Need advice - Sold a new 3gs on Craigslist

[PartyAtMoontwr]

Hi guys, new to the forum, please excuse me if I am posting in the wrong sub-forum. I need advice/help so this seemed like the appropriate place.

Recently I re-upped my contract with ATT and ordered 2 iphone 3gs, one for myself one for my g/f. I bought them online from ATT, when I received them I activated mine but my g/f decided she didn't want to pay for the data plan. She said she could just use mine my phone if she wanted to surf. So instead of returning it I thought I could make some quick extra bucks by selling it on Craigslist. I was shocked to see how much they were selling for on Clist/Ebay. So I never activated it and removed my SIM card before I sold it.

The guy I sold it to is now emailing me saying he was planning on unlocking it and is unable to do so because it is not activated and says he needs the SIM card that came with the phone to activate it. He does not have a contract or service with AT&T.

So my question is how should I proceed. I don't want to be a jerk and not respond, but should I give him the SIM card? Doesn't the SIM card contain my account information? Can he unlock the phone or activate the phone without the original SIM card?

Thanks, AJ.

 

[gendaito]

He doesn't need your sim card. He can buy one from AT&T. If you told him that you were selling without the sim, well that's the way it is. He doesn't want to go to AT&T because he doesn't want to have to set up an account, would be my guess. Everytime I've sold a iphone after upgrading, I've sold it without the sim, stated so in the ad & told the buyer they would have to get a new sim from AT&T. I've done this twice.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I agree with the poster above. And never sell a cell phone with a SIM card unless you zap all your data.

 

[PartyAtMoontwr]

Thanks, yes I did make it clear to him that the phone would be without the SIM. Couldn't he just buy a gophone and use that sim card to activate it so he wouldn't have to sign a contract?

 

[gendaito]

To add further, he most likely can't unlock the phone without an AT&T sim, that's why he wants yours.
No, If it were me, I would not give him the sim card.

 

[PartyAtMoontwr]

To add further, he most likely can't unlock the phone without an AT&T sim, that's why he wants yours.
No, If it were me, I would not give him the sim card.

That's what I think too. I don't know the first thing about unlocking. Anybody familiar with jailbreaking/unlocking know if that's true? Can you do that without an AT&T sim?

 

[gendaito]

To unlock the phone, it first needs to be activated(I'm pretty sure), since it's locked to AT&T, they only way to first activate it is with an AT&T sim. Any other sim won't work.