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Even at its list price of $70 per year, a personal subscription
to Microsoft 365—or Office 365, as it used to be called—is one of
the better deals in tech.
That subscription gets you full access to Microsoft’s Office
suite along with 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage. I’ve been a mostly
satisfied subscriber for years, partly for the Office software,
though mainly to access my photos, documents, and personal music
library from any device.
But part of that satisfaction comes from never paying full price
in the first place. Instead, I’ve made a point of buying Office 365
discount codes on eBay, using them to renew my subscription in
one-year increments. These codes are often on sale for as little as
$45, and have been readily available every time I’ve checked. (Here’s one example.)
Office 365
discounts: What you need to know
To find these Office 365 discount codes, just search for Office 365 Personal and look for
listings that offer a one-year or 12-month subscription. Make sure
that listing includes a picture of the product advertising a
one-year subscription for one person, and that the seller has a
large number of positive feedback ratings.
Look for an indication of a one-year subscription, along with a
strong seller reputation when buying Office 365 subscriptions on
eBay.
Jared Newman / IDG
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a family subscription,
search for Office 365 Home Premium instead.
These tend to be a bit pricier, but allow up to six family members
to each have their own 1 TB of OneDrive storage.
A couple words of warning:
- Do not, under any circumstance, purchase a lifetime
subscription to Office 365, no matter how low the price is. These
likely come from unscrupulous sellers distributing shared or stolen
accounts, and and even if they work, you won’t be able to use them
with your existing Microsoft account. - Avoid buying from international sellers, and watch out for the
shipping price. Most sellers don’t tack on a shipping fee, but some
do.
Once you place the order, you should receive a physical card in
the mail containing a code that you can redeem on Microsoft’s Office setup
site. Sign into your Microsoft account on that site and apply
the code. If you already have an active subscription, Microsoft
will simply push back your renewal date by 12 months.
During this process, Microsoft might also offer you a bonus
month if you turn on auto-renew; you can turn it back off right
after signing up and still get the extra month tacked on.
Just remember to repeat this process once per year and you
should be able to enjoy Microsoft 365 at a deep discount for years
to come.
A version of this story originally appeared in Advisorator,
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