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

[artsy woman]

Well, I am one of those honest eBay Sellers, but not of software, I have sold vintage to antique items on eBay for over 12 years and maintained 100% feedback.  I am a Power Seller in fact, I sold my husband's Austin Healy for $28,000 on eBay a few months ago.   We had people coming to our residence to see the car in person before they placed a bid, but in the end a guy from New Jersey bought it from just looking at my images and emailing a few questions.  He was a corporate CEO who placed his trust in me and my reputation and is 100% satisfied with the transaction and the car.  That's why I trusted an eBay seller who said his Photoshop was legit and also had 100% feedback.  So, for 12 years of being honest and truly trying to please my customers in every possible way, my one experience of getting burned has opened my eyes.

[Outré]

Buko. wrote:

Outré wrote:

In otherwords, "some" people got ripped off so "the majority of them [eBay sellers]" are dishonest.

Most people who buy software from ebay get ripped off. That is a fact.

previously you wrote:

If the smaller shop chooses to have less of a markup, and profit, what is the trouble?

The only people who can give a discount on Adobe products are huge retail sellers and then is maybe $10 or $20, thats it. No legitimate seller can or will give the $600 off that the pirates do. If you really believe most of the sellers on ebay are mom & pop stores just getting by I have a cool bridge I can sell you in the city of your choice for real cheap.

Whatever.

You believe what you want to believe; and I'll continue to know what I know.

Anyone can get a retail license and a whole new pricing structure on all products opens up.

But you have your POV - so enough said to you.

[tataozawa]

to avoid fraud or illegal transaction at ebay, we must see seller reputation and comments from other buyers. I think it can help us from illegal pirates. I got good experience at ebay, twice buying transaction was successful and not got problems.

[Guest]

Feed Back can be faked too. Read the post above you for a prime example.

[Frankconl]

This is very confusing about whether or not to buy an Adobe product that is advertised as new and is selling for a lot less from an Ebay or Amazon seller. It seems the first step would be to find out if Adobe sells to resellers. If they do...then the purchase one is considering on Ebay or Amazon may or may not be legitimate considering who you are buying from. But if Adobe doesn't sell to resellers.....then this will end the debate. These new copies are not legitimate.

Then....can someone resell their used copy of say "Adobe Photo Shop CS"? Does Adobe allow another person to register or even use a used copy bought from another person?

Someone out there I'm sure is up to speed on this kind of confusion...Help us Please.  Frankconl

[Kelibath]

Well, now I KNOW my copy is a fake. The colour is wrong, the mouse doesn't work, the registration number is invalid.. there are a few pointers.

I'd like to know if there's any way you can tell before buying.

What about the PN number on the bottom? Does that prove anything?

The registration number is inside the box, maybe resellers won't know it. Also, opening the shrinkwrap gives some grounds for complaint by eBay sellers.

I very much dislike the way opening a dispute on eBay now takes you straight to PayPal. PayPal take forever.

As far as I am aware you cannot reregister a product that has already been registered on your own account so you might have no access to tech support. However you can Deactivate a product from your PC and install it on another PC, including the registration process I assume, which would mean that Used copies will work as long as they've been deactivated but may not be eligible for tech support. The seller's responsibility is to deactivate their own product before uninstalling; the buyer should check this with them and test it.

By the way, what happened to Artsy Woman was a travesty. I'm really sorry for you, if you're still around.

[Kelibath]

After reading earlier posts, it seems a Change of Registration form from Adobe is also a good idea.

Anyone know how to remove the adware/spyware/trojan horse that fake copies put on your PC? My desktop hasn't shown any unusual activity as of yet but I am now very scared for my finances if there is a password collator at work here; I use PayPal and don't want my funds to be removed.

[Guest]

Kelibath wrote:

Anyone know how to remove the adware/spyware/trojan horse that fake copies put on your PC? My desktop hasn't shown any unusual activity as of yet but I am now very scared for my finances if there is a password collator at work here; I use PayPal and don't want my funds to be removed.

Not all fakes put malware on your computer but to be safe, cancel or suspend your PayPal account.

Then try different scanners/cleaners. There is the Malicious Software Removal Tool from MS, as well as their new free Security Essentials software.

Then there are free programs like AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy.

I use all of them!  

[Kelibath]

I'm only using McAfee, not Norton - thanks, though.

I downloaded a spyware removal device, and will run it.

I don't know how to suspend my PayPal account unfortunately. More importantly I have a current claim open with PayPal involving the seller, which I NEED to resolve before I can close or suspend it in any way (unless you can just not use it for payments for a while, and still go ahead with claims? Please let me know). Also, I'm worried in case unsual activity on my PayPal account affects the claim itself by looking suspicious. Of course I don't want my remaining funds to be stolen either. Any advice?

[Guest]

I'm no PayPal expert but can't you just log in to your account and stop any future payments?

[Merlin_AZ]

The free version at www.malwarebytes.org.

Also the rootkit scanner from www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/blacklight/.

If you have Norton Internet Security 2010, the full scan already scans for rootkits.

[abdu]

What if the seller has 1000 feedbacks and only 2 negatives and selling Photoshop CS4 for $100? I read some comments here and no one seems to believe this could be legit. What if it were an unwanted gift and the person has no use for it? Maybe the seller needs the money and wants to sell it fast so he's selling it at a low price point.

[Zeno Bokor]

And what if he's lying? what if the gift was a pirated copy? There may be some legit copies of Photoshop sold on ebay but the vast majority are fakes which is why this thread is in place, to warn people of the dangers of buying from eBay and the likes.

[Kelibath]

Agreed.

Just to clarify, I didn't know the dangers of eBay software before purchase (as I've bought legitimate software from eBay in the past).

I bought two copies of Photoshop CS4 and BOTH are fake. Different sellers, different asking prices. Admittedly they didn't have over 1,000 positive feedback, but nor do I, so I thought all would be well.

[abdu]

I just can't afford $800 for a paint program. No way no how. I am a casual user. So I might take a chance and lose $100. But I am trying to be careful and see if I can get it from a local person. I have another post about if there's a way to verify it's authentic using a cell phone.

[Guest]

abdu wrote:

I just can't afford $800 for a paint program.

Are you aware that Photoshop is not a paint program?

Painting is a very subsidiary feature of what is a professional image editing program.

There are good painting programs for a lot less than $800!

[abdu]

Ok I didn't use the correct technical term. I am aware of programs like PaintShop Pro or whatever Corel is calling it these days, Photo Impact.. etc.

and free ones like The Gimp.

[philipjdavies]

Simple solutioon Ask the seller to confirm that it is a genuine copy of CS4 that can be registered with Adobe and if it tturns out to be a fake thst they will redund all payments. Make sure you pay through paypal then if things turn out wropng you claim back Via Paypal.

It works as this happened to me and paypal immediately refunded me.

Philip Davies

[Kelibath]

That's what I've done, except that I didn't ask about returns before point of sale as I assumed a seller would accept returns of software that turned out to be fake if they didn't know it was a fake when they sold it.

I claimed through PayPal, but I am still waiting and worried about the outcome.

[abdu]

Some sellers have "no returns - no refunds" in big font. Stay away from these. I also heard Paypal's refund process takes a long time or it doesn't happen. YMMV.

[philipjdavies]

Wwhen you go through PAyPAl the first move is a dispsute when you and seller try to sort it out. you then upgrade it to a case its at this stage that Paypal take notice. Just check that you have epgraded to a case.

Philip Davies

[philipjdavies]

I have obtained quite a lot of Software from E Bay without any problems ocurring. Its is just CS4 that has falen of the edge due to the illicit copying of this product in Asia and then the idea of making a fast buck by those who sell it as genuine.

[Guest]

philipjdavies wrote:

Its is just CS4 that has falen of the edge due to the illicit copying of this product in Asia and then the idea of making a fast buck by those who sell it as genuine.

In fact if you read this thread you will see it started on a large scale with CS2.

[philipjdavies]

Well I had no problem getting either of those perhapes I was just lucky

[FaeriezWingzCreationz]

Hello Everyone

I want to buy a LEGAL Copy & have seen many different stickers.

Does ADOBE place their *below* sticker on ALL or

are the packages different determined by who/what factory packages them?

Do ALL Adobe products have the attached ADOBE hologram sticker?

And if a product does not...is if fake?

Thanks for your time  " )