[digitalnirvana]

@binand and @samurai it could also be a MSDN developer license, which s/he is reselling.

[Latheesh]

Amazon prime membership is a a big fraud by so called world's most customer centric company. People whoever has prime member ship, please check non-prime price before placing an order with amazon. Many items have less price for normal customers comparing to prime price. We are paying extra price for membership and are forced to pay higher when we buy using it.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I came across this suspiciously low priced software license on Snapdeal.

Here is another source from where i have purchased the same office suite and Win 10 professional. Both working fine. Site is genuine and you get good support from the Owner Siddharth in case the code does not work.

<Link redacted>

I am not sure how he manages to price the S/W so low. I was shocked/surprised at the cost of Win 10 professional @ 1300 Rs. After purchase , i even verified the genuineness of the copy of windows with Microsoft website and it showed it to be genuine. You will just get the key. S/W has to be downloaded manually.

[binand]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

After purchase , i even verified the genuineness of the copy of windows with Microsoft website and it showed it to be genuine. You will just get the key. S/W has to be downloaded manually.

• If you do not have a jewel case / DVD, then you do not have a genuine retail license of the Microsoft product.
  
• If your computer does not have a sticker with the product key, then you do not have a genuine OEM license of the Microsoft product.
  
• If you do not work for a Micorosoft enteprise subscriber company, then most probably you don't have a genuine volume license assigned to you.
  
• If you cannot see assigned licenses in your portal.office.com account then you do not have a genuine subscription to Office 365 either.
  
• You might have an MSDN license, but it is meant to be used for developing addons etc. Not for "production use".

No other cases exist. All these websites appear to me as selling counterfeit software. Now there are two things:

1. Your moral obligation. I prefer my software to be licensed; but I am also a long-time Linux/FOSS user so I go for open source first, then free to use software, then paid software.

2. Your chance of getting caught. Microsoft probably wouldn't audit you, but they are known to terminate known counterfeit/leaked license keys. You do not want to be at the receiving end of that action at a critical time for you.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Many items have less price for normal customers comparing to prime price. We are paying extra price for membership and are forced to pay higher when we buy using it.

Any examples you can share ? I haven't seen this so far in my limited usage hence asking.

[binand]

Originally Posted by NPV

Any examples you can share ? I haven't seen this so far in my limited usage hence asking.

Yep. Would like to see final price including delivery charges for Prime-like delivery schedules (mostly next day, sometimes same day).

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Amazon prime membership is a a big fraud by so called world's most customer centric company.

The real reason I (and I suspect a lot many others) maintain Prime membership is to have access to all the content on Prime Video. That is by no means fraud.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Amazon prime membership is a a big fraud by so called world's most customer centric company. People whoever has prime member ship, please check non-prime price before placing an order with amazon. Many items have less price for normal customers comparing to prime price. We are paying extra price for membership and are forced to pay higher when we buy using it.

Could you elaborate with any example. I am a prime member and I shop a lot from Amazon as well from other sites like Jabong, myntra, flipkart etc. In fact I got a few products yesterday from Amazon when prime members had early access and the rates were really good. I haven't came across a single incident when prices were more for prime member.
I will continue my membership when it expires not just cos of one day delivery but I use Amazon video and music too.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by NPV

Any examples you can share ? I haven't seen this so far in my limited usage hence asking.

Please search for products using their app and switch between prime-non prime. You can see difference in some products. I have also seen them listing some products much higher than MRP (3-4 times) and offering huge % discount. I reported these few times (I even wrote to their CEO once). They never bothered to resolve these issues, and can see those sellers even now.

I started using amazon in 2007 (.com) and never had a bad experience. But their Indian site is equally good or bad like any other e-commerce site. I have reduced my number of purchases in the recent past.

[kutoos]

Originally Posted by binand

[list][*]If you do not have a jewel case / DVD, then you do not have a genuine retail license of the Microsoft product.

Kindly clarify, I purchased a licence copy of office 2017 (educator's edition). It came without any jewel box or DVD. I got redirected to MS store site for purchase confirmation. So is this pirated now?

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Please search for products using their app and switch between prime-non prime. You can see difference in some products. I have also seen them listing some products much higher than MRP (3-4 times) and offering huge % discount. I reported these few times (I even wrote to their CEO once). They never bothered to resolve these issues, and can see those sellers even now.

The one thing I've noted is that the price varies by the amount of research you do. For example, when a person is about to make a commitment to a product, then there will be quite some research done. Amazon uses this to adjust the price.

I had seen this happen when i wanted to buy a printer (HP wireless), the price kept varying wildly during my research phase (+-1000) then finally logged in through my wife's account and purchased it at a lesser price that what was being shown for me. Post this incident, I'm using amazon for knick knacks only and of course prome videos and music

I'm using the ROPO concept (Research online, Purchase Offiline) as it gives me a better peace of mind.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by binand

• If you do not have a jewel case / DVD, then you do not have a genuine retail license of the Microsoft product.
  
• If your computer does not have a sticker with the product key, then you do not have a genuine OEM license of the Microsoft product.
  
• If you do not work for a Micorosoft enteprise subscriber company, then most probably you don't have a genuine volume license assigned to you.
  
• If you cannot see assigned licenses in your portal.office.com account then you do not have a genuine subscription to Office 365 either.
  
• You might have an MSDN license, but it is meant to be used for developing addons etc. Not for "production use".

No other cases exist. All these websites appear to me as selling counterfeit software. Now there are two things:

1. Your moral obligation. I prefer my software to be licensed; but I am also a long-time Linux/FOSS user so I go for open source first, then free to use software, then paid software.

2. Your chance of getting caught. Microsoft probably wouldn't audit you, but they are known to terminate known counterfeit/leaked license keys. You do not want to be at the receiving end of that action at a critical time for you.

How do i confirm that the OS that i purchased is licensed or not? I usually purchase S/W that i want and do not prefer the pirated route. In this case of OS , i felt the offer was too good to pass and anyway i needed an OS for my laptop hence went ahead.

Maybe the owner has purchased a set of MSDN licenses stating for use in his 'company' and selling it to others. Again. How do i check this?

[binand]

Originally Posted by kutoos

Kindly clarify, I purchased a licence copy of office 2017 (educator's edition).

Nope, educator's edition I believe is a special case of volume licensing with qualifying criteria that you need to satisfy.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

How do i confirm that the OS that i purchased is licensed or not?

This works in Windows 10: Open a cmd prompt, type slmgr /dlv, and parse the output. Another command to try is slmgr /xpr.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Please search for products using their app and switch between prime-non prime. You can see difference in some products.

I don't think this is Amazon "charging prime members more" - but rather a byproduct of how their fulfillment system works.

Any product on Amazon can have multiple sellers.

Each of those sellers can list a different price for that product.

Amazon chooses the seller for you (without you even knowing its happening) based on factors like - seller's rating, price, shipping cost/speed.

See: It's chosen Appario Retail over the 153 other sellers:


Most sellers do everything they can to be the "chosen one" for that product - because it directly affects their bottom line.

A lot of times, that means newer / non-prime sellers will list their product for a little cheaper than the other sellers.

Now I'd imagine that when you have a Prime membership, it gives preference to sellers who are using Amazon fulfilment (ie. fastest delivery) --- and those would not be the ones who are offering the absolute best price.

See here, it disregarded the cheapest offer (Rs. 644) probably because of lack of Prime & a low rating:

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I have also seen them listing some products much higher than MRP (3-4 times) and offering huge % discount.

Higher than market price? Or higher than MRP?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

@binand and @samurai it could also be a MSDN developer license, which s/he is reselling.

If you look at the description in that link, it specifically says this:

WE, GLIMSPRO IS SELLING 100% MICROSOFT AUTHENTICATED RETAIL LICENSE KEYS. BEWARE OF MSDN/OEM KEYS, WIDELY AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET WHICH WILL NOT WORK FOR LIFETIME. MICROSOFT CAN TERMINATE THOSE KEYS AT ANY TIME.

[Latheesh]

I did a quick search found similar example explained by you. Sellers are different (almost same rating - 4 and 4.2).

Prime: MRP 499 price 199 with free shipping
Non Prime MRP 499 price 112+49 shipping

difference is 38 Rupees that is ~ 24% higher for prime.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Higher than market price? Or higher than MRP?

MRP. When I received the product it had tag with MRP.

e.g. List price 500, discount 20% so selling price = 400

When you receive the product, you see the price tag which says MRP. 350/-

Another recent experience (Prime order) - I received the product with no packaging by amazon. It had just original manufacturer packaging. Luckily product inside was alright. Once they even sent an electronic item (Cost~ 5000) without amazon packaging. Product inside had lots of scratches. Reported the same but no action was taken.

[arsudarsan]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

You will get the shipment delivered by the local postman shortly and he'll charge you the customs duties in case they have levied any duties on the shipment. They may not give you a prior intimation unlike how private shipping companies like DHL or FedEx do.

This is what happened. The item was delivered yesterday and almost 50% of the value was charged as duty.