Serial Number question at DVinfo.net

Peter Manojlovic · March 3rd, 2010, 10:08 PM

I'm interested in buying the Master Suite from somebody who has the original box. It's unregistered, and not yet activated, and never installed...

I called Adobe service to check for authenticity. They require the serial number.

Unfortunately, the seller believes that revealing the serial number might endanger her original package..I can potentially steal the S/N, activate, and the seller would be holding a worthless box of CD's..

Is the seller correct in her fears?
We're currently at an impasse.

I refuse to buy software that can't be verified for authenticity, and the seller refuses to release the serial number, for fear of losing the activation process...

Is the seller correct??

Shaughan Flynn · March 4th, 2010, 01:44 AM

Go over to her house - Call Adobe from there. Tell them your situation. Have her go in the other room and give the serial number - Get the phone back from her and talk to the dude to see if it's good to go.

Or meet her somewhere and do it on your cell phone - Have her give the number on the phone in her car and hand the phone back. Easy.

Graham Hickling · March 4th, 2010, 10:59 AM

Easy provided you live within, say, a few hundred miles of each other ...

Peter Manojlovic · March 4th, 2010, 11:24 AM

Yes, logistics is a concern...
I didn't want to over explain my situation. In the meanwhile, i'm gonna try and iron this out with Adobe support...

David Chilson · March 4th, 2010, 11:26 AM

Buying software second hand usually is problematic, if not downright illegal. With the serial number you could download from adobe, enter the serial number and be off and running, so she has a point.

You wrote that the software was "unregistered and never installed" but how do you KNOW? More importantly why wasn't it? I know when I spend a couple grand for software the "what can brown do for you" truck has barely left the dirveway before I'm loading it.

I wouldn't list the Master Collection under "impulse buy" so that would make me nervous, even if she spent way less on the educational version. Is it her's and can she produce a receipt? Does she even edit video? Nothing like buying stolen property to save a little cash.

It sounds like being at an impass is the right place to be.

Paul R Johnson · March 4th, 2010, 12:46 PM

Don't forget that if it is the educational version, then Adobe won't register it anyway without you proving you're a student!

When I worked in a college, it was common for us to buy a number of software packages, and very often we just bought the number we wanted for the machines we had, and didn't buy just one and a site license. All we'd do would be open one packet, for the discs then use the individual numbers on the packages to register them. So when you get the brand new box, the serial could already be used somewhere - the sealed box doesn't count.

Even worse - but I don't think Adobe do this - is where you install software and register it (as I did when working at a college and we had a surplus copy of Sibelius) I took it home and registered it. Two years later, after I'd been left about a year - somebody at the college must have found the box in the store room, and installed it on a new machine. My copy was fine until I did an update, and it promptly unregistered itself as the newly registered one took precedence.

Second hand software is always tricky.

Peter Manojlovic · March 4th, 2010, 05:17 PM

David...
If the software hasn't been installed, registered, or activated, i don't see the problem of legality.

Quote:

You wrote that the software was "unregistered and never installed" but how do you KNOW?

..
That's why i'd like to know the SN..That way, when i talk to an Adobe rep, they can verify that it's not an active and running copy....That's all.

I've talked to the girl, and with a bit of backround checking, she seems genuine..

The colleges ask the student's to buy the software, but they get it in bulk, so perhaps there's student pricing. If the student decides NOT to keep it, i think they're entitled to sell it..No different than buying a book..I don't think it was an impulse buy on her end...
I am absolutely ensured that this is NOT a studen't version..

But nonetheless, we're both at an impasse here...

March 3rd, 2010, 10:08 PM	#1
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	CS4 activation and serial number question I'm interested in buying the Master Suite from somebody who has the original box. It's unregistered, and not yet activated, and never installed... I called Adobe service to check for authenticity. They require the serial number. Unfortunately, the seller believes that revealing the serial number might endanger her original package..I can potentially steal the S/N, activate, and the seller would be holding a worthless box of CD's.. Is the seller correct in her fears? We're currently at an impasse. I refuse to buy software that can't be verified for authenticity, and the seller refuses to release the serial number, for fear of losing the activation process... Is the seller correct?? Last edited by Peter Manojlovic; March 3rd, 2010 at 11:14 PM.

March 4th, 2010, 01:44 AM	#2
Shaughan Flynn Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 272	Go over to her house - Call Adobe from there. Tell them your situation. Have her go in the other room and give the serial number - Get the phone back from her and talk to the dude to see if it's good to go. Or meet her somewhere and do it on your cell phone - Have her give the number on the phone in her car and hand the phone back. Easy. __________________ B-Scene Films

March 4th, 2010, 11:26 AM	#5
David Chilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Walworth, NY Posts: 292	Buying software second hand usually is problematic, if not downright illegal. With the serial number you could download from adobe, enter the serial number and be off and running, so she has a point. You wrote that the software was "unregistered and never installed" but how do you KNOW? More importantly why wasn't it? I know when I spend a couple grand for software the "what can brown do for you" truck has barely left the dirveway before I'm loading it. I wouldn't list the Master Collection under "impulse buy" so that would make me nervous, even if she spent way less on the educational version. Is it her's and can she produce a receipt? Does she even edit video? Nothing like buying stolen property to save a little cash. It sounds like being at an impass is the right place to be. __________________ Dave Chilson www.loc.org

March 4th, 2010, 10:59 AM	#3
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	Easy provided you live within, say, a few hundred miles of each other ...

March 4th, 2010, 11:24 AM	#4
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Yes, logistics is a concern... I didn't want to over explain my situation. In the meanwhile, i'm gonna try and iron this out with Adobe support...

March 4th, 2010, 12:46 PM	#6
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Don't forget that if it is the educational version, then Adobe won't register it anyway without you proving you're a student! When I worked in a college, it was common for us to buy a number of software packages, and very often we just bought the number we wanted for the machines we had, and didn't buy just one and a site license. All we'd do would be open one packet, for the discs then use the individual numbers on the packages to register them. So when you get the brand new box, the serial could already be used somewhere - the sealed box doesn't count. Even worse - but I don't think Adobe do this - is where you install software and register it (as I did when working at a college and we had a surplus copy of Sibelius) I took it home and registered it. Two years later, after I'd been left about a year - somebody at the college must have found the box in the store room, and installed it on a new machine. My copy was fine until I did an update, and it promptly unregistered itself as the newly registered one took precedence. Second hand software is always tricky.