Pre-owned Microsoft volume licences at B2B wholesale.
Cipher Trade UG buys surplus volume licences from companies and resells them to IT distributors, system houses and resellers — audit-proof documentation, pan-European network, up to 70% below new pricing.
Who we are.
Cipher Trade UG is a Hamburg-based B2B wholesaler focused on audit-proof licence transfer.
Cipher Trade UG was founded in Hamburg in 2026. We trade in pre-owned Microsoft volume licences — strictly to distributors, system houses and resellers. Our focus: a complete chain of documentation, ready to pass through to end-customer audits per Microsoft SAM or BSA.
Four steps from lot to reseller.
Structured B2B wholesale with a complete chain of documentation — from first contact to audit-proof handover.
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01
Enquiry
You write a short message about the product, version and volume you need — specific to Microsoft volume licences.
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02
Sourcing
We check our stock and our EU sourcing network. Binding quote typically within 24 hours.
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03
Documentation
Each lot ships with the full five-document set: provenance, deinstallation, transfer protocol, purchase agreement and certificate.
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04
Handover
Licences are transferred, documentation handed over digitally — ready to pass through to your end-customer audits.
What we offer.
A short overview. See the services page for full detail.
Volume licences in bulk
Windows Server, SQL Server, Office LTSC, Exchange, SharePoint, Project, Visio, CALs and System Center — as EA, Open Value and Select licences, current and prior versions.
B2B wholesale only
Exclusively for distributors, system houses and resellers — no direct end-customer sales, no channel conflict. Framework agreements and tiered pricing on request.
Audit-proof documentation
Each transaction ships with the full five-document set: provenance, deinstallation confirmation, transfer protocol, purchase agreement and licence transfer certificate — EU-compliant per § 69c (3) UrhG.
Confirmed three times at the highest court level — settled law since 2012.
The CJEU, the German Federal Court of Justice and the UK CAT have all firmly legitimised the trade in pre-owned software licences. The November 2025 CAT ruling is the most recent.
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03 · 07 · 2012CJEU Luxembourg — C-128/11
UsedSoft v. Oracle.
The exhaustion doctrine also applies to licences distributed by download. Resale is lawful in case of EU first-sale with consent, adequate consideration and an unlimited-term right.
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2013 + 2014BGH Karlsruhe — I ZR 129/08 + I ZR 8/13
Volume licences can be split.
The German Federal Court of Justice adopts the CJEU's ruling and confirms: splitting volume licences into individual licences for separate resale is legally permissible.
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11 · 2025UK CAT London — [2025] CAT 75
ValueLicensing v. Microsoft.
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal holds that Microsoft's EA clauses cannot effectively prohibit the resale of perpetual licences (Office, Windows Server, etc.).