HN Explorer

Ask HN: Why are some Windows 11 keys so cheap?

25 points by shp0ngle ↗ HN
I am currently looking for a Windows 11 license key.

I see a lot of weirdly cheap prices from places, that don’t look that sketchy.

For example here, they sell those licenses for 3 euro

https://www.gamers-outlet.net/en/buy-windows-11-pro-cd-key-oem-microsoft-global

That doesn’t look like reselling generated keys, like those sketchy eBay resellers.

On Amazon though, the cheapest I see is for 166 euro

https://www.amazon.de/4535055/dp/B09XJ8PM2X

Why the big price difference? Where are places like Gamers Outlet getting the cheap licenses?

23 comments

[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 55.9 ms ] thread
uzername
An anecdotal story: I bought some Windows 10 keys a few years ago from a site pcmag "recommended," where they were selling Windows 10 keys for maybe $55 each. I bought two at the time. I kept the keys saved in my email. Fast forward to last November during a minipc build, I planned on using one of those keys. I tried it. It was rejected as a non-genuine key. I thought being written up on pcmag was a recommendation, but it was probably not a vetted source beyond being cheap. I learned my lesson and I will buy through Microsoft or through Microcenter (us brick and mortar store).
jrockway
I've bought some friends this type of key. Sometimes you have to call Microsoft and they give you a different key (via an automated system). That's what I've had to do each time I've used this type of key. (I learned this from changing too much hardware at once on a retail key. Completely automated phone number. Solves the problem 100% of the time. I don't know what they're up to or what the business model is.)
cl0ckt0wer
Different locales have different prices. I think they are reselling keys purchased in these places.
adamgordonbell
Yep, that is what I found when I looked into this, and I think there was maybe if a legal dispute over whether reselling is allowed across regions and it is.

So buy a key from MS india and sell it on Ebay is a business that MS doesn't want to exist but yet does.

pdntspa
It could be the key was genuine, once. But the reseller probably has sold it hundreds or thousands of times. That's how you get down to a couple of bucks
maratc
Probably sold off from Microsoft for startups programs, volume keys, or the like.

They might work for some time, and then may stop working.

blowski
They’re probably student OEM keys provided to schools in poorer countries, which is the cheapest price Microsoft will sell a copy of Windows. They might work as keys but are not legitimate when used in the wrong country for the wrong purpose, so you might find odd limitations imposed now or later.
_fat_santa
I'm pretty sure this is just grey market arbitrage. Microsoft sells Windows 11 in the US for $100+ but if they sold it in say Cambodia or India for the same price no one would buy it.

These sellers realized this and are buying a copy of Windows 11 or MS Office in their home country for whatever the price may be, marking it up, and reselling it on eBay to customers in the EU/US/Canada/etc.

shp0ngle
I do this with personal Spotify (it’s much cheaper in third world countries, if you have someone than can pay for you there). Didn’t realize it’s also true for Windows. Okay.
deburo
hm, odd that they are not locale-locked, but maybe it's impossible to be sure of the origin of the activation request.
TigeriusKirk
The story I've heard is they're keys for OEM installations that are sold off without the hardware. So it's not legit by the terms of the license. On the flip side, I've known some to be used, and they never stopped working. Probably luck of the draw on that front, though.
LeoPanthera
OEMs and businesses are allowed to buy keys in bulk, and sometimes resell spare ones they don't need. (Or, worse, buy them in bulk with the direct intention of reselling them.)

I bought a couple of Windows 10 keys a few years ago, and they only worked for a few months before Microsoft blocked them. And fair enough, I suppose.

It's worth noting that if you have a valid key for Windows 7, 8, or 10 that you are not using, it will be accepted in Windows 11.

kyriakos
Been using oem keys for cheap for many years with zero problems. These keys come from corporate PCs but are never used since the PCs are imaged with the company enterprise version of Windows.
oktwtf
I seem to recall seeing some of the embedded machines get a license key that was only suitable to sell windows installed on the sbc, however some were reselling these as generic install keys which don’t seem to work like that. Might still be a valid key, but likely for a different Windows sku.
pySSK
Nice try getting your Amazon affiliate link in there!

IF you did this by mistake, these are likely someone selling volume license keys from a corporate or a developer account.

benatkin
Seems off-topic for HN anyway.
shp0ngle
ah feel free to flag it. It’s just a post anyway
shp0ngle
Yes I did it by mistake, I just copied the URL.

I thought people will accuse me of shilling the cheap reseller but I didn’t realize I kept the amazon referral.

I’ll see if I can remove it

gruez
the "ref" in amazon links aren't for referrals/affiliates. They refer to something else. For instance, if you go to amazon.com and hover over the amazon logo in the top left, you see the url is https://www.amazon.com/ref=nav_logo. The actual parameter used for referrals/affiliates is "tag".
cm2187
Most likely people reselling MSDN licenses (I think it's now called Visual Studio subscriptions). These are licenses meant for testing only (though entirely valid). Pretty sure you are not authorised to sell them and certainly not to use them in production.

People either buy a VS subscription then resell the licenses piecemeal (costs about $1000, and you get 10 license keys for each product, so probably profitable), or they got a subscription from their day job and sell the licenses.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
marklyon
I was a bit surprised to see /r/microsoftsoftwareswap/ banned a few months ago.