Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License $49.99

How often do people run into issues with blacklisted keys? Is it a few horror stories or is it a common thing? It just seems like something that doesn't happen all that much with so many Office licenses floating around out there. At the company I used to work for, they would literally buy 10,000+ licenses. They used to use huge volume license keys, but eventually they would get a huge book of individual keys they'd strike-through after one was used. Trick is, they only had 1/2 that number of employees. The other keys were kept for new machines, employee turnover, or giving some employees for their home machines. At one point they started selling them off to all employees for super cheap. That's not an uncommon for large companies. It's an extreme case, but it's not that wild. There are a metric shitload of 100% real Office licenses out there.
 
Domingo said:
How often do people run into issues with blacklisted keys? Is it a few horror stories or is it a common thing? It just seems like something that doesn't happen all that much with so many Office licenses floating around out there. At the company I used to work for, they would literally buy 10,000+ licenses. They used to use huge volume license keys, but eventually they would get a huge book of individual keys they'd strike-through after one was used. Trick is, they only had 1/2 that number of employees. The other keys were kept for new machines, employee turnover, or giving some employees for their home machines. At one point they started selling them off to all employees for super cheap. That's not an uncommon for large companies. It's an extreme case, but it's not that wild. There are a metric shitload of 100% real Office licenses out there.
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I used to run into them all the time with companies that would reactivate the same key via phone/app activation a bunch of times but I've never dealt with grey market keys.
 
doox00 said:
I have bought at least dozen win 10 pro keys on ebay over the years and they all still work, so I dunno.. I have never had an issue.
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"I never had an issue" is great but doesn't do much for the Office 2016 key I bought on ebay that wouldn't activate 4 months later. Or the Office 2013 Pro Plus keys that got blacklisted a few weeks after buying - I launched Excel 2013 and got a "Activation required" after it had already been activated for a few weeks.

OFaceSIG said:
I can see your active =/= legitimate to a point. But what do you want users to do? We cannot assume all keys are invalid. A business presenting itself as legitimate sells us an office key for example. I have bought two office keys from scdkey and I have to go to setup.office.com to activate and then microsoft sends me the installer.

How much more validation should an end user have to do? I mean, if the software installer comes from Microsoft why as an end user should I think any less of that key?

If I go to a store to buy a netflix gift card. Use that gift card to establish my account, and my account works. Do I need to do a financial forensic investigation to ensure that card wasn't stolen in the first place, or should I just enjoy the service I paid for?
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I wasn't here making a morality judgment, I've bought these cheap Office keys too for friends when building PC's. But I also warn them that the key comes with no warranty or guarantees, and if they needed to call MS for tech support, don't expect a smooth experience - they may get a runaround or told to "contact their organization" because there's no support on a corporate or educational key.

Point is just to have low expectations for the longevity of these grey market keys. If it still activates in 6 months, or a year or two from now, that's great.
 
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boneycat said:
It'll send you to buy it from here: https://shop.popsci.com/...
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I tried this earlier today with poor results.
  1. The purchase appeared to go thru, but after almost an hour the site still showed no key and asked me to check back later.
  2. I contacted support, who responded promptly.
  3. The email stated that they had flagged the purchase for manual fraud review.
  4. And that I should reply with photos of the transaction on my bank statement & the card used for purchase. It did suggest blocking out all except last 4 digits, but...
  5. I then spoke with my bank.
  6. Bank support saw a $0 "purchase" and told me that the request for photos raised the red flag.
  7. I still have no Office, and a replacement card is in transit, as recommended by the bank.
FWIW, YMMV, and so on. No idea why my experience was so different.
 
Please don't promote this Stack Social 'deal' because it isn't.

A casual (qualified) glance tells me:
  • They can't decide what product they are selling or the apps it includes, Home & Business or Professional
  • Why is there a 30-day redemption limitation? Microsoft does not impose this
  • Why have they got way better pricing then any authorised distributor, literally worldwide?
I'll tell you why... they are VERY likely 'selling' MAK keys. This is EXACTLY the same as all the other grey market sellers, so why pay them $50 when a search on ebay/aliexpress or google will get an identical key for $2?? Or even better, why not look up KMS activation and don't pay anything!

Sure, it may work and this is what all the majority of people care about but it's hardly a "HotDeal". Discussion of whether these Microsoft 'grey' keys are morally right or not is a whole other argument but the short answer is that the odds are on software piracy.
 
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adam.mt said:
Please don't promote this Stack Social 'deal' because it isn't.

A casual (qualified) glance tells me:
  • They can't decide what product they are selling or the apps it includes, Home & Business or Professional
  • Why is there a 30-day redemption limitation? Microsoft does not impose this
  • Why have they got way better pricing then any authorised distributor, literally worldwide?
I'll tell you why... they are VERY likely 'selling' MAK keys. This is EXACTLY the same as all the other grey market sellers, so why pay them $50 when a search on ebay/aliexpress or google will get an identical key for $2?? Or even better, why not look up KMS activation and don't pay anything!

Sure, it may work and this is what all the majority of people care about but it's hardly a "HotDeal". Discussion of whether these Microsoft 'grey' keys are morally right or not is a whole other argument but the short answer is that the odds are on software piracy.
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Yeah, they've run software "deals" before that have been called out. Stacksocial is very fishy and you're almost definitely right.
 
jmilcher said:
I've been hearing and reading this for a decade or more. I am all about paying for software and supporting developers. I have never seen or had anything deactivated that I have purchased for "less than retail" price which is when I generally see all this talk about black market keys. Not a single issue. Hundreds of keys over the years on multiple products. I am sure there are exceptions. Maybe I am just an exception.
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I had an Office 2016 license go bad. Bought it from a seller on the H about 3 or 4 years ago. For the price I paid that was OK. The problem was I got no notice and had to quick download Libre office to work with my docs. I am going to buy another one from the same seller.
 
That's a decent deal to the point where I'm actually considering paying for Office for the first time this century. However, it clearly says that it's only intended to be used on one PC. I'd be very curious how that is enforced, especially if it's tied to a Microsoft account.

I would guess that:
The license ends up tied to your motherboard, so this "lifetime" license is only good until you upgrade your motherboard. At a minimum I would want to be able to use it on my Desktop AND Laptop, and be able to move it to a "new" desktop and laptop every time I upgrade.
This license is for Office 2021 which means when a new version is released you're stuck on the old version, which further limits the appeal of a "lifetime" license.
It ends up tied to a Microsoft Account which I have no desire to use for Windows or Office.
Probably going to be hit up with constant solicitations for Office 365 subscriptions.
 
I've bought multiple Office 2019 & 2021 Professional Plus keys for family members from links posted on Guru3d - no issues thus far after several years.

(if you're not going to utilize SharePoint and the other primary benefits of o365, it seems like the more "economical" decision)
 
Just bought one, I had to do the phone activation but it went fine. You do have to have a Popsci account.
 
Jim Kim said:
offer ends in 6 days
$39.99 https://shop.popsci.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows
Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License
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This didn't work for me.

This one is from the Register link.
Error code: KEY_NOT_ACTIVATED
Correlation ID:

From MS Redeem key page.
Contact whomever you got this code from. It can't be redeemed.
5.58
2022/07/10 - 19:29:12 UTC

I emailed CS and just keep getting a generic reply about how to apply a coupon code for their sales. I'll probably just dispute the charge.
 
|Tch0rT| said:
This didn't work for me.

This one is from the Register link.
Error code: KEY_NOT_ACTIVATED
Correlation ID: 053e6acb-ab5d-4611-9d4d-46557c249e62

From MS Redeem key page.
Contact whomever you got this code from. It can't be redeemed.
62YnTudTZk2OeDrC.5.58
2022/07/10 - 19:29:12 UTC

I emailed CS and just keep getting a generic reply about how to apply a coupon code for their sales. I'll probably just dispute the charge.
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Yep. It's the same stacksocial garbage as elsewhere mentioned in this thread. Pro plus isn't even available for consumers normally, just businesses which is yet another fishy mark. Sorry you got suckered in. I'd definitely dispute it.
 
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