Ask a new question

Microsoft Office Professional 2019 from online vendors other than Microsoft

I see the Office 2019 Professional Plus online for significantly lower prices at sites like pcmarketonline.com and fastsoftware.com  Are these legitimate licenses (for 1 PC/1 user) or are they illegal?  Any advice would be helpful.  My computer store told me not to purchase them.

Hi CarolynLD17, my name is Jay, an independent advisor and I'll do my best to help today.

I don't think those are legitimate. Office Professional 2019 is currently at 439.99$.

> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/office-profes...

So, no, I wouldn't recommend that you purchase at those sites. It's best to buy from the official site if you are looking for buying Office licenses.

> https://products.office.com/en-US/compare-all-m...

Regards,
Jay.

2 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Office Pro 2019 andOffice 2019 Pro Plus (and Office 365 Pro) are separate products.

Your computer store has generally the correct take on this question.

Office 2019 Pro can be bought legally in retail stores as Jay said for around US$440.  You may be able to find it on sale for $20 less, $100 less at most.

.

Pro Plus is a limited distribution bundle. You may be able to get it legitimately through the HUP, Home Use Program. That is a benefit of using Office at work for companies that meet MS's HUP criteria.

.

Pro Plus can also be bought from a certified "MS Partner" on a "Volume License". I don't know the current price, but it is not cheap. And there is a hook, the initial purchase on a Volume License requires you buy at least 5 products under the license. The trick is, they don't all have to be the same, so you could Office Pro Plus, and maybe Window Pro (to get features like Hyper-V) and 3 or 4 other cheap(est) products. Years ago the cheapest product on the list was $5.

.

So if you see Office Pro or Pro Plus listed for under US$300, unless they are a liquidator, they are most likely a scam. If they say you have to use an email account they provide, they definitely are a scam.

Scammers will buy Pro Plus under a volume license, then resell the product keys to unsuspecting suckers, pardon me, clients. The problem is that the volume license is explicitly for use by the one buyer company and cannot be resold or distributed to people outside of the company. When MS eventually discovers a Volume license that has been abused the turn off the product keys. You the buyer are totally out of luck. If you try to go back to the vendor, they have already "rolled up the carpet", closed down the website and set up shop under a new name. Or if they are still around, they will give you all sorts of excuses for not giving you a refund, until they do close up ...

Another scam is that they will sell something they advertise as Office Pro, but when you install it you see Pro Plus. Most people just think it is a name variation, not a totally different package, with different license terms.

Use these links to find out if the seller is a MS Partner. If not, save your money.

Search MS Partner Network

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/solution-providers/home

 

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/support - FAQ page

 

.
*****
.
As computer scientists we are trained to communicate with the dumbest things in the world – computers –
so you’d think we’d be able to communicate quite well with people.
Prof. Doug Fisher

15 people found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info

Last updated February 13, 2024 Views 4,563 Applies to: