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Buying used iPhone

R

Richie-chi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2008
5
0
Is there anything I need to do to protect myself when buying a used iphone off Ebay or Craigslist?
 
Why not buy from Craiglist? I figured with craigslist I could meet the seller in person and examine the phone in my hand before I purchased it.
 
Just be careful on CL, you'll get a ton of Nigerian Scammers and if someone does meet you and they are bringing cash, just make sure it's in a very public place and you have at least one other person with you. I like to meet at the UC Berkeley Campus, at the Milano Coffee Shop which is directly across the street from the UC Berkeley Police Department...:eek:
 
I haved an iPhone for 6 months and am purchasing a used one for my wife so I'm not that concerened with the functioning of the iphone. I will compare it to mine and should be able to tell if it's glitchy. My concern is buying an iphone that is stolen or perhaps unable to be activated things that I may have a problem with down the road.
 
I'm meeting them locally at a public place and there is actually no cash involved. I'm trading a in dash DVD player I paid 75.00 for and 4GB 1st gen and a blackberry 8310. So I thought it was a decent deal on my part
 
Richie-chi said:
Why not buy from Craiglist? I figured with craigslist I could meet the seller in person and examine the phone in my hand before I purchased it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Ebay has degraded into a faceless den of liars and cheats. I'm not saying everyone on eBay is a crook, but there are enough bad eggs out there to make the whole process quite annoying. You do have to play it safe with Craigslist, but at least both buyer and seller have an opportunity to size up the deal in person before completing the transaction. I've successfully sold everything from electronics to my car on Craigslist with little problem.
 
For the sake of saving my time, I'm quoting myself from a post that I've already posted in a different thread.

Robby9279 said:
To the OP:
I am warning you ,
Recently, I just purchased an unlocked iPhone off eBay, I ordered it December 22nd, and received it December 24th. I opened it up on December 25th. On December 26th, I noticed that the box was too scratched up to be considered new, so I checked both serial numbers on the iPhone and the Box. Turned out they were different so I entered them on Apple's warranty site. Turned out the box had been a replaced unit and was refurbished and not new. So What I am telling you is, if and when you buy your phone and you receive it, make sure to check the serial numbers you could have been sold a replaced unit.
Click to expand...
 
Met up with her and both phones were in good shape. The iphone was in great shape with no scratches on the screen and just a small ding on the back with all buttons working and in the original box with all the accessories. She said she didn't use it very much cause she switched phones all the time. She had formerly worked at ATT and was getting rid of all her extra phones. The iphone was version 1.1.4 so either she didn't update it or its been sitting around for a while.
 
nickspohn said:
But, he is planning on buying a used iPhone...
Your case was different.
Click to expand...

I was light minded yesterday :p.
My best advice is be careful, and if you buy it off eBay, ask for pictures of the phone working with the Seller's name somewhere in the picture, just so you know it's legit. If they deny anything you ask, leave it and find somewhere else to buy.
EDIT: Seems you've bought it! Congratulations.
 
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