well they sure did. Now that I know, I will never buy from Amazon again, and I have bought a lot. But this woman didn't know.

I honestly find it difficult to believe there are so many educated people who still believe they can get a deal 'on the street.' Software isn't always safe coming direct from the publisher, but it's the only way one can truly expect it to be. Would you buy a car from a dealer who lets anyone use their lot to sell their own cars?

As for Amazon specifically, I have never had a decent experience with them, even when trying to buy a $6 book and certainly wouldn't buy anything remotely critical from a third party (which is what they are).

One day this will sink in: Buyer Beware. If youre willing to take the risk, be prepared to accept the fallout.

[_sonia_cann_]

buying from ebay? that's not a brilliant ideea!

[_sonia_cann_]

if someone cannot afford the photo editing power of genuine photoshop then should be aware that there are free graphic editors alternatives e.g. http://www.softspecialist.com/GIMP-278/GIMP.htm (and there are also others) and limit to them. They are not as powerful as photoshop but you can use them in a honest way to do the job in photos and graphics.

[_www_iwantfreebets_com_]

dont bothr

[_Giftedwon_]

do did you ever get it?

http://fatbikez.com

[_Astred_Lindermann_]

Guys, that all the same PIRATES story. Dont believe that sh%t!

[_johnvixen1_]

I seen this article on http://www.studentbunk.com
I lost everything as eBay are affiliated to PayPal who are utter useless! their buyer protection is a big con.

[_Curvemeister_]

Check ratings before you buy. I generally stick with 97 percent or better
ratings. If something looks too good to be true, it is.

[Guest]

The problem is there are too many high quality counterfeits on eBay, that people don't even realise they're buying pirate copies. To the untrained eye, they look exactly like the real thing, and because you don't see many copies of Photoshop on the shelf at local stores, it makes it more difficult to compare against a genuine product.

[_Heidi_McClure_]

Well, I think I just got screwed by an eBay Power Seller with 100% feedback and over 100 ratings. AND she had at least a dozen positive reviews from people who had purchased Photoshop from her previously. 😞 The deal was for CS2 for about $200, supposedly new and unregistered, and it came shrink wrapped. I guess I'm going to have to talk to Adobe and see if it's a pirate copy.

As for GIMP, I would love to use it if it didn't crash my system the minute I touched my Wacom tablet.

[BobLevine]

The fact that she had a dozen copies to sell should have been a red flag.

Bob

[_Kevin_DiGennaro_]

I'm looking into buying this software, and I've been trying to do it through adobe as a student. But I'm looking for a second option, off nextag I found this site
http://www.softwareforless.com/findspecs.asp?partid=65046F
Is it safe to buy from places like this?

Thanks,
Kevin

[_Heidi_McClure_]

If the program opens, registers, works and I can download updates using my serial number, am I ok? If I am, then I was actually having a software conflict. I did the msconfig thing in #11 here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=328312&sliceId=2 and I installed directly on my C drive (which I really hate to do), and the program seems to be working now.

Just to clarify, she had different versions of PS (some CS2 and some CS3), and they weren't all for sale at the same time. The positive reviews were over a period of time.

[Michael D Sullivan]

If your registration shows up in your Adobe account online, then all is well. If it doesn't show up, you may have a problem.

[_minkoo_]

Seems kinda risky buying it off ebay.

[_david_baston_]

Hello All

Has anybody come across this problem before on the 15/06/2008 i won an ebay auction which was the adobe photoshop cs3 extended version
for £150 which i thought was a very good bargain.
The person who sold it to me answered all my questions that i asked
for instance
was it a student version was it new or secondhand had it been registered and activated and also was it a PIRATED version
the answer came back to me as it was a fully good retail version like you see in the shops.
So on that i was happy and i duly won the auction
As this person came from the netherlands the software would be with me in about a weeks time,over a week had passed no software
Then i got an email appologising he had been away and just got back my auction had slipped his mind a few days later i recived a S.M.S.
tracking number for my parcel which was coming from China which i thought was strange eventually it arrived
installed the prog put in the serial number and activated it everything went okay then i went to register it and put my name and address in with the rest of the details and it said okay that you will get an email shortly
This email never arrived.So i went into my account on the adobe website to have a look to see if it was in and in the registration section on my adobe elements was showing
so then i went to the page where you can put in your serial number in
and it came up with an error saying it did nor reconise the number
What i'm puzzled about is why did it activate and also why did it say you will recivee an email shortly if my serial number is bogus one doe anybody know ??
Also on the bottom of my box my pinumber according to google does not reconise it as an adobe photoshop cs3 pinnumber ??
await anybodys answer please

[roseenglish]

I was ripped off on ebay.

Paid £350 for CS3 Extended... it came sealed with manual and the bonus CD etc.

It works BUT when I went to register the product i couldnt.

I contacted Adobe with the reg key and was told it was an illegal copy... the sad thing is I was about to upgrade to CS4 extended and theres no way I can afford the full CS4 at £700 so I will have to spend more money to obtain a legal copy of CS3 which will of amounted to £500+ in the end and all I get is the same version of CS3 but legal.

I am livid. There are tons of obvious copies on ebay selling at £20 etc so I "assumed" £350 was a high enough price to pay and as such "assumed" it was legal... of course the seller has long gone by now.

Odd thing is he had a good feedback stretching on for months... not one complaint...

Dont know who I am more angry at myself or the seller.

[Guest]

Good reports are just as easy to fake as the fake software that is sold. All part of the scam.

[ssprengel]

Did you pay with a Credit Card or PayPal? You may be able to get your money back if you file a claim.

[Kelibath]

I just bought and received a copy of Photoshop CS4 Extended from eBay - the seller told me that it was an official copy, non-student and I was happy with that. Amazon sells the student version for £150 so I was unsurprised to find it on eBay for similar prices. Even though I am a student I wanted the full version to feel legal about selling my work.. and as a student this took a large chunk of my money to buy.

I'd never bought Adobe before so didn't know I was ill-advised to do so off eBay. This happened one week ago.

Item came as a shrinkwrapped box with a DVD case inside, plus all the expected add-ons and product advertising; I had no idea it could be fake.

However I entered the registration number which worked.. but the product will not show up on my registered items and I never received the e-mail from Adobe after registration that it has been said I should have.

I already have a dispute with this seller over PayPal about non-delivery (that's a whole other story) and cannot open a new one. What on earth should I do, please?