Going to eBay to find a great deal on some software you need? Don't want to pay overpriced shipping cost. Consider buying downloadable software. Its quick, easy, and you get it fast. Keep these things in mind when buying downloadable software.

eBay Price VS Retail Price

Lets say you want some software that cost $30.00 if you were to buy directly from the publisher, but being the frugal shopper, you don't want to pay that price so you look on eBay. There is the same exact software for $9.95. Wow! What a deal!! or is it? Before you go clicking the Buy it Now button, take a minute to think. "Is this for real!?". Follow the golden rule of Internet shopping. If its too good to be true, then it probably is.

There are illegal copies of software. Think of bootlegged movies. The software has been hacked or is being sold illegally. Mr. Hacker decides to sell the hacked software to unsuspecting buyers for less that half the retail price on eBay, after all he only needs to meet a few certain requirements to be able to sell his newly hacked software. He makes sale after sale until someone emails him about the software not working. He splits with yours and everyone else's money and leaves you all high and dry. This is just one example of many.

Serial, License, Registration Numbers, Keys, Data Verification....

All software has some sort of ID to make it unique, usually a series of numbers and letters. Those numbers and letters make up a serial code or license key. All software publishers have a way of registering those numbers to you via your name, email, or user id. These numbers help verify that you are the owner of the software, and usually enititles you to patches, upgrades, updates etc. If the numbers don't match the user, then the publisher can deactivate/disable, or prohibit you from further using the software. When you buy downloadable software from eBay, ALWAYS check and verify with the software publisher that your serial code, license key, etc is yours, registered to you, or linked to you in someway. They will be more that happy to let you know that the code/key is yours or if it belongs to someone else, and you should get you money back.

Summary

Use the golden rule of Internet shopping...If its too good to be true, then it probably is.

Verify your serial number with the software publisher to make sure that the key/code is registered to you and you alone.