I ordered Omnipage 16 from an Amazon Marketplace seller (the sellers you get if you click on "15 new & used from $XX.00"). The box was obviously opened--the original sticker on the flap is cut and covered by a second sticker, there is a score (scratch) across the front of the box, and other very small signs of wear.

The price was about $20 cheaper than Amazon itself, and I understand there being no such thing as a free lunch, but the seller promised a new, sealed box identical to that sent by Amazon. Is there an innocent explanation for why this would occur--maybe they or Nuance are selling a shopworn item, or a returned copy, or something? Or a slightly less than innocent explanation that I'd be satisfied with, like they put an unused OEM copy in a used box?

I'm emailing the seller, too, and will post what he says. I'd send it back immediately, but that would result in a fair amount of expense and a great deal of inconvenience, since I need the software, and would probably need to overnight it from Amazon or someone else.

In the future I'm going to stick with companies I've heard of for software....

I'm not familiar with Omnipage 16 so I don't know if it has a license key or something similar. However, if you can use this 'used' software without worrying about someone else using the same license key or registration, I would say just use it and be happy you got a cheaper price.

If you can't use it due to the fact that someone else has registered that specific license or something similar, then you should return it immediately and eat the shipping cost and inconvenience and learn from your mistake... I wouldn't be happy about it either but I don't see that you have many alternatives.

Well, that's about the best response you could ask for, in my opinion. Not only have they offered a full refund, they've offered to pay for return shipping charges.

I understand your hesitation, but I don't think you can expect anything more from the retailer above and beyond what they are offering you. I would say use the software and be happy that you got it for a lower price...

pyleg said:I've never seen an antitheft protection device for software that requires a retailer to break manufacturer seals to complete a sale. The idea sounds sounds kind of bad from the retailer's perspective.
It's possible that they remove the guts and put empty boxes out for display - we did this with expensive items when I worked retail many many years ago. We didn't have security devices, but I guess the concept is the same. Any I think empty boxes makes more sense anyway, so I don't know for sure what they are doing. But in any case, we broke the seals to put up the empty boxes and when we got down to the last one we did our best to reseal the box and sell it.