Critics of this method rightly point out that you can buy keys that don’t work, or eventually lose their activation status because of their unknown origins. In other words, the keys aren’t illegal, but they’re likely extras from a volume licensing agreement and not meant to be sold individually to home users. What makes the license keys so cheap is that they’re gray market at best. Some sites, like Kinguin, specialize in digital software sales-to buy Windows 10, you’ll find the Windows 10 Home OEM or Windows 10 Pro OEM listings, pick a seller, then add their product to your cart and check out.

Platforms like eBay and Kinguin allow buyers to purchase product keys from third-party sellers. But this approach comes with a salt mine of caution. Scoring Windows 10 at an 85-percent discount (or more) is possible, and it’s not even difficult.

Price: Under $30 (Windows 10 Home and Pro).

(Skip down to “Low prices with a caveat” for details.) Otherwise, if you want to shave down costs further, it’s going to take work-or a deep locus of calm when people criticize your life choices.

But it is an extra hassle.įor further savings, you’ll have to wait for the rare sale or Black Friday, when you can get an OEM license in the neighborhood of $85 (Windows 10 Home) to $120 (Windows 10 Pro). Microsoft has historically been kind about such situations, however you can usually call to reactivate the license after replacing a fried mobo. If you build a system but roll a new one four years later, you can’t transfer the license to the new machine.Īlso, if the hardware used to identify your system fails-namely, the motherboard-Microsoft’s registration servers won’t recognize your license as valid after you replace the dead part. In exchange for a lower price, you get to use the license key on only one PC, period. The process for activating a Windows 10 OEM license is the same as for a retail license.

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