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CYdTracked

CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
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Grimes, IA
So I feel dumb asking about this as someone that does tech support and gets this kind of stuff at a discount from work but I don't have an option for this situation. I am setting up a new laptop for a friend and it has to have Office installed on it but they don't want to pay the stupid prices for an Office 365 subscription so I am looking at Office 2021 which is just a 1 time purchase. Has anyone bought Office recently at a discount from a 3rd party site and not from Microsoft? Am just leery that trying to save them some money I am going to get ripped off with a key that doesn't work or something and find out I can't get refunded. They really only want it for Word and Excel so looking at the $150 option on Microsoft's site but I see other places are selling the same thing for less which I don't know if I should trust that or not.

And unfortunately no they don't want to use Open Office or Google Docs, has to be MS Office and since it is not my checkbook paying for it that is the direction I got. Just trying to be nice and maybe save them a few more bucks. Used to be able to get the full version of Office from work for like $20 but since MS changed to 365 all they offer now is a discounted subscription so that's not really an option.
 
We bought the home and student edition from Amazon. I personally don't trust the random sites offering it for cheap. If the big retailers can't sell it for that cheap, then those sites can't be legit.
 
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I haven’t bought an office license in forever but I have bought Windows 10 licenses many times off eBay for absurdly cheap ($10 or less). I’d go that route if you’re trying to save money. Don’t use some random website
 
CYdTracked said:
So I feel dumb asking about this as someone that does tech support and gets this kind of stuff at a discount from work but I don't have an option for this situation. I am setting up a new laptop for a friend and it has to have Office installed on it but they don't want to pay the stupid prices for an Office 365 subscription so I am looking at Office 2021 which is just a 1 time purchase. Has anyone bought Office recently at a discount from a 3rd party site and not from Microsoft? Am just leery that trying to save them some money I am going to get ripped off with a key that doesn't work or something and find out I can't get refunded. They really only want it for Word and Excel so looking at the $150 option on Microsoft's site but I see other places are selling the same thing for less which I don't know if I should trust that or not.

And unfortunately no they don't want to use Open Office or Google Docs, has to be MS Office and since it is not my checkbook paying for it that is the direction I got. Just trying to be nice and maybe save them a few more bucks. Used to be able to get the full version of Office from work for like $20 but since MS changed to 365 all they offer now is a discounted subscription so that's not really an option.
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With the current pricing model, I just do an office 365 sub as you basically get about 2 years before you'd save any money. And this way, you can install it on pretty much as many devices as you want.

And if they have kids or other family members, the family plan is actually a decent value too.

I used to get it cheap from work too, but you could only buy like one copy at that price, so it was barely useful.

As others have said, I wouldn't trust any of those "discount websites".. you never know if their keys are legit or after a little bit MS will realize it's a bad key and de-activate it.
 
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When you mention the $20 version I assume you're referring to the Home Use Program (HUP). It used to be a great value but at some point they switched that to a subscription, which completely sucks.

If you decide that Office 365 is the way to go, I think Costco sells it at a discounted rate as well. No idea how that compares to the HUP rate.

Everything being a subscription service in 2021 really sucks.
 
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ISC said:
With the current pricing model, I just do an office 365 sub as you basically get about 2 years before you'd save any money. And this way, you can install it on pretty much as many devices as you want.

And if they have kids or other family members, the family plan is actually a decent value too.

I used to get it cheap from work too, but you could only buy like one copy at that price, so it was barely useful.

As others have said, I wouldn't trust any of those "discount websites".. you never know if their keys are legit or after a little bit MS will realize it's a bad key and de-activate it.
Click to expand...

For someone that's running Office 2013 on one computer and Office 2016 on the other, that's still a savings. I use it for home use so having the latest versions isn't important.
 
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Trice said:
When you mention the $20 version I assume you're referring to the Home Use Program (HUP). It used to be a great value but at some point they switched that to a subscription, which completely sucks.

If you decide that Office 365 is the way to go, I think Costco sells it at a discounted rate as well. No idea how that compares to the HUP rate.

Everything being a subscription service in 2021 really sucks.
Click to expand...

Yup. I still have the 2013 Enterprise version on my PC at home (PC is newer than 2013 BTW) and have newer versions installed on other family members computers I bought over the years. Wish I could get 2021 through the same program now. I am not a big fan of subscription services either but that seems to be the way everything is going lately. The only one that has really been good for me has been Norton Antivirus as I can put it on multiple devices for a much better per device cost than if I bought it as a single license.
 
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I just bought Office 2019 Pro Plus on ebay for about $35 a couple of weeks ago for my wife's PC. She used to get Office through work, but her employer dropped the program, and her version expired.

The version I bought was a key only. The key worked to download the install media from Microsoft, and the software activated without issue. Ebay often shuts these auctions down if they are counterfit, but this vendor's auctions have been up for awhile. That vendor is out of Office 2019, but does have Office Pro Plus 2016 still for sale.
www.ebay.com

Microsoft Professional Plus 2016 for 1 Computer DVD or 1 Computer KEY | eBay

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016. Redeem and download from Microsoft website. Includes all the programs: Word, Excel, Power Point, One Note, Outlook, Publisher, Access.
www.ebay.com

I bought a couple of these in the past, and so far have never been burned. I chose to risk $35 as opposed to a yearly subscription. We will see how it goes...
 
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I built a computer last summer and bought a windows license 3rd party for like $15 dollars. Microsoft gives so many of those keys away I don't think they really care. Not enough to try and enforce anything.
 
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brianhos said:
use Gdocs. Office is dead. Everyone moved to google.
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The lag on sheets is really annoying. I need a local program that doesn't lag as I type. It's fine for keeping a checkbook registry, but anything complex gets frustrating real fast.
 
I been running Office 2019 from ******* for a couple years on an older desktop. No issues with download, key, functionality. Paid around $30. I bought a new laptop and have been using a trial version of 365 Family. $100/year for multiple devices. Not sure I need/want all my files floating around up in the cloud. I have a week to decide. I have an option to download one copy of Office 2021 for $35 for the new laptop since I already transferred all my files. I'll probably go that route.
 
I have used this Softwarekeep website in the past. Looks like they currently have Office 2021 for $98. My company has switched to Google so I haven't used them in a couple of years but always had good results using them in the past.

Edit: The link is for a Mac but they have just about every version of Office, Windows, etc.

Best Deals on Microsoft Office 2021 Home & Student for Mac

Buy Microsoft Office 2021 Home & Student for Mac from SoftwareKeep. You'll get great discounts✓, Instant Delivery✓, and 24/7/365 customer support✓
softwarekeep.com softwarekeep.com
 
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jbhtexas said:
For sure not if the Excel workbooks have VBA macros. If you are an advanced Excel user, IMO you will find Google docs to be rather limiting.
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I'm generally pro google products, but using sheets after using excel is tough because it is similar enough that you feel like it should be a 1 to 1 copy but it can't do a bunch of really helpful things I rely on excel for.
 
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