Very strange purchases on MS products

[mazeroth]

I have an unused student copy of Office 2008 I purchased that I was thinking of selling. I did a Google search to see if I would get in trouble for selling it and came upon two message board threads about a guy that buys thousands of copies of MS software on ebay. No one can figure out why. He's located in Washington state, very close to MS headquarters. Just check out the feedback he's left for others. Some are negatives. I recommend changing the viewing to 200 per page and scrolling to find them:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=tolotzin&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

Any ideas?

 

[onza]

smells like buy here then sell oversea's? perhaps..?

edit- n/m lol no idea!

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

:hmm:

 

[KeypoX]

wow that is weird? wonder why he does this? Makes no sense, must work for microsoft trying to find fakes or something

 

[Nothinman]

I have an unused student copy of Office 2008

You need to check the license, lots of those licenses are only valid while you're going to/working for that school and I'm pretty sure most, if not all, are not for resale.

 

[Kyanzes]

He's still trying to find a working key?



He's very likely selling not-for-resale versions (as indicated by comments) so he probably makes a load of money but then again his ass could be sued any minute. And I wouldn't want to be in his place. Well, I guess I'm the type who wouldn't take such risks.

If it works for him.

 

[tcsenter]

He's not selling. He's only buying.

There are no NFR, OEM, or even academic versions of any products that I saw after randomly looking at about 40 listings that he won in the past couple weeks. They're retail FPP and retail upgrade versions.

Edit: My guess is that he is either purchasing for a fairly successful computer business or he is supplying (acting as a small distributor/wholesaler) to other companies. He is buying genuine Microsoft product for substantially less than both retail or distributor pricing on small to medium quantities. e.g. Windows 7 Professional Full Retail

He is paying about $170.00 ~ $180.00 for Windows 7 Professional Full Retail. Newegg's price is $275.00

Even if he buys "wholesale" from an authorized Microsoft distributor, he would need to purchase THOUSANDS of units at once in order to break the $200 mark, if not tens of thousands. I doubt whether an outfit like Newegg pays less than $225 per copy even with the massive quantities it can move.

 

[tcsenter]

And it appears my hunch is correct:

MONARCA INTERNATIONAL TRADING, INC

Registered in both Washington State and Reno, Nevada as a computer hardware and software wholesaler/IT supplier. Even has D&B number and GSA contractor license.

 

[Kyanzes]

Well, there are negative feedback entries that say otherwise. Nevertheless, it could be that he mostly sells legit stuff.

 

[Blazer]

a scammer, feedback pusher, many sellers on ebay use such member for pushing up bid prices and feedback scores ! its why i stay away from ebay.

 

[Maximilian]

Maybe its bill gates, hes gone crazy and wants his OS back

 

[tcsenter]

Well, there are negative feedback entries that say otherwise. Nevertheless, it could be that he mostly sells legit stuff.

Right, he is leaving negative feedback for sellers who advertise retail versions but send him some non-retail promotional product such as NFR. IOW, he is specifically attempting to steer clear of any shady not-for-resale product.

a scammer, feedback pusher, many sellers on ebay use such member for pushing up bid prices and feedback scores ! its why i stay away from ebay.

Well then he's not doing a very good job. He's setting a pretty good bar for shrewd purchasing at prices substantially below retail selling price (both MSRP and street), which drives prices down for everyone. He purchases as much from new sellers who only have a few dozen transactions as from larger sellers.

 

[Koharski]

I used to run a small business selling electronics on ebay before they changed their policies and I moved my business onto my own standalone site.

While doing this I spent a LOT of time scouting new suppliers for products I could sell and it was very common for me to find chinese sites selling pirated microsoft software. Many of the sellers who sold exclusively software and dvd movies had thousands of remarks on their page. I would not be surprised at all if this was a microsoft ebay account purchasing software from different sellers to find out what is and what is not pirated. I know companies like prada and gucci do this I dont think it would be unreasonable for microsoft to do it as well.

 

[country2]

He is mentioned a lot in this forum about buying from members there on ebay..

http://www.tribalwar.com/forums/archive/t-493554-p-222.html

 

[tcsenter]

I would not be surprised at all if this was a microsoft ebay account purchasing software from different sellers to find out what is and what is not pirated. I know companies like prada and gucci do this I dont think it would be unreasonable for microsoft to do it as well.

Its not. They wouldn't bother registering a front company in two states (much less in one state), obtaining a Dun & Bradstreet rating, GSA contractor license, and become a member of the BBB. You only do these things when you intend to do business.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

You need to check the license, lots of those licenses are only valid while you're going to/working for that school and I'm pretty sure most, if not all, are not for resale.

Yep that's true. When you open Word or another program, the menu bar says right across the top of it "NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE."

 

[slithervipe]

the guy just bought from me>>i dont get what's going on are the microsoft word . can it be resold? or is that illegal ? the one i'm selling is legit its not counterfeit

 

[tcsenter]

the guy just bought from me>>i dont get what's going on are the microsoft word . can it be resold? or is that illegal ? the one i'm selling is legit its not counterfeit

Of course it can be resold, as long as its genuine MS OEM (non-royalty) or retail, and the product key has never been registered or activated. How did you sell it?