A friend in the UK is looking to buy a legal version FM17 or 18 - Mainly because of resistance to the new FM 19 Pricing model
- any ideas?
He could order FM 19 and just use the license key to unlock 18.
At least we still use the same key for 18 and 19.
Good advice as always from @MonkeybreadSoftware - however I understand he is on FM 13 and looking to upgrade to enable better integration with Google Contacts. Didn’t like pricing model for FM 19 at all so perhaps 17 and 18 will be less appealing
Is he looking for a single license ? If so there is no upgrade path from FM 13, he needs to buy a new license for FM 19. For a single license, there are no subscriptions.
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FM single licenses for older versions are on sale at Ebay.
@robertjackson Can you be more explicit as to what your friend is looking for that he does not find in the current offering?
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Aare these licenses legal ?
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the last time I did something similar was in the days of FM5 
it went like:
send the registration code to Claris
they will tell you wether it is valid and has a legal owner
ask them to transfer it to your legal entity maybe with entitlement from former owner
receive a kind of receipt and nower days a new licensecert file I suppose
usually this takes a day or two but was possible
comes down to "ask Claris about it"
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They may not be - so my friend would only be interested in getting a legal licence
He is very much against paying annual/monthly subscriptions. Prefers outright licence purchase.
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then he could just go and buy a package for FMP 19.
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Perpetual licencing is still available.
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Thanks for the clarification @robertjackson
There is a world of difference between saying "I don't like what is new", "I don't like XYZ from what is new", "I'm looking for ABC instead".
As @bdbd points out, perpetual licensing is still available. He should even be able to purchase maintenance alongside to get updates for later years if he wants (limited to volume purchases I believe). If we are talking about a single seat, he can purchase the software, and if he owns a license for FM16 or above, I believe upgrade pricing to be available for single seat purchases.
Your friend needs to voice what he wants and talk with the right people.
AFAIK, there are no longer upgrade-prices for V16 available - and Yes, maintenance is not for single seats available.
But the good news is that one can still buy a license - and ask for a downgrade (in our region, this happens not automatically, we have to ask/call)
Yes, renting is a real mess - if one does not feel like this, just wait until one gets retired or another family member has to deal with that...
@Markus the Claris store still has upgrade pricing available when buying single licenses.
Asking for downgrades is kind of a different topic in my opinion. Useful when your hardware won't let you run the latest version of FileMaker, but the OP did not bring that in the picture.
As for subscription vs perpetual, each has its own pros & cons, you have to pick what is best suited to your own scenario and that is why both models are still available. Any Claris Partner who sell licenses should be able to assist with that. Claris does seem to have a preference towards the subscription model, choosing to make perpetual purchases only available via some channels and not on their web store, but that is something I can understand.
You may not need to ask for the downgrade.
Just use the FileMaker Pro 19 with the new license.
If you can't run it due to using older hardware, install 17 or 18 with same license key.
if you need help with a download link, ask one of the fellows here directly.
Yes, ou are right! I wasn't sure if it's still for FM16 after 19.4 came out - but seems to be ok for V16 users
Even the version 17 works with the serial number, just installed a version 17 for a client. Version 19 wouldn't work on his High Sierra iMac. But I had an installer 17 (not his!). The serial was accepeted.
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