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I posted previously to this thread.
I paid £360 for CS3 and I cannot recall where I got it from, perhaps Ebay or maybe even some website but I made the assumption that "because" the price represented a comparison to the real thing ( only a little cheaper ) that it was the real thing. I would of also checked for credentials if it was from Ebay such as how long the seller had been trading and the feedback from previous customers buying the same product. I am all too familiar with pirated versions of software sold on Ebay but I can only relate to years ago when there were many people selling obvious copies of Photoshop and silly prices so you KNEW you were looking at a copy of Photoshop and not the original version.\
Again, as I had paid slightly less than the then " going rate " for CS3 I assumed it must of been authentic.
When it arrived I cannot tell you how authentic is looked. The sealed case, the documentation, even the extra goodies and tutorial disc was in there and the discs themselves were perfect. It also had all of Adobes logos and user manual enclosed too as well as the activation code on the sticker at the back of the case.
I installed it with ease, put the serial key in to activate it and everything seemed fine.
I think I even tried to register it at Adobe but must of thought there was an error on Adobes page and gave up.
12 months down the line and Bridge started crashing, Adobe Help kept loading triggered by random actions etc so I went to Adobe to ask why I wasnt getting update patches, but I think you need to register your product before they respond so I tried but the site kept saying I had entered the wrong serial key in and to activate it manually by contacting Adobe.
So I wrote to them from the support section on the main site and included my serial key.
You can only imagine my shock and anger when they wrote back informing me that the serial I had provided was not valid.
I was and AM livid that I paid a few hundred pounds for something that was normally sold for £25. Had I wanted a copied version I would and could of paid a lot less.
Its reverse psychology at its best.
I went back to my old PS7 
So I bought an iMac recently and of course needed a mac version of Photoshop and this time took NO chances and bought from Adobe directly.
The exact same thing happened with some UGG boots that I paid £100 for over 2 years ago. I bought some new ones on Ebay for £45 thinking it was steal then when they arrived it was clear they were fakes. Not only that, but the paid I paid £100 for 2 years previous were also fakes I just didnt know it.
I did some research about UGG boots and apparently 99% of people selling UGG boots on Ebay are selling fake copies either knowingly or not.
So I gave the £45 pair to my Mum and paid £150 for a genuine pair direct from the manufacturers.
Its just not worth the very high risk of buying bargain items, it may cost more but at least you know your getting the real thing.
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