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Maybe with a note about the "CS2 made in Singapore" story.

no. these "mid priced" copies are generally the result of a rash of high quality pirates. they copy discs manuals etc, shrink wrap and instead of charging 50 bux which is a major clue to a rip off, they charge 300 or 400 so the buyer thinks they're getting a "deal".

don't do it.

300 standard upgrade, 650 standard full vers

350 extended ed. upgrade. 1000 bux ext ed full vers (holy carp!!! that's gone up!!!)

how's that compare with the aussie dollar?

>After they told me the serial number was valid and not yet registered I ordered the software

that's wise. you got a good deal kees! no one's saying that EVERYTHING on ebay is pirated, but the legit ones seem to be in the minority. (at least as far as what's been discussed here.) a careful buyer can lessen his chances of getting burned by being as diligent as you were.

Kees,

The other consideration is not only whether or not it's a legit copy but also whether or not it's so cheap because it's a real copy but stolen and sold for cheap. I have no doubt that the occaisonal box of new software goes missing from time to time.

There's a new guy selling CS3 on Ebay Australia starting from this week and in his ad he has a screenshot of the photoshop initialising screen on his own computer but if you look carefully you can see the words beta in the top right hand corner! The beta version is not the retail version is it? Here is a link to his ad:

[expired link removed that was long enough to impact the forum layout]

Regards Jeff.

Hey Bob...could you please shorten Jeff's SuperLink? You could use this: http://xrl.us/bgge4 (Link to cgi.ebay.com.au) (as generated by http://metamark.net)

For that matter, the link doesn't even need to be there at all. A description would suffice.

>Will the beta version still work at all?

no. not without modifications to your system.

>and would love to upgrade my photoshop but don't want to be out of money buying some bootleg or beta stuff.

so buy it.

from a legit reseller, not from some fell of the back of a truck operation.

is that how you do all your business? then why would you consider doing it like that in this case, especially assuming that if you run a photog business, photoshop would seem to be a pretty critical componant of your operations?

The ebay auction/sale link Jeff posted has been removed. Someone clued ebay in as to what was going on, presumably.

Definitely not. Go to a reputable dealer and know that what you are getting is genuine. I am lucky that I'm a teacher and so bought the production suite as an educator about 1/3 the regular price. Also adobe have deals for peole in full time education/stuidents. Check it out as adobe will ship you the genuine product fopr next to nothing. Even cheaper as a student than the pirated ebay stuff.

> Dave, wouldn't you consider amazon.com a "legit reseller

hi jane, yes. amazon's great. it's the amazon resellers that i wouldn't buy from (ok, i sometimes buy used books from them for ~99 cents! :) )

as long as you're buying DIRECT from amazon, not a 3rd party, you'll have no problems.

>I know of one person who purchased Photoshop from a private seller on Amazon.com

right. "private seller" is the key phrase there.

I've had nothing but great service from amazon over the years and recommend them to anyone who'll listen. :)

>hen it registers without a hitch how on earth is she supposed to know it is a pirate copy.

that's a good point. i don't know. credit card company, better business buereu? amazon? (even if they couldn't refund, they should at least go after the seller if he's still active).

sometimes you just get screwed, i guess. you can lessen the chances of that i suppose, but my working assumption is if you think the deal is too good to be true, it probably is. for instance, if your friend saves $100 dollars over the "regular" "buy from amazon" price by going with a reseller, then i don't know what to tell you except why would she think she could get a legit copy for $100 less than anyone else? does she think she's special and that she deserves a $100 discount? ;)

in other words, and to be blunt (sorry) she felt like she was "getting over" by getting the app for less than regular price. everyone says, a good deal is a good deal, right? sometimes that pays off, and sometimes the seller "gets over" on the buyer and is long gone before they're even aware of it.

caveat emptor.

Now wait just one minute here. First of all I did not mention what price she paid. She bought from Amazon because like you and like me, Amazon offers "nothing but great service" as you say. Well let's see - does she think she is special? No. Does she deserve a $100 discount? I did not even say the price she paid. Do NOT put words in my mouth. She bought from Amazon because she wanted to buy from a reputable place.

I was not aware that "private parties" are allowed to use Amazon to screw Amazon's customers. And obviously she was not either. caveat emptor my eye, Amazon brags about their resellers and how if it is not right, then they will fix it. Well they sure did. Now that I know, I will never buy from Amazon again, and I have bought a lot. But this woman didn't know.

All of your barbs are failing to address the issue. Adobe accepted the serial number when she registered it. 9 months later, when she wanted to sell the program, Adobe told her it was a pirate copy. "Sometimes you just get screwed." THAT is your solution to this mess?
Jane Anderson

dave milbut - 8:27pm Mar 28, 08 PST (#22 of 23) Edited: 28-Mar-2008 at 08:30pm

right. "private seller" is the key phrase there.

I've had nothing but great service from amazon over the years and recommend them to anyone who'll listen.

sometimes you just get screwed, i guess. you can lessen the chances of that i suppose, but my working assumption is if you think the deal is too good to be true, it probably is. for instance, if your friend saves $100 dollars over the "regular" "buy from amazon" price by going with a reseller, then i don't know what to tell you except why would she think she could get a legit copy for $100 less than anyone else? does she think she's special and that she deserves a $100 discount?

in other words, and to be blunt (sorry) she felt like she was "getting over" by getting the app for less than regular price. everyone says, a good deal is a good deal, right? sometimes that pays off, and sometimes the seller "gets over" on the buyer and is long gone before they're even aware of it.

caveat emptor.

You will have to excuse me, I am a newbie to this Adobe forum, and was not expecting the members here to be rude. I can see people who have purchased a pirated copy of Adobe programs would be "stuck" with it.

However - this program sailed through the registration process without a hitch. It was only 9 months later that Adobe decided this copy was pirated. If Adobe won't own up to their shoddy business practices of changing their mind months later, then I would be very leery of BUYING any Adobe product. And I think as others discover just what is going on with Adobe, they just might start feeling the same way.
Jane Anderson

Adobe do not confirm valid serials over the phone. Some of the 'customer services' agents have been found to confirm if a serial is _registered_ or not, which is not the same as confirm if the serial is legal or valid. Just because it activates does not mean that it is legal, or belongs to that particular product build.

Amazon is reputable - a question mark hangs over some of the third party sellers on there - especially since some of them are effectively using Amazons product description of the legal product to shift illegal product. :(

> Now wait just one minute here.

ok.

> Do NOT put words in my mouth.

I was putting forth a scenario as an EXAMPLE. i never put words in your mouth. you asked a question, i answered and now you want to get all huffy with me?

> Now that I know, I will never buy from Amazon again, and I have bought a lot.

I was trying avoid that impression. i buy tons from there. the point i was trying to make is just be careful. same as you would anywhere else! would you consider buying the stereo from a guy out of the trunk of his car when it's parked in front of circuit city or best buy? if so, then you take your chances. why would ANYone consider it? well to save a buck of course. so just because i picked $100 out of the air as an example when maybe it was $50 or $25 doesn't invalidate my example. if she WASN'T trying to get over, she would've bought directly from amazon instead of a 3rd party. the same reason anyone might buy from the guy with the stereos in the trunk instead of walking in the store.

for the record, I believe she has a BIG beef with amazon, especially if she does a lot of business there. I'd talk to them and then escalate to a manager. I BET you they'd give her her money back if she pushes hard enough. repeat... the front line drones won't be able to help her, but a customer service manager might.

>All of your barbs are failing to address the issue.

I flung no barbs. sorry if you got that impression. YOU specifically asked ME for my opinion, and i gave it.

>Adobe accepted the serial number when she registered it. 9 months later, when she wanted to sell the program, Adobe told her it was a pirate copy.

THAT'S a problem. did you mention that before? if so i missed it. (reading back i see you did say: "she installed and registered it".) I believe adobe should bear some responsibility there if they indeed accepted it as a valid # at one point. if they registered it at first they should probably stick by that. i'd escalate with adobe in that case.

>"Sometimes you just get screwed." THAT is your solution to this mess?

no, that's my answer to your question. is it wrong? if you think it is, i'd like to live in the world where you're living. someitmes you DO get screwed, everyone does.

like john said, i don't work for adobe and no one else here does either. this is a user to user forum.

>and was not expecting the members here to be rude.

was i rude? please go back and read my post. i went out of my way NOT to be rude about a sensitive situation and in fact apologized ahead of time when i felt i had to state something bluntly to get the point i was making across clearly. WHO'S being rude here?

>However - this program sailed through the registration process without a hitch. It was only 9 months later that Adobe decided this copy was pirated.

again, that's a problem to take up with adobe, and maybe a lawyer if she's so inclined.

so sorry if i appeared rude. you seemed to me to be an adult so i tried to respond in an adult manner, in an adult matter. if i knew you were going to react so childishly, i would've not bothered to respond at all.

Again, if it was a pirate copy, it could well have had a hacked registration module.

> I was not aware that "private parties" are allowed to use Amazon to screw Amazon's customers. And obviously she was not either. caveat emptor my eye, Amazon brags about their resellers and how if it is not right, then they will fix it. Well they sure did. Now that I know, I will never buy from Amazon again, and I have bought a lot. But this woman didn't know.

I honestly find it difficult to believe there are so many educated people who still believe they can get a deal 'on the street.' Software isn't always safe coming direct from the publisher, but it's the only way one can truly expect it to be. Would you buy a car from a dealer who lets anyone use their lot to sell their own cars?

As for Amazon specifically, I have never had a decent experience with them, even when trying to buy a $6 book and certainly wouldn't buy anything remotely critical from a third party (which is what they are).

One day this will sink in: Buyer Beware. If youre willing to take the risk, be prepared to accept the fallout.

if someone cannot afford the photo editing power of genuine photoshop then should be aware that there are free graphic editors alternatives e.g. http://www.softspecialist.com/GIMP-278/GIMP.htm (and there are also others) and limit to them. They are not as powerful as photoshop but you can use them in a honest way to do the job in photos and graphics.

do did you ever get it?

http://fatbikez.com

I seen this article on http://www.studentbunk.com
I lost everything as eBay are affiliated to PayPal who are utter useless! their buyer protection is a big con.

The problem is there are too many high quality counterfeits on eBay, that people don't even realise they're buying pirate copies. To the untrained eye, they look exactly like the real thing, and because you don't see many copies of Photoshop on the shelf at local stores, it makes it more difficult to compare against a genuine product.

If the program opens, registers, works and I can download updates using my serial number, am I ok? If I am, then I was actually having a software conflict. I did the msconfig thing in #11 here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=328312&slic eId=2 and I installed directly on my C drive (which I really hate to do), and the program seems to be working now.

Just to clarify, she had different versions of PS (some CS2 and some CS3), and they weren't all for sale at the same time. The positive reviews were over a period of time.

Seems kinda risky buying it off ebay.