I have Office 2013 on a PC.
I have bought a new PC - looking for Office for it.
There are so many cheap licences around on Amazon and eBay. e.g. Office 2019 genuine for $35!
Tempted, but I assume it is not legal?
How is the average punter supposed to know what is legal - all the cheap suppliers claim they offer genuine licences!
Does one have to buy from a retailer like OfficeWorks, HN to be sure?
Or can one take a punt on an el cheapo?
If it's for home use consider Open Office or Libre Office which are open source, free, and IMO every bit as good as good as Microsoft Office.
From my understanding, it's perfectly legal to sell digital licenses stripped from broken computers sourced directly from manufacturers (HP, Lenovo, etc.) in the EU at least.
It's even being actively promoted by reputable site like this one.
But it's another story to buy here in Australia though and up to Microsoft's discretion. Me personally I have sourced Windows/Office licenses via this method many times for myself and friends/colleagues without any issue. But I've heard stories about MS deactivating licenses that they deem invalid and again it's entirely up to them, you can then contact seller/ebay to hopefully seek for a refund but it's quite unlikely.
This is exactly the same understanding I have.
Not that I've had a reason to buy it because in the last few years, with the proliferation of open source office suites, google docs etc., and even MS offering free online versions of (albeit stripped down) Office, no one in my family has needed to shell out actual cash for an office suite. We're all only home users and none of the shortcomings observed with a non-Full blown MS Office suite ever became issues.
Just as an aside, the last version of Office I own is 2010. And if I ever do find myself needing a license, I will probably search for an actual license, not a subscription. The current subscription model that MS office pushes is a huge personal pet peeve of mine.
Do you have anyone in your family as a student or teacher?
If yes, you can get them for free
Have used this in the past for windows and worked well https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap/ Not sure how competitive these prices are though
I have purchased MS office from a reseller.
$13 Microsoft Professional Plus in the past without issue
If it doesn't work? Hell it was the price of a pint, who cares,
But they have always worked
Is this a permanent license? Can you share where to get it? Thanks
I have used SaveOnIt for buying MS office for work for many years. Not the cheapest but also not as expensive as through Microsoft. I have never had an issue with them (I also get antivirus there too).
The only way to ensure you're getting a legit license is to buy it from MS, recognised distributor, or retailer (HN,Office works, MSY, PLE, numerous other legit retailers).
All the one you see on Gumtree, and eBay selling for serial #'s for $10-$40+ (Office 2019 Pro) are not legit.
You can buy them and perhaps activate the product, but activation doesn't mean you've been licensed to use it, if not purchased through one of the groups I mentioned earlier.
Businesses should in no way take a chance, because if you're audited then you're going to get sued by multi-national companies with very well resourced legal departments.