# MS Office Professional 2021 for $35. Catch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924 "2022-10-07T23:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/1 "2022-10-07T23:06:47Z")
I was reading Daily Beast and saw this advertised: https: [//www.citizengoods.com/](https://www.citizengoods.com/) sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows?aid=a-9oq5pvp6&utm\_source=[thedailybeast.com](http://thedailybeast.com)&utm\_medium=referral&utm\_campaign=microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows\_080622&utm\_term=scsf-552910 Important Details ``` ONE-TIME PURCHASE FOR 1 PC Redemption deadline: redeem your code within 30 days of purchase Access options: desktop No subscriptions – no monthly/annual fees Version: 2021 All languages supported Updates included ``` Has anyone purchased this or run across such a deal in the past? I’d really like to have it but something screams “too good of a deal to be true.” It states the license is for 1 PC only. Fair enough. But if anyone has purchased this, does 1 PC mean only the PC it was originally installed on, or 1 PC at a time? Are MS licenses normally transferable when I buy a new PC? Anything else i may be overlooking that would give you pause? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/2 "2022-10-07T23:32:45Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > Anything else i may be overlooking that would give you pause? What gives me pause is the price. Microsoft sells that for $440. (maybe this is an OEM version) [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-professional-2021/cfq7ttc0hhj9?activetab=pivot:overviewtab](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-professional-2021/cfq7ttc0hhj9?activetab=pivot:overviewtab) ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/3 "2022-10-07T23:34:28Z")
…just had a search, and this answer from a Microsoft agent caught my eye. Not specific to your link, but probably relevant. And some more: [https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/has-anyone-purchased-microsoft-office-pro-2021/f6ca0653-cc5f-4ef9-a4ae-4ea91124bd21](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/has-anyone-purchased-microsoft-office-pro-2021/f6ca0653-cc5f-4ef9-a4ae-4ea91124bd21) [https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/legit-microsoft-office-professional-2021-for/9e0483f1-c45d-4460-9dff-2bd5f760024d](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/legit-microsoft-office-professional-2021-for/9e0483f1-c45d-4460-9dff-2bd5f760024d) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/4 "2022-10-07T23:37:50Z")
Eight one-liner five star reviews from “verified buyers” all dated _today_? Scam. ETA: According to the [BBB](https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/venice/profile/online-retailer/stackcommerce-1216-1013267), this website is operated by the same “StackCommerce” company that operates StackSocial, identified as a scam in **Banquet\_Bear** ’s first link. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/5 "2022-10-07T23:41:55Z")
Thanks for those links [Banquet\_Bear]. That decided it for me. Crafty scammers… I wish legit news sites could do a better job of keeping that stuff off their main page… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/6 "2022-10-08T00:03:25Z")
Based on the price, I would have just suspected that it was one of those sites that sells gray market\* keys—the ones that sell leftover keys from an organization or similar. But, even then, I’d not trust any such site based on an advertisement. The more reputable gray market sites don’t like to call attention to themselves. They have a long track record and tend to come with a moneyback guarantee to weed out fakes, and don’t sell “cracks”–only keys. (Cracks may involve running untrusted software.) * * * \*I call them gray market because that’s the usual term for them. I believe they are all technically illegal. But that hasn’t stopped them. It seems no company cares _that_ much to try and stop these well-known sites completely. Though they may sometimes invalidate specific keys. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/7 "2022-10-08T00:08:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Based on the price, I would have just suspected that it was one of those sites that sells gray market\* keys—the ones that sell leftover keys from an organization or similar. Thats what I gathered from Banquet\_Bears link. They are selling Volume Licenses not meant for personal use. The agent at Microsoft Answers said the individual key key could be invalidated soon or never. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/8 "2022-10-08T01:34:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I believe they are all technically illegal. I would be surprised. Violating a license agreement is not generally illegal, and that’s all that’s happening here. The gray market sites (as compared to black market) aren’t reselling stolen keys; they’re just violating the terms of the volume license the keys come from. Of course, as you say, the original company may invalidate the key at any time. I suspect they try to avoid this except in the most egregious cases, since it tends to look bad for them–a bunch of people that thought they bought a license is going to start complaining that their software no longer works. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/9 "2022-10-08T01:59:24Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Of course, as you say, the original company may invalidate the key at any time. I suspect they try to avoid this except in the most egregious cases, since it tends to look bad for them–a bunch of people that thought they bought a license is going to start complaining that their software no longer works. Hmmm. I don’t wanna be immoral but maybe I should buy it and report back to this thread if/when it gets invalidated. For research purposes. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/10 "2022-10-08T02:15:45Z")
I don’t see how this could be a volume licensing key. While they get a substantial discount off retail prices this would require over a 95% discount and I don’t see that happening. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/11 "2022-10-08T02:21:33Z")
It may also be from a foreign country where pricing is different. That’s part of what gray market resellers exploit. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/12 "2022-10-08T02:26:36Z")
I’m not so sure. When a manufacturer makes a widget they may sell 10,000 to a distributor for $10 each. The distributor sells them for $20 each and the retailer sells them for $40 each. The initial sale is 75% off. That’s obviously not 95% but only meant as an example. Different markets and different products will vary. Microsoft may sell OEM licenses cheap so OEMs can bundle them into PCs for cheap and sell more PCs. Once the person is hooked into the ecosystem they may buy the $440 version in a few years. Not to mention selling the Windows OS and other things (like OneDrive) that go with it. Think like a drug dealer. Give away a few samples, get someone hooked then charge them a fortune. Imagine getting legal secretaries hooked into MS-Word. When they go into offices they want to use that. Not Word Perfect or Pages or whatever. Eventually you get a whole industry hooked on one thing (for example the courts may demand submissions all be in MS-Word). And, as long as they have MS-Word they will likely use the other programs in that office suite. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/13 "2022-10-08T02:40:39Z")
Another possibility is reselling MSDN software. An MSDN subscription costs a lot–thousands per year–but comes with an enormous collection of Microsoft software. Every Office version ever made, every version of Windows, including server versions, etc. You could resell these for a few tens of dollars each and make a profit. Sure, they’re for “test purposes only”, but who’s going to check? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/14 "2022-10-08T03:05:42Z")
That’s roughly what I used to pay for a license through the Microsoft “home use program” where employees of companies with thousands of licenses in use could get a,license for a home computer for a pittance. Full Office Professional - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Not sure how one could resell such keys… ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/15 "2022-10-08T05:12:34Z")
I bought a “gray market” license (Office 2016). basically, it’s a license for a version that was abandoned and bought by a reseller of used software - the owner went to the subscription model - many decent sized businesses have - so this is a version that was purchased outright, is no longer needed, but was not applied to an update. Microsoft would not be happy about it, but it is AFAIK not illegal given the right of resale that exists in the USA. When I tried to activate it, it failed - but the seller’s tech support suggested using the automated phone line activation, and that worked. And the price was more reasonably in line with real resellers of second hand - $100 for a $400 product. And… the seller had actual tech support. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/16 "2022-10-08T07:26:07Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I don’t see how this could be a volume licensing key. While they get a substantial discount off retail prices this would require over a 95% discount and I don’t see that happening. Could it be some defunct company? After reading that it was likely a volume license key, I pictured some IT manager thinking “this severance package sucked, but I have 300 unused MS Office licenses” and in the middle of bankruptcy are they gonna get noticed amidst the noise? I have no idea if companies get refunded for unused licenses or if there are any checks on such shenanigans. But that’s what I pictured in my head after reading that it was likely a volume license. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/17 "2022-10-08T07:44:49Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I don’t see how this could be a volume licensing key. While they get a substantial discount off retail prices this would require over a 95% discount and I don’t see that happening. ⁢ I’m under the impression that it’s more a bulk situation, where you get a certain number of licenses, even if you don’t necessarily need that many. Then they sell the leftovers for what the market will bear for gray-market keys, even if that doesn’t recoup costs. I know the one piece of software I bought this way specifically says it is a Volume license after I registered it. And I did pay about 5% the normal price for it. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/18 "2022-10-08T10:50:54Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > While they get a substantial discount off retail prices this would require over a 95% discount and I don’t see that happening. I used to get the latest Office Professional Pluss for $5-$10 through my employer’s volume licensing. I don’t think they still offer it, but I haven’t checked to be sure. I’m still happy with my MS Office Professional Plus 2019. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/19 "2022-10-08T15:35:31Z")
I used to get MS Office as a U.S. federal contractor through the agency’s Home Use program agreement with Microsoft. I paid $10 each for Office, Visio, and Project. Technically the license is valid only for as long as you are affiliated with that agency but there is no way to enforce that. Now instead of letting you buy the software for practically nothing, the Home Use program offers a discount on the subscription. It’s a good discount, but nothing as good as the old deal. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924/20 "2022-10-08T18:06:19Z")
I agree about that. The old home use program was great and for the ten-dollar charge (with an additional charge if you want them to send you the software on disc) you could run the software indefinitely. Now, the deal is a slight discount on a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, requiring you to keep paying each year. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-office-professional-2021-for-35-catch/972924.md?page=2)