Bought a ~1 year old PC game at fleamarket for $3 !!!

[flunky nassau]

...it was missing the product key -=(

I guess it was too good to be true. If these were used, it probably would have been legit, but they were sealed & brand spanking new. There were like 5 copies of each game too. I only picked up 2, but there were like 50 titles.

- LOTR Online - no product key or buddy key printed on sheet (playing trial version now)
- Galactic Civilizations II - product key included & works fine!



How did these people get these?

Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

 

[Sniper82]

did you look good? Key could be on the back of the manual,back of CD sleeve/case or inside behind the CD case.

 

[tigersty1e]

Yeah check again.

Going through the trouble of making a fake copy is worth more than $3.

 

[drebo]

More than likely, they were stolen.

We routinely got broken into at my shop the day before the fleamarket. They'd break in, steal random stuff, and leave. Always the day before the fleamarket.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: drebo
More than likely, they were stolen.

We routinely got broken into at my shop the day before the fleamarket. They'd break in, steal random stuff, and leave. Always the day before the fleamarket.

Why didn't you have the police watch the place, or some guy with a shotgun?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

 

[StevenNevets]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

What did you do?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: StevenNevets

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

What did you do?

Beat him, called the cops, then told them he tried to hit me when I told him that the MP3 player was mine. MP3 is logged as evidence and he is in jail (presumably).

 

[rh71]

^ were they legit mp3s at least?

 

[SZLiao214]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: drebo
More than likely, they were stolen.

We routinely got broken into at my shop the day before the fleamarket. They'd break in, steal random stuff, and leave. Always the day before the fleamarket.

Why didn't you have the police watch the place, or some guy with a shotgun?

You need to have more SGs guarding the place with a higher TW. Sorry, as soon as i saw spartan niner this is what came to mind.

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

I had a similar situation happen. The cops were called to arrest me as I was attempting to cut the lock off a bike... But it was my bike, it had been stolen about a month earlier. After a lot of explaining they helped me break the lock and laughed at the coincidence as I pedaled away.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

I had a similar situation happen. The cops were called to arrest me as I was attempting to cut the lock off a bike... But it was my bike, it had been stolen about a month earlier. After a lot of explaining they helped me break the lock and laughed at the coincidence as I pedaled away.

How the hell did you get them to believe it was yours? Sounds like an episode of Reno 911.

 

[MarcVenice]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

I had a similar situation happen. The cops were called to arrest me as I was attempting to cut the lock off a bike... But it was my bike, it had been stolen about a month earlier. After a lot of explaining they helped me break the lock and laughed at the coincidence as I pedaled away.

How the hell did you get them to believe it was yours? Sounds like an episode of Reno 911.

I actually had the same thing happen to me. Easy to prove it was mine because my areacode was in the chassis of the bicycle. Quick comparison to my passport, and checking the stolen goods database, and I could take back my stolen bike. Good thing I did report it being stolen, otherwise you have no way of proving it, I mean, you could have sold the bike, right?

-edit, hmmm this is actually pretty darn offtopic I'd say the games are probably stolen. Could also be defective units, but I doubt any can get their hands on those. It could also be bought up inventory from a store that went out of business ...

 

[Stg-Flame]

At our flea market, we have cops constantly carousing the booths for stolen goods. Twelve or so times I have been to our flea markets and every time there has been someone arrested for selling stolen merchandise.

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

I had a similar situation happen. The cops were called to arrest me as I was attempting to cut the lock off a bike... But it was my bike, it had been stolen about a month earlier. After a lot of explaining they helped me break the lock and laughed at the coincidence as I pedaled away.

How the hell did you get them to believe it was yours? Sounds like an episode of Reno 911.

The incident took place while I was going to college in Arcata, CA. Which is a tiny college town. It was not too hard for them to look up my original police report and confirm that the bike was mine. The indecent got a mention in the local paper.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: flunky nassau
Well, it's pretty obvious to me that when I go to the fleamarket & see tables of stereos, laptops, cell phones, & beauty products for sale, they are obviously stolen goods. Heck, I might even run into my car stereo one day. Thievery rings are a pretty big problem for most retailers. But these games must have been defects & were supposed to be disposed of.

I had some guy approach me on campus and ask me if I wanted to buy an MP3 player for cheap. He said the only drawback is that he lost the installation software, so I could only listen to the songs that were on it. Turned out to be my MP3 player that was stolen out of my car a month prior.

I had a similar situation happen. The cops were called to arrest me as I was attempting to cut the lock off a bike... But it was my bike, it had been stolen about a month earlier. After a lot of explaining they helped me break the lock and laughed at the coincidence as I pedaled away.

How the hell did you get them to believe it was yours? Sounds like an episode of Reno 911.

The incident took place while I was going to college in Arcata, CA. Which is a tiny college town. It was not too hard for them to look up my original police report and confirm that the bike was mine. The indecent got a mention in the local paper.

Whoa! I lived in Arcata when I went to Humboldt State University as a geology student! Blast from the past! I now live in sucky central NY state.

 

[Craig234]

They can pretty easily open a bix, take a code, and use a machine to reseal the box.

My tip: next time, buy the game and open it in front of the cashier to see if the code is in.

That still won't protect you from used codes, but it would have helped you with the missing code.