Why Buy Second-Hand Office Pack Licenses?
Resource - Par Habibou M'baye, le 12 Feb 2025

Why Buy Second-Hand Office Pack Licenses?

Why Buy Second-Hand Office Pack Licenses?

With over 1.2 billion users worldwide, the Microsoft Office Pack, renamed in 2020 as Microsoft 365, is the leading office software suite in the market. It is essential for many companies that need efficient tools for their numerous daily office tasks. And it remains unmatched by the competition from open-source software.

The issue is that the Office Pack is expensive. Especially since Microsoft has mastered the art of regularly releasing new versions of its favorite software suite for reasons of compatibility, optimization... or marketing.

In this context, how can one avoid paying the high price of an evolving update that doesn't suit their needs while maintaining their existing usage benefits?

Purchasing a second-hand Office Pack license is an opportunity to save money with a reliable solution that fits your needs.

What is a Second-Hand Office Pack License?

The Microsoft Office offering has become significantly more complex in recent years with software versions multiplying, especially in a context of digital transformation.

Since the 2012 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, surplus licenses are now resellable on the secondary market, allowing IT managers to acquire older versions of Microsoft Professional at very attractive prices while keeping their IT systems operational and compliant.

Purchasing a second-hand office pack license thus allows the transfer of the usage rights and therefore the license agreement to the new owner.

A second-hand office pack license like Office Professional Plus 2016 or Office Professional Plus 2019 will contain all the software present in the new Microsoft suite, namely: Word for word processing, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations. Also Outlook, Publisher, Access to name the most well-known.

Just like a new license, you will benefit from multiple accesses depending on the number of users in your company.

To ensure your second-hand Office license is compliant, make sure to check the following points:

You are purchasing software present in the European Union

The software was lawfully acquired by the original owner

The software was originally acquired for an indefinite period

The software has been properly uninstalled from its original system

Buying a Second-Hand Office Pack License: What Are the Benefits?

The benefits of buying a second-hand license Office Pack are as follows:

You save money on the acquisition cost

The overall expense related to software represents nearly 35% of the IT budget. However, updates and support represent increasingly high hidden costs, up to 15% of the purchase price. Thanks to a second-hand Office Pack license, you can save up to 80% on your purchase.

You manage your IT investments in the long term

It is not very profitable to invest every time in the latest version of a software. The burden of managing hardware and/or software obsolescence takes about 40% of the time normally dedicated to development.

Choosing a second-hand Microsoft license allows balancing choices based on actual needs.

You meet compliance rules

All second-hand Office Pack licenses are verified and guaranteed compliant with the original licenses. This reliability protects you from a potentially colossal fine during a compliance audit by Microsoft.

Where to Find a Second-Hand Office Pack License?

You can find a second-hand Office Pack license at many retailers.

First, online distribution giants like FNAC or CDiscount. However, you will not be able to equip professional users in numbers as these marketplaces are more dedicated to individuals.

Then there are brokers also called intermediaries. They will only handle the matchmaking with a potential seller but do not deal with the verification of compliance.

A B2B matchmaking platform specialized in second-hand software transactions like Softcorner is a reliable and qualitative alternative for companies whose financial stakes related to software investment are significant.

Our ambition is to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers by acting as a trusted third party. As such, we conduct all verifications upfront to ensure win-win transactions.

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