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This Ebay seller will sell you AWESOME software for only $19.99!!! — Parallax Forums

This Ebay seller will sell you AWESOME software for only $19.99!!!

MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
edited 2011-06-20 11:20 in General Discussion
....oh, but did I mention, IT'S OPEN SOURCE AND FREE.

Apparently, this is common practice on eBay. I was amazed at how many sellers I found were doing this, and equally amazed at the fools leaving positive comments on it after buying. What are we coming to?

http://cgi.ebay.com/3D-ANIMATION-GAME-DESIGN-SOFTWARE-3DS-Poser-Max-2012-/140565543161?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20ba5bf8f9

Here's some more:

http://cgi.ebay.com/LINUX-UBUNTU-32-BIT-OPERATING-SYSTEM-REPLACE-WINDOWS-/280668506641?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4159258a11
http://cgi.ebay.com/3D-Modeling-Rendering-Software-3-D-Animation-Vector-NEW-/170656537166?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bbec1a4e
http://cgi.ebay.com/PRO-PHOTOGRAPHY-IMAGE-PHOTO-EDITING-PICTURE-EDITOR-/330578554804?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf8046fb4

This guy seems to generate a LOT of it:
http://stores.ebay.com/New-Earth-Software

Do people do ANY research before they buy??

Comments

  • william chanwilliam chan Posts: 1,326
    edited 2011-06-19 19:13
    They add value by giving a physical CD and nice packaging.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-06-19 19:19
    I bought a hard drive case from newegg and it received a lot of positive results but I wasn't happy with it because the A.C. power cord wasn't very thick and I have experience with buying cheap things manufactured from China that break after a month because there wasn't any meat to the wire and they break. That is why the headphones I buy at the dollar store generally last as long as the expensive models in department stores.

    Positive comments on a website do not mean anything. What if half the comments are from people without a GED? What a quarter of the comments are from people without a college degree? There are a lot of rich people who buy things and they don't care because they have the money to replace things so they are also generous with their comments and since most people want to be liked, they won't be critical of anyone or anything because telling the truth wouldn't be polite.

    There are ways to generate statistical inaccuracies.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-06-19 20:22
    My other thought is, how many programs have the users who left good comments actually tried? If they are first time buyers, what are they rating the program against? How do they even know what a good program is? Are they workers in the industry who actually use this program or did they buy it for their grandkids whom never professionally drawn?

    And would spending $100 or more actually give you all the features you need to professionally have? Would not spending $20 actually save you money tomorrow because products get upgraded and you could actually get the upgrade price tomorrow if you didn't buy the $20 dollar program.

    Suppose the $20 program has 100 features and the $100 program has 2000 features. Are you getting a good deal? The more expensive program is cheaper per feature.

    What history does the software company have? Do they have support? How many employees do they have? How long have they been around? Do they plan on being here tomorrow?

    A programmer may be good but a company that has millions to invest could potentially invest more to give you a more professionally produced product. A local programmer has to pay rent, pay his health insurance and doesn't have the capital to invest in his program like maybe a rich company might have. Or one company is more stingy than another company.

    Some companies have a game plan while others just want a product to be in the game.
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-06-19 20:51
    @William chan: They don't actually package it the way they show, if you look under the image you will see that it is "for illustration uses only". From reading comments and the description, I can gather from this that the CD's are nothing more then 50 cent lightscribed disks made on a home computer.
  • JLockeJLocke Posts: 354
    edited 2011-06-19 21:52
    Chuckz wrote: »
    Positive comments on a website do not mean anything. What if half the comments are from people without a GED? What a quarter of the comments are from people without a college degree?

    Reminds me of one of my favorite George Carlin quotes, something along the lines of: "Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize that half of them are stupider than THAT!"
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2011-06-19 23:05
    Reminds me of the local stationery store that sells IRS tax forms that can be freely downloaded from irs.gov.
  • pacmanpacman Posts: 327
    edited 2011-06-20 00:46
    SSteve wrote: »
    Reminds me of the local stationery store that sells IRS tax forms that can be freely downloaded from irs.gov.

    Or the local politicain (who during the last election campaign) - wanted to pour a bucket of money into the 'Eduction system" so that "every child can be above average"
  • JimInCAJimInCA Posts: 80
    edited 2011-06-20 10:32
    JLocke wrote: »
    Reminds me of one of my favorite George Carlin quotes, something along the lines of: "Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize that half of them are stupider than THAT!"

    Two more quotes:

    "A fool and his money are soon parted." -- Thomas Tusser

    "There's a sucker born every minute." -- P. T. Barnum

    It all depends on how you look at it...
    Jim...
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2011-06-20 11:02
    You just never know what people might pay for something on eBay. I sold a deck of playing cards the other day, I figured I'd be lucky to get $5. They sold for $47.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2011-06-20 11:20
    Chuckz wrote: »
    What if half the comments are from people without a GED? What a quarter of the comments are from people without a college degree? .

    I'm curious what having a formal education has to do with one's ability to evaluate and comment on a product's quality or value. Not having a college degree, I probably missed the series of courses explaining why I shouldn't have the position I currently hold or the career that I've had in the computer industry for the past 33 years. Dang! If only I had been able to have that college education....I could have been somebody!

    :lol:

    Rick
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