eBay Horror Stories? Buying Windows XP...

[mjkovis]

Ok, I have been checking out eBay to try and get a cheaper price on Windows XP w/SP2. I am just wondering how much success anyone has had in the past with this and what should I look out for. I noticed one member had a post within a thread a few weeks ago about this same subject, but I could not relocate it. I am just a bit sceptical about doing this and do not want to get 'screwed.' :o

Anyways, I have a few copies on 'watch' and have made contact with sellers asking a few questions to try and re-assure me of putting any bids on the item. I have noticed that a lot of the auction originate within the state of Washington here in the United States. Does this mean anything? Why are there so many auctions from that one state?

Anyone with any comments feel free to post to help me out! Maybe this can help other as well!

Thanks,

AK

[colecifer]

I wouldn't recomend buying an OS or any other software off ebay. You run the risk of some guy selling tons of XP cd's all with the same code and then you getting burned because you can't register. I personally would play it safe and buy from newegg. $92 isn't terrible. Thats just my opinoin though. If you do try ebay i would make sure to ask the seller if the package is sealed.

[HellFish]

I personaly wouldn't risk it either. MS is supposedly going to start cracking the whip on bootleged stuff.

[bailey]

all I can say is buyer beware.
I have not nor will not ever use e-bay for anything, as I have heard way too many people getting ripped off.

[mjkovis]

I personaly wouldn't risk it either. MS is supposedly going to start cracking the whip on bootleged stuff.

That being said I am NOT looking for any 'copied' or 'bootlegged' versions of Windows. I have been trying to talk with these people to make sure what I am looking at is legit. Some list the product number and some dont. Some take a picture of the MS label on top of the box. I have noticed that some people do sell them on eBay and they do state it within the auction. I have also had a few people email me telling me they are selling the 'copied' version of Windows XP Pro. Wonder if I should email eBay about such occurances?

AK

[Panama Red]

I personaly wouldn't risk it either. MS is supposedly going to start cracking the whip on bootleged stuff.

Oh, it's not "supposedly"; it's the real deal.


http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/partners/default.mspx

I've been buying my copies of XP w/SP2 here (http://store.viosoftware.biz/wixphoedoem.html) of late. Was $82 now it's $90.

[mjkovis]

Well, I am starting my own horror story... Since this thread started I had a few Windows XP Pro Retail versions I had been watching. I sent out a few questions to the sellers and one responded in a rude manner... That did not help me at all in my quest. He has a feedback rating of 1 and when I asked for any assurance about his product his email back to me was 'The product number for the item is described in the listing. Please refer to Microsoft website (or my listing) for all details and contents of the box. Please refer to the listing for details as to the condition. Are you able to read?'.

Alright, that assures me that you are safe to buy from. I hope the other bidding on this product will realize this. Oh well... I look for safe sellers with high feedback and good communication skills. This seller did get a few words back from me, but nothing ignorant.

[DragonNOA1]

I buy 10$ games on eBay. I wouldn't buy anything more important than that.

[TheJackal]

I buy books, records, and clothes off Ebay...

I wouldn't buy any electronic or software items that cost more then $25 though.

[sataraid0]

I don't use ebay however know lots of people who do and they have never had any problem. They buy and sell all kinds of items.

However, software, is a different story I would think. To easy to make false copy and so forth. I imagine that some of the sellers are ligit, but how do you tell? sounds real risky to me.

Also read what ms has said about checking for ligit xp operating systems on their site, and they did state that in some cases if you had a illegal copy and had purchased in good faith, that in some circumstance they would issue you a license for it?????? Hmmmm, don't know that that is really reasuring or not?? Any way that is what they said.

I would say that after all the effort you are going through here trying to make sure you are getting a ligit copy of xp, why don't you save yourself a lot of trouble and just purchase it from Newegg or Zipzoomfly or some other reliable retailer and pay full price? :)

Anyway just my suggestions...........Good luck..........Sterling :D

[Moose on the Loose]

I wouldn't do it. The odds are that the XP copy has already been used on a computer, so you won't be able to register with it anymore. You can buy stuff off of eBay, but not an OS :)

[rjfvillarosa]

To date I have bought 4 items off ebay, the first was a difficult motherboard to get hold of, the seller was an older guy and was reluctant to do business with me because I was a new buyer with no history. We corresponded via ebay message a few times untill we eventualy spoke over the phone, I was prepared to pay in advance for the mobo and this clinched the deal. He gave me a good feedback report, which led on to me buying the next three items with no difficulty. The next two were disney DVD's and were well priced and arrived exactly as described. The final item was a DVD and when it arrived it turned out to be a cheap far east import, I was dissapointed and checked the original advertisement, but nowhere in the advertisement did it say it was or was not a cheap import, the dvd works fine my only gripe is that there is no booklet with it so you get what you pay for.
My first example just goes to show that the sellers need to be as cautious as the buyers, I would not recommend buying anything from ebay that costs more than about thirty bucks (that mobo was $48) and I certainly wouldn't recommend buying software.
I have just bought five copies of this even though the company doesn't have a particularly good standing at resellerratings my order arrived quite quickly and they are all perfect with COA's.
http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?sid=767hibe0k9v2s3y&id=861&comboid=699

[Confused]

I have been a ebay buyer and seller for several years now without any problems buying and only one problem selling (Buyer didn't pay. I of course didn't ship and ebay let me relist for free).

First of all. I do not buy from anyone with many negatives. Anything over 1% for the power sellers raises a red flag. Others I check the feedback carefully.

That said I would be leary of buying XP off ebay. Legitimate retailers such as Newegg seem to be fairly consistent in price. I don't see how anyone else could have multiple copies that they can afford to sell much cheaper than the retailers like Newegg.
Charlie