PSA: MS Office dirt cheap.

Have you or anyone else checked if this actually works?

Sounds brilliant if it does but I can never understand how a retailer is able to sell the keys so much more cheaply than Microsoft does direct. I'd love to know what the commercial arrangements are that allow this to happen.

very tempted by this - again..is it legit??!!

DrP

I haven't completed a purchase, no - I already have Office via work.

That said, Techspot has been around since the 90s. I've no reason to think that it might be dodgy.

They're a corporate (CSP) license, so Microsoft's advice is:

"The version of Office on your link is Office Professional Plus 2021, that is not a genuine consumer licence, that is a volume licence version of Office used by large companies and organizations.

That licence may initially activate, but it would soon after expire, because that type of licence needs to contact a company server to re-arm the licence.

The best option is to not waste your money on that type of licence, it is a scam."

That licence may initially activate, but it would soon after expire, because that type of licence needs to contact a company server to re-arm the licence.

Nonsense - what you are referring to there is a KMS licence which won’t even activate without contacting a KMS server. A perpetual volume license (which is what this may be) is a different thing entirely.

These days unless you actually need it for work (in which case Office365 is easily justifiable) surely Google Docs or some other free option is sufficient? Better even, with built-in cloud backup/cross platform etc.

That licence may initially activate, but it would soon after expire, because that type of licence needs to contact a company server to re-arm the licence.

Nonsense – what you are referring to there is a KMS licence which won’t even activate without contacting a KMS server. A perpetual volume license (which is what this may be) is a different thing entirely.

I'm quoting a response on the Microsoft Answers page - thought it was from MS themselves but on a second look it isn't. It could be equally as wrong, but I'd have expected someone to correct the answerer. You might be right, you might not.

I'm sure I only paid £10-£20 for mine earlier this year. Just Google it and easily available. Not had any issues, 2021 Pro Plus.

I've used something similar, think it was even cheaper at around £15.

1st one (about £8) via aliexpress or ebay IIRC stopped working, and was basically useless as it was registered to an account they provided (gibberish@outlook.something) so teams etc was a faff. Then after a while it stopped working.

2nd worked perfectly. Only fly in the ointment is MS makes it surprisingly* difficult to completely disable OneDrive. And even though it was sold as an individual one-off licence, it worked fine when I got a new laptop.

*not really surprising at all

We've been using similar bought on Amazon for the work laptops we use on site which we don't want linked to our 365 accounts as other people may be using them. They have been working fine for the last 3 months or so.

MS makes it surprisingly* difficult to completely disable OneDrive.

Why would you want to do that, out of interest?

Who are going to buy one and report back?

go on then..I'll take a punt!

Will have to install on Home laptop later though..

DrP

oddly..it goes to $37.98 once put into cart...Hmmm....

DrP

Just checked my e-mail, mine was from softkeys-uk.

Why would you want to do that, out of interest?

Because I'm tightfisted and 32gb usb drives are £10 if I need to take files with me but not a laptop.

oddly..it goes to $37.98 once put into cart…Hmmm….

Ugh. VAT? Not quite the deal I thought, then.

Because I’m tightfisted and 32gb usb drives are £10 if I need to take files with me but not a laptop.

Sure. But what does that have to do with OneDrive?

I've bought loads (well maybe 8) of these kinds of licence from eBay, sometimes the licence is single sometimes allows multiple PCs. They are kind of one shot you generally can't reinstall, you usually get a login to install from office.com and installation is authenticated by Microsoft, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. Installs have been working for years but one did stop working. Uninstalled, bought another, reinstalled and away.

If you want a UK company selling similar look here, they've been around for years though I've not actually bought from them
cjs-cdkeys

I can never understand how a retailer is able to sell the keys so much more cheaply than Microsoft does direct

Margins are huge on software. A mate at Microsoft has put me on his friends and family thing, annual subscription for O365 family was something daft like £17. I think it's about £80 list.

i bought through Amazon a few weeks back

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B4HF9VD4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

£15 - came in a registered post envelope, with a URL to download the software, and a key.
Works fine so far.

Nonsense – what you are referring to there is a KMS licence which won’t even activate without contacting a KMS server. A perpetual volume license (which is what this may be) is a different thing entirely.

I've had Windows PCs de-license a bulk licensed version of Office. I assume the key leaked and MS invalidated it in an Office update. I had a whole suite of VMs de-license in one go. It was probably 2-3 years after I built them and they'd run fine all that time, then one day - all stopped.

Sure. But what does that have to do with OneDrive?

The ability to save something then access it elsewhere? Backups?

What else are you using it for?

I think we're at angry dolphins.

Why can't you use OneDrive and a USB pendrive?

then one day – all stopped

Yeah - multiple reasons why that might happen.

KMS server went offline/DNS record pointing to it deleted?

key compromised like you say.

Volume licence agreement ended and MAK keys invalidated.

MAK activation count exceeded.

Depends where the original key came from.

VLSC downloaded versions have the GVLK installed as a default and this will prompt it to try and activate against a KMS server. If you overwrite that with a MAK key for example it might stop working as per above. These days there are various volume agreement types and various flavours of Office though that require different key types - C2R and perpetual licence versions to name but 2.

It’s so complicated you can do MS exams in it!

Used a few of these type for office, MS project etc. all fine, but also all single use only.

They may activate again, should you get a new PC etc. but most likely won't and you'll need to get a new license.

Why can’t you use OneDrive and a USB pendrive?

I could, but then I'd have to be paying for onedrive, and if I wasn't adverse to having yet another subscription service I'd not be buying £10 Office365 keys!

But you're not paying for a OneDrive subscription, you're complaining that you can't turn it off?

I'm not being an arse, I'm genuinely not understanding the logic here. What am I missing?

Because by default it's enabled, and once the free trial is full it pops up every time you do something to say "...... could not sync to onedrive" (or words to that effect) and then puts red flags over all the icons. Then to get rid of all that wasn't immediately obvious and required googling to find the sub menu, inside the sub menu, that means scrolling down with the non standard scroll bar that MS use for their windows but nothing else so you spend a few seconds trying to work out why the menu looks nothing like the one on the guide, inside whatever they're calling control panel now.

I wouldn't mind paying a microsoft subscription, if the actual legit windows I have wasn't an awful bodge in so many ways!

It's like good old days when you couldn't uninstall IE. I presume they get away with it because they're providing Onedrive as a product that you've 'bought' with office (but it useless unless you pay an extra fee). Rather than mediaplayer/IE which they just forced on you anyway (although at least they didn't make you pay for them).

But there's always free storage with OneDrive? You get 5GB free with a personal MS login, you don't need a paid subscription. (I have 15GB, I'm not sure why.)

It’s like good old days when you couldn’t uninstall IE.

But you could always just not use it. What did you need to uninstall it for?

Just found my order by chance.. Gamers-Outlet.net
Bought it in Aug for £8.37, so presume thats without VAT.
They give you a key for it and you download and save the ISO Office 2021 Pro Retail.

Have done similar for Windows Server editions for home lab.

Anyone taken a punt on this?

Does it work?

And does anyone know where you can get the Mac version?

Both of these site suggest they MAC versions

https://www.gamers-outlet.net/

I used this place for a (Windows) licence in 2020 and it’s still working
https://www.cjs-cdkeys.com/search.php?search_query=office&x=0&y=0

I think we’re at angry dolphins.

This didn't get the recognition it deserved 🙂 🐬