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

[tkhor]

Hi John

Yes, I did think this was too risky!

Thanks. Will wait for the upgrade offer to come to Singapore. The Adobe shop did not allow me to purchase the CS4 upgrade (from CS2) at US$199 which is advertised. Apparently only available fro US registered users!

TH

[Guest]

tkhor wrote:

Thanks. Will wait for the upgrade offer to come to Singapore. The Adobe shop did not allow me to purchase the CS4 upgrade (from CS2) at US$199 which is advertised. Apparently only available fro US registered users!

You may wait a long time because now CS5 is out, upgrades to CS4 are off the menu at Adobe!

[tkhor]

Well, that is when the offers to we "third world" residents begin at the local vendors!

TH

[CAnn12]

My answer is "Don't!!". I was one of those who bought from E-Bay thinking I got a legit copy of CS2. It arrived, boxed and shrink-wrapped...looking brand-new. The book that came with it was brand new. I used it and was happy until I started applying some short-cuts and noticed that they were not working. I had to manually go in and press the left and right brackets to shrink/enlarge brush size and the "icon" that came up was not the bracket sign, but some crazy symbol. I contacted Photoshop thinking something was wrong and that maybe I needed a patch to find out that they did not have my product registered even though I registered it when I installed it on my computer. Come to find out..I was duped! Photoshop reported to me that it was not a valid copyI So don't be fooled! I can give the name of the seller if that helps. I contacted him and he said to his knowledge (lol) it was a legit copy. Never heard anything back.

[Vibrant_coder15D5]

If you paid through paypal you can claim a refund.

[rudy713]

When I bought the Educational version of CS5 through Adobe Online, I sold my full version of CS4 on eBay. (I went out of my way with photos and info to ensure sellers that it was legit exactly because of the rampant piracy on eBay).

My question is that when I move on to CS6, will I be legally allowed to resell my Educational version of CS5? My CS4 was a full, non-educational version and so the license was transferable but are Educational versions transferable? It's a full version and when I move up to CS6, I will have to purchase another full version as educational upgrades are not offered.

Thanks for your help.

Rudy

[Guest]

You can check the EULA (links at the bottom of every adobe.com page) to verify your rights with an educational license. The last time I looked it was not possible to transfer/sell it.

Educational licenses aside, you can only sell an old regular retail version if it was not used to upgrade to a newer version.

While you may not see 'educational' upgrades sold by an educational seller, you can simply purchase a retail upgrade to move on from your educational version of CS5.

When CS6 appears, compare the pricing for a full educational license vs. a retail upgrade and choose the lesser.

[Noel Carboni]

I don't believe you're ever legally allowed to re-sell a version you have used to upgrade from anyway, whether or not it's the Educational edition.

-Noel

[vkrekenava]

Never buy such a thing from ebay, they are full of scammers and they will definately rob you.

[Jeremy AB]

Way way back, I bought the CS2 Standard Upgrade off eBay from a fellow in France (he was an American living there). He claimed it was unopened and for some reason (I can't remember why) he never needed it. He offered to ship it to anyone and they would pay once they received the package and verified it's authenticity. I thought about it and took the risk, since there was really none involved. The package came a few weeks later and was authentic and worked properly as an upgrade from CS1 and I paid the guy via paypal. Saved a couple hundred bucks. I think I really lucked out.

My previous eBay Creative Suite purchase consisted of blank CD copies and a printout of possible working serial numbers. I promptly emailed the seller and eBay and was refunded and the seller's account was closed.

[David Ayars]

Experienced eBay buyers can learn to read between the lines of a listing and find the rare listing of wheat (a genuine listing, such as you found with your CS2 upgrade) among the dozens of fraudulent listings (DUH!: seller is in Singapore or China, has sold/listed many copies, and is selling $600 software for $200).  You can get lucky and save money with a rare legitimate bargain listing.  But there is still risk.  Sometimes, as seen in earlier postings in this thread, a serial number which works at first can stop working later when Adobe figures out what is going on, and at that point, it may be too late for a refund.  Some sellers of one copy may honestly believe they are selling a legitimate copy, but they got taken, too.  I think, given the high risk, that it's just safer to deal with Adobe itself or with an authorized seller you know and trust.  This is a bad place to try and save some money.

[Ritz_Cracker]

Your right. Thank you very much. This has turned into a very positive learning experience for me. My initial purchase price and shipping were refunded so I didn't lose any money. What I did learn is that Adobe has a terrible customer support division. When I opened a dialog with customer support, I ended up talking to someone in India reading from a prepared script in a binder. It was obvious from the beginning that I was dealing with someone with little or no experience in real world problem solving. When I realized they were incapable of solving the problem, I took the next step and posted the issue in a forum on Adobe. What transpired next truly perplexed me. I was inundated with reply after reply pontificating on everything else other than a solution to the problem. Adobe has a very loyal fan base with a few being rabid. But such is life. In the meantime, I will continue to use my previous version until the price drops to a more affordable bang for my buck. So I consoled myself by spending the money for great plugin's from Onone and NIK. Adobe's cost cutting in customer support ended up with one less up-grader and me with a very souped up previous edition. Looking back, it ended up as a win-win for me. It doesn't get much better than that.

[David Ayars]

I'm glad it worked out for you, James, and I'm glad that you didn't take a financial bath on this.

I was just reading another thread:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/653264?tstart=0

where people who are trying to use those very two plugins (Onone and NlK) have posted problems with RAM crashes in PS CS5.  So maybe it's just as well that for now, you're staying in CS4.  You may find you can do what you want better that way, anyhow.

Good luck.

[patka4466]

I've got my photoshop from eBay and everything is in order. Guess I was lucky

[Doc81harley]

Thanks for the reply Bob

.I never knew about the forums on here and when I saw the one about buying off eBay, I got concerned due to the amount of money I spent.  If were not for this thread I would never have known better.....BTW, seeing as you are a major contributor on here, I was trying to go to the Exchange/Marketplace Forum and it says I am "Unauthorized" to view that page.  Do you know why?  I was wanting to know about all the 3rd party software, plugins, etc that are available through Adobe downloads....safe or not to download, which platforms can I use with Photoshop CS5, I think you get my jist.

Thanks Bob,

Kevan

[acresofgreen]

Hi Kevan,  you need to create an account on adobe.com to access some of the content.  https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/membership/index.cfm

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[Guest]

For my two cents:

Finally got my own original version of CS5 - expensive investment but hopefully worth the price   after having dealt with some strange eBay DVD sent from China....

[J4e8a16n]

Is this place safe?

Link deleted

[BobLevine]

Any place selling academic versions with no requirement for credentials is not legit, IMO.

Bob

[John T Smith]

>Any place selling academic versions with no requirement for credentials is not legit, IMO

I work at a University, so buy education versions where the license allows personal use outside the education organization (pretty much all of them, as far as I know... but I do check first to make sure I can use the software at home)

Your "IMO" is actually fact... an education reseller is supposed to require proof of school identity... looking around at Adobe's product or store information area will lead to a link where Adobe describes their requirements for someone to sell education versions of their software... ah... here are some links

http://www.adobe.com/education/students/studentteacherlicensing/school_listing.html

http://www.adobe.com/education/students/studentteacheredition/eligibility.html

http://www.adobe.com/education/students/studentteacherlicensing/

The only two I have bought from DO require proof http://www.studica.com/ and https://www.academicsuperstore.com/

Even the bookstore on my campus requires a student or employee ID

[Lou1917]

So having read all the responses from 2008 to 2010, I still am not sure if the questions has been answered.  Here's my dilemma.  I want to upgrade from Premiere 3 to Premiere 8.  Ebay is auctioning a copy of 8 at around $30 to $40.  Adobe sells it for $80.  Can I assume that the Ebay product is fraudulent and I should buy from Adobe for the full retail price.  The Ebay price is very tempting but after reading all the comments, I'm 75% convinced that I should forego Ebay altogether.

[Vibrant_coder15D5]

AS long as you use paypal then if somthing goes wrong you are covered.

Allternative ask seller to confirm if it is not a legal copy you will get a full

refund.

[Lou1917]

So having read all the responses from 2008 to 2010, I still am not sure if the questions has been answered.  Here's my dilemma.  I want to upgrade from Premiere 3 to Premiere 8.  Ebay is auctioning a copy of 8 at around $30 to $40.  Adobe sells it for $80.  Can I assume that the Ebay product is fraudulent and I should buy from Adobe for the full retail price.  The Ebay price is very tempting but after reading all the comments, I'm 75% convinced that I should forego Ebay altogether.

[David Ayars]

Lou,

I have stopped buying software on eBay because most of it is counterfeit.Most of what's being discussed in this thread pertains to Adobe Photoshop (not Elements), which is a $650 piece of software, not $80 as Elements is. So you might think that there's little incentive for counterfeit fraud with the $80 software.  But that's not true.  Inexpensive software is often counterfeited as well and sold on eBay.

Without looking at the specific auction you have in mind, it's hard to offer an objective opinion about any one auction.  If you post the link, they'll edit ithe link out of your post here, so don't bother.

I did just look at the active eBay auctions for PE8 in the price range you mention.  I didn't see any Buy It Now auctions in that range.  There are half a dozen auction listings starting in that range that will most likely end with a selling price closer to $50-60, not $30-40, even though they're starting at $30-40.  There is one seller who has listed dozens of copies of unboxed Photoshop Elements 8, some in this price range as auctions, others as Buy It Now or auction sales starting in the $50-60 range.  Selling dozens of copies, unboxed, are strike one and strike two, for increasing likelihood of fraud, as far as I'm concerned.  He doesn't specifically say so in his listings, but he implies that he is selling OEM copies which must be distributed with hardware, because he includes hardware in the auction. I don't know whether PE8 is legitimately distributed in the way described in his listings, but it can be counterfeited, stolen, or purchased wholesale that way, easily.

There is only one auction in this price range that looks like it might be for a retail copy of PE8. Someone is selling only one copy, and he's never listed and sold other copies before. He claims he got it as a gift but already had it, so he's selling his extra copy. That's one good reason to sell software as a bargain.  One concern: he admits opening the box, to see if what was inside matched what he has.  A little odd, but maybe we overlook it.  Another concern, did the person buying this as a gift for him buy a legitimate retail copy, or did he buy a fake one, too, or even steal it?  There's no way to know, although the fact that his copy comes in the box helps a bit.  Boxes can be and are counterfeited, too, though.

Nobody is going to sell multiple legitimate copies of retail Adobe software at half price, until the product has been discontinued, because it's too easy to sell it for more.  You could wait until PE8 is discontinued for PE9 and snap it up on clearance from a legitimate retail outlet.  You could also check legitimate online retailers such as Newegg and amazon or stores for a better price than Adobe's.  Those are safer bets than buying on eBay.

[Lou1917]

Thanks a lot for your answers.  You have confirmed for me what was always in the back of my mind that this was too good to be true.  I think I'll pay the extra and get a legal copy from Adobe.  Thanks again.  I really rely on people like you to help software-challenged people like me!!