Licencing for small system builder/repairist?

[y3llowduk]

Hi All, apologies for a bit of a taboo/grey/businessy topic but I am desperate for some clarity on this.

 

I'm an established small system repairs and custom PC builder based in the UK. I regularly have to obtain fresh W10 Home licence keys for the PC's I repair and sell. Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I can go to get cheap OEM licences on a regular basis? So my options at the moment are £119.99 from Microsoft directly, or £89 from PC world. Obviously the PC world option is cheaper but that's a physical disk version they would be posting to me. Would seem a bit stupid to have them send me 4 - 5 windows disks a week when all I need is the key. Is there some Microsoft official scheme for businesses like mine so I can cut out going via consumer retailers? Spent literally days trawling through the Microsoft site just to find absolutely nothing... am I missing something obvious??

 

Also noticed a vast number of refurbished system builders here in the UK don't seem to be paying for their licences... given their profit margins... unless they get them for under £10. Some of these businesses based on my market research have a turnover of £300k+... so with a business of such a size, how the hell do they get away with it.. if they aren't paying?

 

Tia, Duck

[y3llowduk]

Correction, the PC world is actually a download only, no disk. But there must be a more direct route than this still?

[cm992]

I sent you a direct message

[PorkishPig]

4 minutes ago, cm992 said:

I sent you a direct message

Please make sure to update this thread after your conversation, keeping in mind that others may also have this question and end up here.

[y3llowduk]

Another thought - Where is the line officially drawn from what is an "illegal" key and what isn't? Like if you get a random ass key from ali express for £2 and it works... how is a general consumer ever going to know it's "Illegal"? If it activates, then microsoft sees it as genuine, so how can a consumer of that key be carrying out illegal activity? I just don't get it... it does my head in. It's not like these sites are hidden... they're top of google search results. Even the google shopping section is 99% cheap random keys, and 1% legit sellers.

[PorkishPig]

36 minutes ago, y3llowduk said:

Where is the line officially drawn from what is an "illegal" key and what isn't?

Any cheap keys not purchased from a Microsoft or a Microsoft Partner are generally illegally distributed OEM keys. Microsoft will audit medium-sized business for breaking their license agreement, though there is little to no financial intensive for Microsoft to audit smaller key distributors. Microsoft ultimately wants as many people using Windows 10 as possible.

36 minutes ago, y3llowduk said:

If it activates, then microsoft sees it as genuine, so how can a consumer of that key be carrying out illegal activity? I just don't get it..

See these sections from the Windows 10 Retail License Agreement:

Spoiler

2.      Installation and Use Rights.

a.      License. The software is licensed, not sold. Under this agreement, we grant you the right to install and run one instance of the software on your device (the licensed device), for use by one person at a time, so long as you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Updating or upgrading from non-genuine software with software from Microsoft or authorized sources does not make your original version or the updated/upgraded version genuine, and in that situation, you do not have a license to use the software.

5.      Authorized Software and Activation. You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed and the software has been properly activated with a genuine product key or by other authorized method. When you connect to the Internet while using the software, the software will automatically contact Microsoft or its affiliate to conduct activation to associate it with a certain device. You can also activate the software manually by Internet or telephone. In either case, transmission of certain information will occur, and Internet, telephone and SMS service charges may apply. During activation (or reactivation that may be triggered by changes to your device’s components), the software may determine that the installed instance of the software is counterfeit, improperly licensed or includes unauthorized changes. If activation fails, the software will attempt to repair itself by replacing any tampered Microsoft software with genuine Microsoft software. You may also receive reminders to obtain a proper license for the software. Successful activation does not confirm that the software is genuine or properly licensed. You may not bypass or circumvent activation. To help determine if your software is genuine and whether you are properly licensed, see (aka.ms/genuine). Certain updates, support, and other services might only be offered to users of genuine Microsoft software.

 

[SansVarnic]

1 hour ago, y3llowduk said:

Hi All, apologies for a bit of a taboo/grey/businessy topic but I am desperate for some clarity on this.

 

I'm an established small system repairs and custom PC builder based in the UK. I regularly have to obtain fresh W10 Home licence keys for the PC's I repair and sell. Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I can go to get cheap OEM licences on a regular basis? So my options at the moment are £119.99 from Microsoft directly, or £89 from PC world. Obviously the PC world option is cheaper but that's a physical disk version they would be posting to me. Would seem a bit stupid to have them send me 4 - 5 windows disks a week when all I need is the key. Is there some Microsoft official scheme for businesses like mine so I can cut out going via consumer retailers? Spent literally days trawling through the Microsoft site just to find absolutely nothing... am I missing something obvious??

 

Also noticed a vast number of refurbished system builders here in the UK don't seem to be paying for their licences... given their profit margins... unless they get them for under £10. Some of these businesses based on my market research have a turnover of £300k+... so with a business of such a size, how the hell do they get away with it.. if they aren't paying?

 

Tia, Duck

If you are an established retailer, you should be able to apply for a Microsoft OEM License.

[LogicalDrm]

Buying volume keys yourself from Microsoft is the correct way to do things.

 

To answer "why not buy cheap greymarket keys" question. First, I find it funny that this question even needs to be asked, considering we are talking about system integrator or similar. By being system integrator, or offering to sell/install Windows OS, the business is the one taking responsibility of OS working and being licensed. If the key stops working, you as the last seller of the key are hold responsible. Be it if key gets blacklisted by MS (rare, but can happen) or its otherwise not working after some period of time.

 

Plus all the actual laws regarding taxes and stuff like that.

[y3llowduk]

But what I don't get is how a general consumer (someone who isn't a nerd) is ever going to know where the "correct places" to buy Windows are? Or even a small business owner who owns a few PC's but isn't IT savvy? It's not even made obvious as to who the legitimate sellers are apart from the price. They just google search "Windows 10 licence key" and see 100 results from these "dodgy" sellers. Even though a lot of these "dodgy" sites... aren't even considered that dodgy. If they aren't legitimate keys, why do they activate and work? I just don't get it....

 

Anyway, do you where I would go to obtain bulk licences from, directly from Microsoft? I've seen that you have to go via one of their official distributors/vendors?

[PorkishPig]

5 hours ago, y3llowduk said:

Anyway, do you where I would go to obtain bulk licences from, directly from Microsoft? I've seen that you have to go via one of their official distributors/vendors?

Make sure to quote or mention to notify others that you responded.

 

You can either become a Microsoft Partner or purchase Volume Licensing from an existing Microsoft Partner.