Buying a sealed iPhone 4S off Craigslist

[vijayece]

Members,

I'm planning on buying a sealed in the box iPhone 4S from CL. The seller seems genuine and has the original sale receipt that he can show me. His case is that, he upgraded the phone on his account for $199. He plans to sell off the phone for the extra cash and keep the line in his account.

I asked for the IMEI # and the serial number which he readily gave. Keyed in the serial number in the Apple website and it was correctly identified as iPhone 4S that has not been activated.

The box is sealed (it was purchased yesterday), meaning the phone is not activated. I have not used an iPhone before so have the following questions --

1. Should I get the phone activated by him when I make the purchase? I guess the phone comes with a microSIM and I read that the phone can only be activated with the SIM it was shipped with. Also that it may need some of his personal information like the last 4 digit of SSN.

2. Will Apple honor the warranty without the original sale receipt? He is ready to give a copy of the receipt.

3. I do not plan on using ATT service for the phone as I will be taking it to my country (outside USA). Can the 4S be reliably unlocked without losing its features?

Do I need to be aware of other things when making this purchase?

Look forward to hear from you guys. This is my first iPhone purchase, so just a bit tensed about the activation, unlocking etc.

Thanks much.

- Vijay

 

[Trauma1]

Warranty is based off of the serial number, and the 4S has not been unlocked yet.

 

[TriJetHero]

You can activated with any AT&T microsim, new, old, inactive.

But indeed no unlock yet, Musclenerd is working on it, but usually it needs a Jailbreak for that. Jailbreaks are not available yet.

 

[vijayece]

Warranty is based off of the serial number, and the 4S has not been unlocked yet.

Thanks. So, I will have to have to wait until there is an unlock?

Also, what about the activation? Should I get it activated by the seller? If I activate, can I use a different SIM and will I need the sellers personal information?

 

[TriJetHero]

Wait for an unlock, there is a snag ofcourse.

The unlock is probably only for certain radio basebands. If Apple updates the baseband in future updtes the unlock might not work any more.

When a unlock comes out and you decide to buy a 4S, make sure that you know the firmware AND Baseband version, that is always a bit of a gamble with sealed boxes.

You can also look for a factory unlocked phone, more expensive but worth the extra money IMO.

Activation only needs to see a AT&T sim, if an unlock is available you can put in any sim.

The Jailbreaks available for the IP4 are able to activate the IP without a sim, if that will be the same for the 4S isn't clear yet.

 

[vijayece]

Wait for an unlock, there is a snag ofcourse.

Activation only needs to see a AT&T sim, if an unlock is available you can put in any sim.

The Jailbreaks available for the IP4 are able to activate the IP without a sim, if that will be the same for the 4S isn't clear yet.

Hey, thanks. Sorry for bothering, but I'm still not clear on the activation. So, if an unlock and jailbreak is available, I will be able to bypass the activation and use any SIM? If I go ahead and buy from this seller and wait for the unlock, should the get the phone activated by him?

 

[hackthatphone]

I know we've seen this issue in the past where people have purchased an iphone that someone is selling because they received a deal from their carrier and chose not to activate it. The seller receives it and can't register it because they need the seller's SSN, and what not. I'd just make sure you can really activate this yourself.

 

[PharmDoc]

Wait for an unlock, there is a snag ofcourse.

You can also look for a factory unlocked phone, more expensive but worth the extra money IMO.

.

This.. If you are planning on leaving the country, why bother waiting for a JB or UL that you may lose in the future. Spend an extra $150 to $200 and you have the peace of mind knowing your phone will never be locked.

 

[labman]

you also will have higher resale have a real factory unlocked phone. Along with 0 worries! if you do decide to go this route though. have him meet you at Apple or ATT activate it there. money of condition of activation there. if he isn't willing (no deal)

 

[localboy28]

Why on earth would you buy a phone locked to a network you dont use?
Move on and buy an unlocked one.

 

[dhlizard]

OP, although there is work on an unlock, nothing is ever guaranteed.
If you require the unlock, and choose to buy a phone locked to a carrier you must assume the risk you might be buying an expensive paperweight.

MuscleNerd spent months on a previous unlock and it did not pan out, even after he announced it was possible.

----------

Why on earth would you buy a phone locked to a network you dont use?
Move on and buy an unlocked one.

Exactly