Subject:byiing sony software from ebay???

Posted by: jroditis

Date:8/13/2004 3:01:29 PM

Anybody bought vegas acid 4.0 or soundforge from ebay?
Is there anything I should watch out for?
Any feedback is appreciated
Cheers..................................

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/13/2004 5:58:13 PM

The closest i ever got was putting in a bid of $150 on Vegas 2 (quite a long time ago). I lost. It finally sold for about $30 more than SonicFoundry's list price. *sheesh* Some folks just have to win the auction no matter what.

If the software is new/unopened they should indicate this in the auction. Check their feedback rating. If it's high then you may be ok. There is a possibility that it's an illegal copy, but ebay's buyer protection plan should cover you if you discover that after buying it. If it's illegit, get your money back, return it, complain to ebay, and report it to SONY Pictures Digital.

If the software is used then it's legal as long as the seller uninstalls it and gives you the original package with the serial number. Ask the seller to report to SONY that he's selling his license. Also have him ask SONY to contact you and verify that it's a legit sale. When you receive the package you'll contact SONY again and they will issue you a new serial number.

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: MyST

Date:8/13/2004 6:16:15 PM

To add to Chienworks' advice.
If the Sony software being sold was used to upgrade to a newer version, you WON'T be entitled to a reduced upgrade price when the next version comes out.
EX: Say Vegas Video 3.0 is available, be careful the user didn't use it to get a reduced price for 4.0 or 5.0. If he did, you won't be entitled to a reduced price should you want to get 5.0.

Mario

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:8/15/2004 12:39:00 PM

To directly answer your question: YES. I have bought both ACID Pro 4.0 and Sound Forge 5.0 on eBay for under $100 each from legitimate sellers who no longer had a need for the software. I got the original CD’s and getting started manual. Both sellers transferred their license to me and Sony issued me new serial numbers.

To add to what both Chienworks and MyST said, you should always contact the seller and ask very direct questions. Ask them if it’s the original silk-screened CD from Sony and not a CD-R. Ask them if they are willing to contact Sony and transfer their license. If they won’t its probably because they don’t have a legal license. Ask if it comes with the hard-copy getting started manual and box. If they don’t tell you directly that it’s the original CD then it’s probably a pirated copy.

Direct questions let the seller know that you will be looking to see if it’s a CD-R with visible burned tracks or a pressed CD that only has a shiny surface. Pirates will rarely answer your emails and if they do, they will never directly answer your question. They will answer some other question or be very vague.

Check the sellers other auctions. If you see the same used software being sold in several of their auctions that’s a dead giveaway that may be pirated. Don’t forget to check passed auctions too. If they keep selling the same used copy week after week it's probably pirated. If you click on an auction for ACID 4.0 and they are throwing in Vegas 5+DVD, CD Architect, and Sound Forge 7 for only $9.99 that’s a big clue that its all pirated.

There are more pirated copies of Sony software on eBay than real ones so you really have to do some detective work. People selling legitimate software on eBay are usually aware of the pirate software problem and state in their description that it is an original CD and not a copy.

Hundreds of positive ratings is NO indication of an honest seller. Do a search on eBay for ACID Pro 4 and one seller I just found has a feedback score of 447 with 98.5% positive. They have nine (9) auctions for ACID Pro 4.0 which all say, "CD is used, already registered". What are the chances that they bought 9 legal copies and used them all? They also have four (4) copies of Sound Forge 6 for sale. Check back after all those auctions are completed and there will be another set of auctions just like them. You decide if this is a pirate (judging from the other copies of used software that they continue to sell week after week). I noticed that this particular seller doesn’t take PayPal. They only accept Personal check or Money Order only. Perhaps that’s because a PayPal account would be traceable but some pirates do take PayPal so there is no one indecation. You also can't get your money back from a MO or check that's been cashed.

Now, I’m not saying that these sellers are pirates, but you be the judge. If you use eBay enough, you’ll see the trends and it will be very obvious to you what is pirated and what is legitimate. You just need to do your homework and contact both the seller and some of their buyers if you’re still not sure.

So how do these pirates get all those positive ratings? Apparently, people love to buy pirated software on eBay and leave positive feedback. It’s a sad statement about morals in our society but I have found several sellers like this one with hundreds of positives feedbacks and maybe one or two negative. But if you search out those few negative feedbacks they will often say that the software was pirated. I even contacted some of the buyers of this software and they confirmed that what they received was a CD-R and a crack code. But they didn’t seem to mind. Very sad indeed.

If I was Sony. I would have a lawyer search eBay once a week for pirated copies of their software and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Get it on the evening news so that pirates know that software companies will fight back. But unfortunately they don’t.

I only buy software on eBay if the seller says it’s the original CD and they are willing to transfer the license to me. I feel even more comfortable if they have a manual or box, or an actual picture of the software CD, manual and box in the auction. Otherwise I don’t bid.

Good luck.

~jr

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: jroditis

Date:8/16/2004 9:17:50 PM

Thanks for all the feedback everyone
Cheers

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: jroditis

Date:8/16/2004 10:24:42 PM

Hey JohnnyRoy Iam glad you posted your lenghthy and very informative feedback as we speak a had a bid on a package which included vegas 5.0 soundforge 6.0 dvd architect 2.0 and acid4.0 and in reading the fine print this is what it said :

" This software is  FULL Version, NOT academic. It's not used neither registered, but not in Retail Box. It's fully functional and working great without registering it. Sold As Is. No Returns. I am just reselling it. These picture are for reference only. No User Manual Book included, but user manual is on CD for all programs that come in package.

WORKING GREAT WITHOUT REGISTERING IT???????? I was up to 180.00$ I ended up retracting my bid which was the highest one. In retracting my bid all the bids I had made were also retracted so the bid is now 96.00$ for the current high bidder. Ebay wanted a reason for the retraction so ai said that I made a mistake on the amount of the bid which I had made 1/2 hour before. But you know I dont remember reading the fine print when I origianly started bidding. I did not want to acuse the seller of selling pirated software because I think it would have gotten complicated because you can never be 100% sure that its pirated. Thanks again for opening my eyes.
Cheers.....................

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:8/16/2004 10:52:19 PM

Actually, I would have told eBay that your reason for retracting the bid was that you were suspicious of it being pirated software since Sony software cannot be used without registering it. eBay is very good about their policies and they would have investigated it for you.

I found the auction you were referring to. Here is the clue: Go to the person’s feedback and look at the past auctions he has done. He keeps selling the same copy of Boris Red with the statement:

“No box and user manual book. Picture is for reference only. CD is registered. Registration can't be transferred to buyer.”

How many copies of Boris Red can this guy have registered that he can’t transfer? I would report him to eBay. He’s selling the same copies of Sound Forge, Vegas 5 and Boris Red over and over and over.

I’m glad you got out before it ended.

~jr

Subject:RE: byiing sony software from ebay???

Reply by: jroditis

Date:8/16/2004 11:02:34 PM

I may make ebay aware, I just want to make sure Iam in the clear first with my retraction !
Cheers