Sprint iPhone on Verizon? How to unlock?

[x-evil-x]

I have a phone I bought that has a clean imei number on it but I'm trying to sell it and I keep getting questions on if it's unlocked and to unlock it if it's not.
The phone was originally on sprint and I've never sold a phone that wasn't unlocked before. I got a good deal on this iPhone 7. They didn't need it and got it for free. I'm assuming it was free with some trade in program since it's the 32gig. Can I sell this?

 

[bufffilm]

I have a phone I bought that has a clean imei number on it but I'm trying to sell it and I keep getting questions on if it's unlocked and to unlock it if it's not.
The phone was originally on sprint and I've never sold a phone that wasn't unlocked before. I got a good deal on this iPhone 7. They didn't need it and got it for free. I'm assuming it was free with some trade in program since it's the 32gig. Can I sell this?

Sounds like it is still locked to Sprint. You need to be on Sprint for 60 days before you can unlock the phone.

Or sell it locked, as is.

Also sounds as it may have a commitment on the phone. Another headache.

 

[eyoungren]

I have a phone I bought that has a clean imei number on it but I'm trying to sell it and I keep getting questions on if it's unlocked and to unlock it if it's not.
The phone was originally on sprint and I've never sold a phone that wasn't unlocked before. I got a good deal on this iPhone 7. They didn't need it and got it for free. I'm assuming it was free with some trade in program since it's the 32gig. Can I sell this?

Assumptions can harm you.

If it was 'free' on a promo deal then that probably means "free after two years with monthly bill credits applied to your account".

That's usually how they work these things. And if service is terminated then you'd be charged the remainder, depending on how many months you have left.

I would call and ask, but they probably will want full price paid even if they unlock it.
[doublepost=1477054877][/doublepost]

Sounds like it is still locked to Sprint. You need to be on Sprint for 60 days before you can unlock the phone.

It's 50 days, unless Sprint recently changed the policy?

 

[bufffilm]

Assumptions can harm you.

If it was 'free' on a promo deal then that probably means "free after two years with monthly bill credits applied to your account".

That's usually how they work these things. And if service is terminated then you'd be charged the remainder, depending on how many months you have left.

I would call and ask, but they probably will want full price paid even if they unlock it.
[doublepost=1477054877][/doublepost]
It's 50 days, unless Sprint recently changed the policy?

You're probably right...that was off the top of my head.

 

[x-evil-x]

Assumptions can harm you.

If it was 'free' on a promo deal then that probably means "free after two years with monthly bill credits applied to your account".

That's usually how they work these things. And if service is terminated then you'd be charged the remainder, depending on how many months you have left.

I would call and ask, but they probably will want full price paid even if they unlock it.
[doublepost=1477054877][/doublepost]
It's 50 days, unless Sprint recently changed the policy?

The guy I got them from said that he got a larger capacity phone but still has the same contract with sprint. Both phones have seem ok when I check them imei's. said he got the other phone for cheap from his work(Best Buy). Probably won't try unlocking them and just selling them for sprint carriers. My friend put her sprint sim in them and they seem fine to me.

 

[corys00]

The guy I got them from said that he got a larger capacity phone but still has the same contract with sprint. Both phones have seem ok when I check them imei's. said he got the other phone for cheap from his work(Best Buy). Probably won't try unlocking them and just selling them for sprint carriers. My friend put her sprint sim in them and they seem fine to me.

Interesting bit right there - just popping an active Sprint SIM into a phone does not provision the device to work, there still must be an equipment swap performed either online, in a store or through customer care...

 

[timeconsumer]

The guy I got them from said that he got a larger capacity phone but still has the same contract with sprint. Both phones have seem ok when I check them imei's. said he got the other phone for cheap from his work(Best Buy). Probably won't try unlocking them and just selling them for sprint carriers. My friend put her sprint sim in them and they seem fine to me.

From my understanding, Best Buy uses a universal version of the iPhone 7/7+. What this means is that it uses the lock policy of the SIM card used during the initial activation. If it hasn't been activated yet, you can probably throw in a Verizon SIM card which will then activate it with Verizon and use Verizon's unlocking policy. If it was activated on Sprint, then you'll need to contact Sprint and have them unlock it.

This thread has some good information in it: Best Buy iP7/7+ Models are Subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy

 

[x-evil-x]

From my understanding, Best Buy uses a universal version of the iPhone 7/7+. What this means is that it uses the lock policy of the SIM card used during the initial activation. If it hasn't been activated yet, you can probably throw in a Verizon SIM card which will then activate it with Verizon and use Verizon's unlocking policy. If it was activated on Sprint, then you'll need to contact Sprint and have them unlock it.

This thread has some good information in it: Best Buy iP7/7+ Models are Subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy

one of the phones he was using the other one wasn't activated yet. We tried a different sim in the phone and it seems to work fine.

 

[timeconsumer]

one of the phones he was using the other one wasn't activated yet. We tried a different sim in the phone and it seems to work fine.

So the one you have has not been activated yet? If that's the case, if a Verizon user buys it, it should activate using Verizon and therefore use Verizon's unlocking policy which should make the device unlocked. But any other carrier, it would lock to their unlocking policy as per the thread I linked in my previous post.

 

[x-evil-x]

thank you

 

[jhobe6678]

I purchased my iPhone 7 Plus through Apple when I had Sprint. A week or so after I walked into a Verizon store. An hour or so later I was on Verizon. However there was a trick. The rep there had to activate the sim in one of their iPhone models, which meant he did it on a temporary number, then put that temporary number into mine while we waited for my number to port over from Sprint.

I went home and waited a couple hours and still was on that temp number. I called Verizon, they said I had to call Sprint (Or vice versa). Basically the port order wasn't completely put through? So I don't know if customer interaction had to happen, but the point is I was with Sprint for a week or so on my iPhone before I switched and it's been working fine on Verizon ever since. One thing to note though is that unless you buy the phone FROM Verizon, it will show up as a NON-VZW device, which I'm told by both Verizon and Apple that it's not an issue as long as everything is functioning fine. (Calls, Texts, Data).

Just some food for thought there. I had to leave Sprint, they added on $25 a month because I was no longer paying for the phone through them (Verizon charges $20 for this but I didn't know at first) and Sprint kept telling me it was another charge that I shouldn't be paying for. I always got a different answer from every person I spoke to there. Had them for 18 years, got tired of the slow and poor data coverage in my areas. (South Florida). I had a Galaxy S6 before this.