Serial Dealers - a new discount software site

[mwb1100]

I'm a bit hesitant to post this, as the site seems to be one of those 'too good to be true' situations.  But I've purchased a copy of Update Patrol (formerly DeltaSpy - http://www.updatepatrol.com/) for €2 (i guess that's about $3), and all seems well.

As I understand it, the licenses offered by Serial Dealers may have some limitations compared to normal, full licenses - not in functionality, but in support, transferability, no refunds, and limited upgrade lifetimes.

One of the products they have on the site is Direct Access (http://www.nagarsoft.com), which has received good press on DC.

http://www.serialdealers.com

[mouser]

As I understand it, the licenses offered by Serial Dealers may have some limitations compared to normal, full licenses - not in functionality, but in support, transferability, no refunds, and limited upgrade lifetimes.

very interesting.. keep us posted on your experiences.  they do seem legit and it might be a reasonable choice for some people in some circumstances.

[justice]

How it works
Why risk downloading cracked software which could contain viruses, spyware or could even damage your system when you can get it directly from Serial Dealers? Every software available is legally licensed to us to resell from the developer and available to members at a fraction of the cost of normal selling price.

Please check the Certified reseller links to the lower left of this page to verify SerialDealers approved reseller status.

We purchase the software in massive bulk quantities directly from the developer to offer our members unbeatable prices.The software is the same "full" software available at the developers web site and is not limited, a trial version or crippled in any way. It is the same software you would receive if you purchased directly from the developers site. The level of support included may however be different. Please make sure you read the descriptions of each software before making a purchase.

The only conditions on the software we offer members are as follows:
Not for commercial use*
Not for resale
Only for personal use
Refunds only available for faulty software. (This does not affect your statutory rights)
Basic Membership is absolutely free, but becoming a Gold member has many benefits included. There is a limited amount of licenses initially available to basic members, while gold members have access to 1000s of licenses and should not have problems making their purchase.

All new software is released to gold members first and will become available to basic members when gold members have had the chance to purchase. If we run out of licenses for our gold members then we try and negotiate further bulk discounts with the developer on behalf of our gold members.

*subject to terms provided from each developer.

Interesting, but I don't trust it I guess i do now. They're buying in bulk licenses, then sell it for really cheap. Where do they make profit?

edit: Seems they're certified resellers, see http://www.nagarsoft.com/serialdealers/certification.html for example.

[tinjaw]

The part you might be missing is that most of them are only good for one year and you only get minimal support (which I take to mean installation support only). So you are not buying the software, you are buying a license to use it for one year. After that year is over, you can no longer use the software unless you purchase another license.

[mwb1100]

So you are not buying the software, you are buying a license to use it for one year. After that year is over, you can no longer use the software unless you purchase another license.

That's how I read the "1 year license" limitations initially.  However, after asking for clarification, the licenses allow perpetual use of the software, but they limit the upgrade window to 1 year (which is pretty common for the full-price software anyway).  I think that the 1 year limitation may also apply to minor updates that might normally be free (not sure about this - I think this depends on how the vendor distributes minor updates).  They have updated the descriptions for most items to make this more clear.  There is also some discussion about this on the forums.

It's not clear to me what exactly is meant by minimal support.  Some of this software has no on-line support presence (like a forum) - for example, UpdatePatrol does not have a support forum.  I usually like to see an active forum for software that I buy, since even if you don't have any problems you can often just get good ideas from reading how others are using the software.  However, there's no forum for UpdatePatrol whether you pay full price or not.

In this case since I could try before buy and the cost is $3, I figured the risk was pretty minimal.

That said, I remain a bit skeptical for some reason (if it seems too good...), but the entry cost was low enough (€5/$7) that I figured I'd take a bit of a gamble.  My guess is that the vendors are using this as a loss-leader of sorts and are banking on getting some real revenue from major upgrades after the 1 year.

[tinjaw]

Doh! I forgot to mention that I have already purchased a serial via Serial Dealers. Back on June 17 I purchases a second license to Alcohol 120%. I have used it for years on my desktop, and now that I have a laptop I needed/wanted a second license. I bought a second license through Serial Dealers and, dare I say, it is 120% legit. 

[Curt]

I might spend €5 now, because they have two apps I would like to have, but for now the supply is way too limited to think about any €25 membership - though such members are being promised the choice between thousands of programs:

There is a limited amount of licenses initially available to basic members, while gold members have access to 1000s of licenses and should not have problems making their purchase.

- "thousands", they say, but they only name ten (10) programs! So where are the remaining? I have searched their site, and they don't have more than these ten programs, I dare to say. I understand that they are brand new on the market (Launch Day 2007-06-23) and cannot yet have a large catalogue - but only ten? I say the gold will have to wait...


Clever detail that you have to buy 5 credit points but can only spend 2x2 = 4 ... 

[Edit: You will have to look deep into the rules to figure out why you can buy the basic membership for €5 and get 5 credit points, but will have to pay €25 to get merely 15 credit points if you want the gold...]

[justice]

if they have 100 licenses per program then with 10x100 = 1000 licenses. I suspect they are talking rom a user's view.

[tinjaw]

There is a limited amount of licenses initially available to basic members, while gold members have access to 1000s of licenses and should not have problems making their purchase.

They are talking about licenses not applications. IOW you are likely to get a license before they run out because the gold members have their own pool of licenses instead of you having to try and get one of the non-gold membership licenses that are open to the general public and might sell out.


edit by jgpaiva: fixing quote

[Carol Haynes]

Re one year licenses ... I already own IsoBuster Pro but they offer this with the following conditions:

Limitations and conditions
- 1 Year License with minimum support
- Software will revert to ISOBuster Basic after 1 year - Non transferable
- Non refundable
- Not re-sellable
- Only for personal, not business use
- 1 license per person maximum

Note the second line ... it seems they are selling a one year license to use at least some of the software - not a limited license for upgrades etc.

[Curt]

... I've purchased a copy of Update Patrol (formerly DeltaSpy - http://www.updatepatrol.com/) for €2 (i guess that's about $3), ...

Unfortunately Serial Dealers have been closed. Otherwise I wouldn't mind using their pricing policy now, on UpdatePatrol:

UpdatePatrol Professional: 1 copy: US$ 129.95

UpdatePatrol Standard: US $69.95


All prices are in US Dollars, include technical support via email and one year of free upgrades, but exclude any sales tax or value added tax (VAT) that may apply.

 ???? !!!!!!!


-------
compare editions:
http://www.updatepatrol.com/editions.html

The Standard Edition can be upgraded to the Professional Edition at any time by paying the difference in price.

[wraith808]

I wonder why they closed.  It seemed like a good deal- sort of like tanga, woot, etc- in that they purchase in bulk and sell for less.

[f0dder]

I wonder why they closed.  It seemed like a good deal- sort of like tanga, woot, etc- in that they purchase in bulk and sell for less.

Probably because there's not enough money to be made that way. And even with bulk discounts, their prices seemed suspiciously low.

And the name probably wasn't the smartest, either - I certainly don't think about software when I hear the word "dealer"