Is there a catch to this?

[souperzombie]

I'm thinking of buying another copy of Windows 7, partly because I want a backup version and partly because it can be upgraded to Windows 10 if I eventually decide to do so in the future (although I'm guessing it's a limited time offer or something). Right now I'm thinking of getting this or this, but they seem a bit... cheap. Especially for an operating system. Is it just because the OS is slowly starting to be considered outdated and people want to get rid of it while they can? Or is it something to do with the specific version or brand of the OS? I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to operating systems, so I'd just like to be safe.

 

[digitaldoc]

You have the right strategy. You have until end of July next year to upgrade Win 7 or 8 to Win 10.

Buying on eBay is not such a good idea. The Windows key may have already been used, and those prices seem too cheap to me so I would be quite suspicious.

 

[clueless77]

I've bought Windows 8.1 keys off eBay before even though they're sparse, they were legit. Better yet, go to reddit's Microsoft Software Swap, buy a 7-8.1 key for like 20 bucks through Paypal from a solid seller, then perhaps upgrade to Windows 10 from 7-8.1 if you want. Done this multiple times for different builds, never had an issue.

 

[USAFRet]

Buying licensed software, especially a Windows OS, on ebay is rarely a good idea. And rarely legit.

 

[rgd1101]

they are cheap for a reason, Microsoft would eventually disactivate those "legit" key.

 

[clueless77]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

 

[digitaldoc]

I would not take a chance, but of course, YMMV.

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

Your singular experience vs the daily comments in here from people who have actually had their license keys become 'not valid', after buying from a non-legit source.

Just trying to keep people from wasting money by having to buy it twice.

 

[clueless77]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

Your singular experience vs the daily comments in here from people who have actually had their license keys become 'not valid', after buying from a non-legit source.

Just trying to keep people from wasting money by having to buy it twice.

My multiple experiences converge into a general trend with people having little to no issues from buying keys on reddit from third party sellers. There's tons of people who recommend it, even if there's people out there who would want you to spend more money for something just because they did. I'm just saying, ya know?

 

[Gallarian]

Contrary to those above me, I would actually wager that the product is legit.

It is a copy of windows meant for a Dell system, but was never used. Chances are, the seller has acquired this and others like it from a store that sells Dell systems who wanted rid of their unused Windows 7 copies, as they will most likely e supplying 8.1/10 from now on.

The seller has almost 100% positive feedback, which also helps the cause, as over 700 have been sold. If 700 people bought copies that turned out to be fake, then the recent feedback would all be negative, which it isnt. In fact, all feedback related to this are good, with no one saying they had problems (one got lost in the post, and was refunded).

I'd say it is most likely safe to buy, and if I turn out to be wrong, which I doubt, Ebay will have your back as the seller specifies a guarantee.

 

[rgd1101]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

So as long as I don't get caught keep stealing? Got it.

 

[USAFRet]

Contrary to those above me, I would actually wager that the product is legit.

It is a copy of windows meant for a Dell system, but was never used. Chances are, the seller has acquired this and others like it from a store that sells Dell systems who wanted rid of their unused Windows 7 copies, as they will most likely e supplying 8.1/10 from now on.

The seller has almost 100% positive feedback, which also helps the cause, as over 700 have been sold. If 700 people bought copies that turned out to be fake, then the recent feedback would all be negative, which it isnt.

I'd say it is most likely safe to buy, and if I turn out to be wrong, which I doubt, Ebay will have your back as the seller specifies a guarantee.

For those Dell branded disks, you are actually buying a broken/defunct Dell PC, and the software that may have come with it.

From the fine print:
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE
"Original Dell Latitude E6420 Laptop(s) Carcass/Barebones (Beyond Economic Repair) containing motherboard which is the original hardware."

If the 'seller' has 700 sales, that is not 'just some dude'. Who has 700+ copies of an OS around, and can sell it for cheaper than they got it from MS.
And these type of sales are not new, as in a store trying to dump off old Win 7 licenses in the wake of Win 8.1 and 10.

This topic has gone round and round and round. I'm not trying to push profits to MS, I'm simply trying to help people prevent future issues.

 

[clueless77]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

So as long as I don't get caught keep stealing? Got it.

Since when has buying something from a reseller been stealing? If I really wanted to steal Windows, I'd just pirate it.

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

So as long as I don't get caught keep stealing? Got it.

Since when has buying something from a reseller been stealing? If I really wanted to steal Windows, I'd just pirate it.

Where did that reseller obtain what he is selling? MSDN/TechNet/academic license? This is often the case.

For instance, I have a now discontinued TechNet subscription. Multiple license keys, for just about every OS from Redmond.
If I were devious, I could sell those for $40 each. To hundreds of people.
But those are specifically not for resale. And that is the main reason the TechNet program was discontinued.

No one, including myself, like spending extra money when they don't have to. However....if you saw was is advertised as new, 16GB RAM, selling for $30, and the seller had dozens or hundreds of sales....you'd be suspicious, right?
Where did he get these? How can he sell a $100 product for $30? Are they legit?

But software? Bah....it's just bits and bytes in a download, right? As long as it's cheap, and 'for sale online', it must be legit, right?

Whatever...I'm out.

 

[souperzombie]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to leave off buying it, since reading further into the product description it looks like an OEM copy I'd rather stick with a retail version. Probably.

 

[clueless77]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

So as long as I don't get caught keep stealing? Got it.

Since when has buying something from a reseller been stealing? If I really wanted to steal Windows, I'd just pirate it.

Where did that reseller obtain what he is selling? MSDN/TechNet/academic license? This is often the case.

For instance, I have a now discontinued TechNet subscription. Multiple license keys, for just about every OS from Redmond.
If I were devious, I could sell those for $40 each. To hundreds of people.
But those are specifically not for resale. And that is the main reason the TechNet program was discontinued.

No one, including myself, like spending extra money when they don't have to. However....if you saw was is advertised as new, 16GB RAM, selling for $30, and the seller had dozens or hundreds of sales....you'd be suspicious, right?
Where did he get these? How can he sell a $100 product for $30? Are they legit?

But software? Bah....it's just bits and bytes in a download, right? As long as it's cheap, and 'for sale online, it must be legit, right?

Whatever...I'm out.

Just because Microsoft isn't getting as much of the cut of the profits through sales from "unauthorized" third party sellers, however it is they they originally obtained the keys, doesn't mean that buying one of the keys is some kind of moral dilemma for the consumer. If they were acquired through illegal means, keys would be getting revoked left and right and places like MSS would no longer have a platform to sell keys through given the bad reputation that would come to be associated with it. Microsoft isn't hurting for your $20 and I get an OS on the cheap, so who's really losing out? Poor Microsoft? Please.

 

[rgd1101]

Yeah, it's so shady I've never had one key deactivated with the probably around 5 I've bought over the past year and then some. Keeping doing Microsoft a solid by buying their overpriced OS's though, I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

So as long as I don't get caught keep stealing? Got it.

Since when has buying something from a reseller been stealing? If I really wanted to steal Windows, I'd just pirate it.

Where did that reseller obtain what he is selling? MSDN/TechNet/academic license? This is often the case.

For instance, I have a now discontinued TechNet subscription. Multiple license keys, for just about every OS from Redmond.
If I were devious, I could sell those for $40 each. To hundreds of people.
But those are specifically not for resale. And that is the main reason the TechNet program was discontinued.

No one, including myself, like spending extra money when they don't have to. However....if you saw was is advertised as new, 16GB RAM, selling for $30, and the seller had dozens or hundreds of sales....you'd be suspicious, right?
Where did he get these? How can he sell a $100 product for $30? Are they legit?

But software? Bah....it's just bits and bytes in a download, right? As long as it's cheap, and 'for sale online, it must be legit, right?

Whatever...I'm out.

Just because Microsoft isn't getting as much of the cut of the profits through sales from "unauthorized" third party sellers, however it is they they originally obtained the keys, doesn't mean that buying one of the keys is some kind of moral dilemma for the consumer. If they were acquired through illegal means, keys would be getting revoked left and right and places like MSS would no longer have a platform to sell keys through given the bad reputation that would come to be associated with it. Microsoft isn't hurting for your $20 and I get an OS on the cheap, so who's really losing out? Poor Microsoft? Please.

Yes please. You don't have to justify your action to us.