Please Help-- Purchasing Predicament . . . Adobe or Amazon?!?

[JJC7773]

Does it make any difference whatsoever where one purchases their Adobe programs . . . specifically from Adobe directly or from Amazon.com (an authorized seller NOT Amazon Marketlace)?

I ask bkz I need to purchase 2 programs (Adobe Acrobat X Pro and Creative Suite 5,5 Web Premium) and after product, shipping and taxes I would save $100 buying from Amazon. I am a graduate student and this is a sizeable sum, but I want to make sure I would be getting the exact same current program purchasing from Amazon with the same technical support (if any) and have the exact same experience now and in the future (ex. still eligible to purchase updates in future, etc.) as I would purchaing from Adobe directly. In other words, will Adobe recognize the purchase from Amazon in the same fashion it would from its own store . . . I would not any way want to find I was penny-wise and pound foolish . . .

Thank you very much.

[Phillip_M_Jones]

as long as its  Legit dealer Amazon should be. there is no difference. As long as you make sure you buy new in the box copies. Not used. Amazon sells both.  If your willing to take a risk you can buy  used. I wouldn't do it though, and not recommended, atleast by me.

[John T Smith]

>graduate student 

You may save "up to 80%" by buying the special Education versions... same license, you simply must prove you are a student to buy

Adobe Education

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/

Both sites below require proof of Education status, per Adobe licensing

Buy at http://www.studica.com/ or https://www.academicsuperstore.com/

May NOT resell http://forums.adobe.com/thread/896145?tstart=0

[JJC7773]

Thank you very much Philip and John for your replies . . . I am most grateful for your help!

So then it sounds like it should not make any difference whatsoever whether or not I purchase these programs directly from Adobe or from Amazon-- except for maybe cost, yes?

I tried calling Adobe customer service to ask them and they were very nice, but I received sort of contrary responses. They suggested I buy it directly from Adobe saying that if there is any problems, they can address it directly. That they give 3 free technical support calls to their customers (within first 2 months) and a 30 day money back guarantee. They agreed $100 difference (between Amazon and Adobe) was sizeable and that Amazon was an authorized reseller and that if I wanted, I could buy the programs from Amazon. I asked if Adobe did not also support their programs if purchased from Amazon and I could not get a straight answer. This was clearly an outsourced department and I sensed they felt very uncomfortable saying to buy from anyone but Adobe . . . they would say "if you want to be sure you are getting the "real thing" buy from Adobe, if you want to save money and take a chance with possibly "second hand" software buy from Amazon.com an authorized reseller (but not Amazon Marketplace)." I again asked if the techincal support would not also apply to their programs purchased form Amazon but again a sense of discomfort could be felt in their voice and the topic was changed. While the woman I spoke with was very nice, I was still left feeling rather confused as to whether or not there would be any difference in the programs or the post purchase relationship with Adobe if I purchased through Amazon (in terms of technical support, future upgrade eligibility, etc.).

The support person did also mention, that the process for receiving security codes was different if purchased from Amazon, and that there had been some issues, but this was not the norm and she did not elaborate (slightly diconcerting).

John, thank you for the links. Yes, I was looking to purchase through the education program (only way I could ever hope to buy this software . . . . and still a difficult stretch). Amazon, with its free shipping and no tax coupled with its slightly lower cost appears to be the cheapest.

So, being $100 less expensive, is there any reason not to save this money and purchase the software from Amazon? Is this the right/smart decision?

Again, thank you *very* much for your help!

[Noel Carboni]

Amazon often sells things through 3rd parties.  If you do go through them, watch the wording.

Me, I always buy and download my Adobe software directly from the Adobe store.  I know for sure the purchase is going to be properly registered in their database, and that I'll be able to get service from them if I have activation problems.  I haven't personally bought an educational version, but since you HAVE to interact with Adobe to get approved, I'd think it would be even more important to make sure all the 't's are crossed and 'i's dotted.

Given that an Adobe software purchase is akin to entering an ongoing partnership with Adobe, it seems to make sense to deal with them from soup to nuts.

-Noel

[JJC7773]

Hi Noel,

Thank you so much for your reply!

You raised some good points . . . many of which have been part of my concern, namely . . . proper registration in their database, activation issues and future relationship with Adobe.

Ultimately I find myself wondering however, about the "relationship" issue. It sounds like after 2 months or 3 free technical calls (whichever comes first) Adobe charges for help. If this is true (is it?) that the relationship essentially ends after this time and other parties are considered authorized sellers of these Adobe products (ex. Amazon) and sell the exact same product (exact same version, is it?) as Adobe but for less (in this case $100 less) . . . is there any reason to pay Adobe $100 more for the exact same user experience (is it the same experience?).

I find myself able to talk myself into both directions . . . I guess my greatest obstacle to making this decision (which I must make very, very quickly) is whether the program itself is actually identical from Amazon and if there really is any relationship difference buying from Amazon or Adobe. (I mean as an authorized seller, isn't buying a program from Amazon just like buying any software a software company sells through any other authorized store . . . like a CompUSA (if they still exist) or the like?).

Thank you very much for your continued help!

[Noel Carboni]

I'm sorry that I can't offer much further personal experience to clarify this...  I have bought a number of things from Amazon, and can't recall being disappointed.  But none of those things has ever been an Adobe software package.

I DO know that, having bought directly from the Adobe store since 2006, that I have never had a problem seeing the list of software I have purchased, nor have I (in the very few times I've needed to call them) had any problems getting Adobe support.

By the way, I'm not sure the same rules apply to Activation issues vs. technical support.  It would be quite poorly received, I should think, for Adobe to place a limit on facilitating people to legitimately run the software they legitimately purchased.  But, having only ever had to call them once about an Activation issue myself, I can't personally say what would happen if you called for Activation support more than 3 times.

Best of luck in your decision.

-Noel