Buying Corel on eBay? Why the price difference?

It's pirated software or the product key/activation code is stolen or fake. You buy it and it MAY work for a few months until the company figures out the key was stolen and they invalidate it.

 

I read something like that one example, I think cracked software.

It may not be, I'm not exactly a fan of buying from ebay in the 1st place, but that just reads like cracked software.

Now, it may or may not work, but if I'm dealing with software that is mission critical, it's worth it to me not to have to worry about such small things. It's just the cost of being in business.

With some cracked software, I think some have managed to work around actually needing to send out an authentication to a server, so the key actually isn't sent out to a server. So the company may not actually be aware of the key. Although, if that is the case, I don't know why the stipulation of 1 PC.

Either way, just seems like the whole deal is no bueno.

 

Lot of the ones we dealt with on eBay would only "email" you the key... So you'd get a legit download and a key that would activate, but would invalidate after a month or so.... at least this was true with Office.

It's more "permanent" if you get the cracked software that doesn't require activation...but that has it's own set of drawbacks too....Lol.

 

Sell a banner, there is the cost of the software and have the piece of mind knowing you have legit software... if it seems too good to be true, it usually is...

 

They're called Grey keys.

Software in China/Russia are 1/10 the price... So people buy keys from other countries and resell them here.

There's also OEM keys - large companies buy them by the thousands for cheap. Or academic keys... Students end up paying little to nothing for them.


While they work... This is no different than pirating. It's still illegal / against their terms and they can deactivate your key at anytime because of it.

 

I bought coreldraw like that off the web, OEM, cd and license, tried to make sure it was legit (X4) Its been working for several years now. I also got illy cs5 off ebay and it was the whole box, cd, license it was legit and it was cheap I still use it today. If I can buy used programs compared to new Ill buy used everytime....now with this damn cloud especially. Been looking for another copy of flexi with dongle just to have a lot of those seem to be cracked.

 

I bought two SignLab Print and Cut 10 with dongle, second-hand for $1700 on the internet. I need one because cheap and seller wanted to sell everything in a sale, I bought both.

 

It actually makes sense that this would be an academic key versus full key (not saying that it's the legit version of that key, just makes more sense that it would be the academic one versus full key like advertised) due to the one PC limitation. I do believe that those licenses are limited in the amount of seats versus the full key. Otherwise, they are the same in terms of functionality of the software (although they do have the stipulation of not being used for commercial purposes).

I know your not a fan of the EULA period, let alone reading it, but (at least with Adobe), in order for a transfer of ownership to technically be legal, it also has to go through them (as in they have to be notified). This is more for also transferring support as well (now that's irrelevant for CS5 at this point, but may not have been when you originally got it).

Now with CS5.5 and CS6 (which still had the perpetual license to it), since those versions require an Adobe account to activate, with those 2 versions, it's easier to "police" this part of the EULA, then with previous versions. At least with people doing activation on the up and up.

I don't know if the same goes for CorelDRAW or not. I have a couple of copies of it as it came with my digitizing software, but I don't bother installing it. Although, I do know X4 (and X5) didn't require online activation. That eliminates a big hurdle with determining if something is legit or not.

 

I have purchased my CorelDraw Graphics Suite X4 and X5 full package with serial number on eBay. I install it for the more PCs.

 

It helps when the software (even the legit software) doesn't require online activation (as those did not). X5 was the last one that didn't require online activation (to my knowledge anyway).

 

Your right Im not a fan of the EULA and I dont feel I have to contact Adobe for anything. I dont register my software either just in case one day I decide to sell it, it would just cut down on the redtape BS. ALSO, as you mentioned, Adobe doesnt care about this old stuff anymore they got bigger stuff going on

 

As a rule of thumb, any time you see something priced significantly lower than what everyone else is selling it for, it's either pirated/cracked or stolen. This is especially true for fleabay.

 

Pirated software is exactly why companies are moving to subscription based services. I can't believe the the OP doesn't just upgrade through Corel and have a legitimate working copy and the piece of mind to go with it. $159???? One small job pays for it...done.... it works... and you're not buying stolen goods. As others have mentioned, if it's sounds too good to be true, it is! I wonder how many people in here would be screaming bloody murder over one of their customers stealing their sign design and having it made by another shop, but not have a second thought over buying cracked or software.

 

Ironically, there are some on here that do just that. Complain about that very thing or they complain about their customers not paying them for their work (which isn't at all different then getting a pirated copy of software).

 

Too good to be true. Too many companies I have seen using student versions of CorelDraw. If you have proper business ethics you will not do this.

It is best to go legit and then you get the full benefits of a Corel Draw user. I have used their new chat technical support and they get me an answer in one buiness day. In addition I can download software patches too and use the huge knowledge base.

 

if you can afford full price then pay and get licensed software, otherwise if tree falls in a forest you know how it goes .

 

I got X7 full version brand new in box for $200 ebay.

 

Students are paying indirectly for those keys via their tuition, which is flagrantly sky high at many colleges and universities (especially private schools). Add the various nickle and dime fees schools lump into the mix.

One of my friends works at a college radio station and they're currently dealing with major software headaches due to organizational screw-ups between their IT department and accounting. They use Adobe Audition for their primary audio editing application and have other Adobe CC licenses. They can't get all their stuff updated and activated due to somebody in the chain dropping the ball. Anyway, the point is even schools have to keep up with software subscription arrangements. Even if there are some serious academic discounts involved the cumulative volume licenses still add up to a big purchase.

I too think piracy is the primary motivator. Even with perpetual licensed software many companies are moving away from selling applications on physical discs. They prefer customers to download it, install and activate via a verified user account.

Companies are moving value-added goodies like fonts and clip art to online portals. Adobe's Creative Cloud application panel provides access to Adobe/Typekit fonts, clip art and other assets. Clip art and other assets are downloaded to the user's Creative Cloud folder. Adobe/Typekit fonts require an always-on Internet connection (and valid CC account) to sync the fonts. The Internet connection thing with Adobe is kind of a minor complaint; the fonts one can sync through Typekit/Adobe Fonts are worth a fortune (lots of choices from many foundries). The Corel Connect application acts in a somewhat similar way, but at least the fonts there are download-able and don't require an always-on Internet connection.

Yeah, there is certain level of hypocrisy present. But I think that's widespread in American culture. None of us want to do our jobs for free. Yet many customers expect design work to be done for free since it's being done in the computer all instant-like just like the computer stuff you see on CSI: Miami. Enhance that photo! It costs money to develop and maintain computer software applications. None of it is truly free. The developers have to get paid for their work somehow.

Let's also not forget some sign people are not as ethical as others. I won't illegally use corporate trademarks, like selling Harley-Davidson logo window stickers to anyone who wants one. But another sign guy won't bat an eyelash before doing it. The same thing goes for re-using a rival sign company's art files or plagerizing designs when under-bidding a job. It goes on all the time. So no one should be surprised if they find a rival sign shop that is using pirated software. Some people legally buy their pay TV services. There's a bunch who have no problem at all using modded Fire Sticks, Kodi boxes and other forms of piracy. Yet 100% of those people expect to earn a pay check at their jobs.