Windows 11 - the closed Windows 7/8 key 'loop hole'

[britechguy]

I assume you don't think those licenses are legitimate enough to resell them with markup to your customers though?

Let's not even bother. I assume licenses that I can buy, and have bought, from a marketplace of longstanding, that have consistently activated without issue when presented to Microsoft, are legitimate. Period. End of Sentence.

All I can do, ever, is present a license key to Microsoft for verification. If they verify it, it's legitimate. They are the gatekeeper.

 

[fincoder]

Let's not even bother.

I don't know what you mean by that.

I assume licenses that I can buy, and have bought, from a marketplace of longstanding, that have consistently activated without issue when presented to Microsoft, are legitimate. Period. End of Sentence.

I get what you're saying, and I'm not bothered about individuals using these keys. My question was about us, as IT professionals, on-selling these keys to our customers.

 

[britechguy]

My question was about us, as IT professionals, on-selling these keys to our customers.

Since my experience is they activate, and stay activated, I wouldn't hesitate. But I almost never do this. Since it's so dirt simple to do a Home to Pro update I direct my clients to the source of the license, and give them the 5 steps needed to do the upgrade themselves. It's meant to be DIY process, and unless someone really insists that I do it for them (and, if so, I do) then that's what it is.

1. Acquire a Pro license from {} or wherever you choose.

2. Open Settings, System, Activation.

3. Hit the Change button for the Change Product Key section.

4. Enter Pro license key you acquired in step 1, hit the Next button, and let the upgrade process complete.

5. If you have any issues, call me. Otherwise, you're done. Enjoy your Pro upgrade.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Stack Social is not the seller, just the marketplace platform. In the link you provided, the seller is "SmartTrainingLab".

I assume you don't think those licenses are legitimate enough to resell them with markup to your customers though?

No, because they are intended for consumer purchase. These locations are not setup to ask for reseller’s tax exemption permits. Microsoft turns a blind eye ( if not outright setting up) to these discount resellers but a independent shops begin to sell them they risk legal liability from Microsoft. For example System Builders are only allowed to purchase OEM licenses from specific wholesalers. And yes you can buy them from Newegg and Amazon, but not legally. Yet it is obvious that they are the ones providing them to Newegg and Amazon to sell.

So yes you probably can buy them and resell them. But if you do so with a large enough volume, Microsoft will throw you under the bus.

 

[britechguy]

I don't know what you mean by that. [My having said: Let's not even bother.]

What I meant is that this territory has already been trod so many times that going over it again isn't going to change anyone's mind.

If I buy a key, even off a turnip truck, and present it to Microsoft for verification and they activate, it's legitimate. I don't know how it got to the turnip truck, or to Stack Social, or to Newegg, or to Best Buy, or to . . . Microsoft is the gatekeeper. My responsibility is singular: present the key to the verifying entity via their prescribed method for doing so. They activate, or they don't.

I cannot and will not be handed responsibility for ensuring the provenance of any license key. It is the licensing entity's responsibility to accept/reject when presented in the prescribed way. If others want the job of gatekeeper, then, by all means, take it on. I won't.

 

[fincoder]

What I meant is that this territory has already been trod so many times that going over it again isn't going to change anyone's mind.

OK.

If I buy a key, even off a turnip truck, and present it to Microsoft for verification and they activate, it's legitimate.

And I said I get that, the issue I was focussing on is re-sale to our customers. I eventually got your answer that you would. In my opinion very risky when you consider IF the keys weren't sold in compliance with Microsoft's terms then it's possible the license could be de-activated any time. It has happened before, and would reflect badly on the person selling the key to the user. I'm not just talking about potential legal ramifications (unlikely to be enforced) but standards of professional service.

I agree with your opinion (that if it activates it's effectively legal) when it comes to arcane rules like OEM vs Retail, cloning a drive including license to a new PC that has a different license key embedded, re-activating after upgrading components. I also think it's fine for individuals to buy the keys and use them on their own PCs, if they work they work, strict Microsoft conditions aren't something that any individual should worry about. The potential legal problem is with re-selling the keys, which "SmartTrainingLab" is doing and I wouldn't on-sell them for the same reason.

These locations are not setup to ask for reseller’s tax exemption permits.

In my country there's no law against buying retail products and reselling them, and at those prices who cares about tax exemption?

independent shops begin to sell them they risk legal liability from Microsoft

Exactly my point, not a good idea to re-sell these keys to customers.

The internet seller is also an "independent shop". Good luck to them and good luck to their buyers, but I wouldn't take the risk on-selling them in my business (e.g. occasional custom build). I have, however, supplied custom PCs without a Windows license (Windows installed without a license). I suspect some of those customers might have intended buying a key from the internet to activate.

 

[britechguy]

And I said I get that, the issue I was focussing on is re-sale to our customers. I eventually got your answer that you would.

While "I would," I also said I generally don't, and certainly never have with markup. For things like this I want the license holder and purchaser to be one and the same. Since I work in the residential/micro-business sector, my general approach, and not just for Windows itself, is to do the research (which is billed for) and, when required, sitting with the purchaser (also billed for, if the hand holding is needed) until the needed licenses have been acquired by them. They bought them, they own them. There have been a few rare instances where I bought them and then sold them, at exact cost, because that was easier.

Then I go about doing whatever "voodoo" (from the client's perspective) it is that needs to be done to get everything up and running as the client desires.

I am not a reseller. I don't want to be a reseller.

 

[fincoder]

I am not a reseller. I don't want to be a reseller.

Fair enough.

Going off-topic now, I've always wondered why many in our business don't like reselling. Maybe it's because I have a shopfront and managed to get reseller access to several large distributors years ago. Re-selling goods supplements my service income and vice-versa.

I used to sell my built PCs with OEM sticker licenses, not so much now. I mostly sell commercial-grade PCs, usually slightly superseded models that are a bit more affordable (but so much better quality than consumer PCs). To me, offering commercial-grade PCs is a service to my customers as they can't get them from chain stores. They also have fewer issues for me to deal with, and better warranty support from the manufacturer.

I have some customers that come back each year for a 365 (Personal/Family) license, instead of paying Microsoft, even though I charge the same price.

 

[LordX]

I always treated OEM windows licenses as part of the cost of building a computer for a client. Never something to sell them separately.

Even if I made a few dollars on the software, reselling it would open up a lot of: That MS Office YOU SOLD ME has problems, now I want you to fix it for free.

I don't usually have that issues with my built PC's because I try to build them well, and show the customers the warranties that come with the various parts. Rarely do I have to use those warranties.

Software is a different beast.