Software on Ebay

Phil

I've been wondering about something for awhile and I think I'll bring it up to get some feedback.
I'm sure everyone here has at the very least checked out Ebay for programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver and come across a "too good to be true" deal. My first thought is that it's either a scam or pirated.
Well, I came across on of those deals about 6 months ago. Dreamweaver Studio MX 2004 for $35 (Buy it Now).......that was with shipping. I couldn't help myself. After a quick review of the seller, I gave him the benifit of the doubt and bought it.
Well, turned out it was completely legit. I called Adobe and checked it out. Was even able to register it.
Since then, I've seen a few more deals like that. I always wonder, "what if this one is pirated or could I get lucky a second time? What would happen to me if I did buy it and it is pirated?" Now I'm not into the pirated software scene, and would never knowingly purchase pirated software [been approached before, even here on this forum], but really, what is the worst that could happen should I wind up buying something illegal? What are the legal implications?
Is a guilty conscience the worst thing that could happen? I can honestly say, I seriously doubt I'd stop using the program after I paid good money for it--no matter how good a deal.
Has anyone here been in that situation? Bought software you honestly thought was just a good deal and it turned out to bve pirated? How did you handle it?

crdowner

I have definitely seen "deals" that made me wonder whether or not the deal was too good to be true. While talking to a Microsoft employee once, he told me to be cautious of deals that sound too good to be true.

I have bought a few things that I wondered about but I have not run into a problem yet.

I am not sure what a software company would do if they discovered "illegal" software. Am I guilty for buying software that I do not know to be illegal? Woudl they simply ask me where I purchased the software in an effort to convict the person who sold it?

Diablosblizz

Although you may run into pirated software, there isn't much you can do. The worst that could happen would be your guilty conscience and possibly viruses, spyware and anything else you can name.

rvec

if you buy with paypal I think you can get your money back. You should read the buyers protection stuff on ebay and paypal.com.

Talk2Tom11

I have sold a legal copy of Microsoft Office 2000 on e-bay for cheap one day. I didn't need it anymore and was looking to just get rid of it. I did not have pictures up of the actual CD's though. e-bay suspended my account and required that I prove to them that I was selling a legal copy by taking pictures of the CD's and sending them in. Finally they let me back on and I was able to successfully sell the copy. So maybe e-bay can't catch everything out there, but they definitely are watching and questioning anything that they feel might be illegal.

Phil