Legally purchase CS3

[Dov Isaacs]

Originally Posted by prepressguru

Buy Cheap Software | Discount Computer Software for Mac & PC

I have personally used these people and the service is great.

Good luck!

I'd be very careful there. In some cases (such as Acrobat 9 Pro for Windows and Macintosh), they are advertising "too good to be true" prices that are well beneath dealer cost. Although they claim to be selling certain SKUs, the pricing is closer to that of the educational versions that have certain requirements for sale (if you are a prepress pro or a designer, unless you are a registered student in a degree program, you can't legally purchase and use these versions). They also claim to be selling an "OEM version" - something that they are not authorized to sell nor are you legally able to use.

Similar "too good to be true" pricing is being advertised for other Adobe products.

It is one thing if old versions are being sold on closeout, but there is no reason for a legitimate dealer to sell legitimate copies of current version software at an actual significant loss.

You've been warned!

- Dov

[Morning Flight]

Originally Posted by Shaja

I have had good luck with Softwaremedia.com.

So have I - use them regularly and never had a problem. Unfortunately, they no longer carry the CS3 Creative Suite. For that matter, neither does Royal Discount recommended in another post.

As Dov Isaacs suggested, be careful not to end up with an Educational Version, a common scam of shady internet discounters. CS3 is probably too far back to be available from established, reputable firms. You could try Craigs List, but my first choice would be eBay, where you do have some recourse. Look for a full, unregistered, non-educational CS3 Creative Suite for around $800. Upgrades are usually $300 less. A search for "CS3 Creative Mac" sorted by highest price should give you more than one option.

The attachment is meant merely as an example. I don't know, nor can I vouch for, the seller. Good luck!

Hal Heindel

[Shaja]

Originally Posted by Morning Flight

Unfortunately, they no longer carry the CS3 Creative Suite.

You unintentionally made a couple of good points here (or maybe they were intentional?). I did a search on softwaremedia.com before I posted my original comment, and the CS3 Design Upgrade for Mac was available at that time. I see this morning that it's gone. (But there are C3 Production for Mac and C3.3 Web and Master versions still available.)

So, 1) if you have a legitimate source for older software, don't wait long before purchasing and 2) if you're listening, software vendors, yes, maybe you want to promote your latest and greatest, but have you considered the untapped revenue source you're missing out on by not selling older versions.

[Dov Isaacs]

Originally Posted by Shaja

2) if you're listening, software vendors, yes, maybe you want to promote your latest and greatest, but have you considered the untapped revenue source you're missing out on by not selling older versions.

In reality, this is difficult to do. Continuing to license "older versions" implies ongoing support for same. Given that bug fixes are only supplied for newer versions, licensing "older versions" would require significant additional support resources that would would not make such "untapped revenue" so attractive.

- Dov