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Tips for purchasing a used iphone 4

R

Ristin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 11, 2011
26
0
We're on ATT and I got my wife a 3GS refurb through ATT and our FAN# for $9 about a year ago. After playing with her 3GS, I realized no matter what beefs I had with the mobile provider smart phone pricing structures, I needed an iPhone. I got a refurb iphone 4 for $99 and absolutely flipping love it; can't believe life existing with out it. Don't much care for the monthly bill, but it is cheaper than a drug addiction.
However, now my wife is giving me grief that my cool new gadget is better than her gadget and how come I always get the really cool gadget and she gets the busted down reject. (Mind you, she had an iPhone first and I had no phone.) :D
So I'm looking at used iPhone 4's on Craigslist and need to know what to watch out for. Prices are all over the place, but I think I can get a decent clean 16 to 32GB unit in the low to mid $300's. Does this sound about right?
Can I use the SIM from her 3GS in the 4?
Do I have to involve ATT any where in the switch? ($$$)
Are there any common scams I should be aware of?
Any common red flags to watch for?

On Edit: Should have done this first. Googled found some good tips. Any extra tips from the masters would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
At this point, I would pay $275 for the 16gb and $325 for the 32. No more than that. Offer those prices and then walk away if you have to. They'll come back.
 
I just bought a 16 gb iphonr 4 on here for $180 with slight cosmetic damage. Locally don't pay over 300
 
bandofbrothers said:
The iPhone 4 only accepts the microsim.

I believe the 3gs takes a normal sized sim card.
Click to expand...

This is true, but there are easy ways around it. You can cut the sim yourself, or, even easier, alk into ATT and ask for an activated micro sim. If you have the iPhone 4 with you they will pop it in, make sure it's wrking, etc. etc. The fact that the 3GS uses a regular sim shouldn't be a turn off in the slightest.
 
You just happen to have the same user name as the website you are sending folks to? *face palm*
 
maliu said:
You just happen to have the same user name as the website you are sending folks to? *face palm*
Click to expand...

And the join date is February 2012. Can't overlook that. Although to be fair, their other 10 posts since joining have been seemingly real responses. So take it for what it's worth.
 
lordofthereef said:
This is true, but there are easy ways around it. You can cut the sim yourself, or, even easier, alk into ATT and ask for an activated micro sim. If you have the iPhone 4 with you they will pop it in, make sure it's wrking, etc. etc. The fact that the 3GS uses a regular sim shouldn't be a turn off in the slightest.
Click to expand...

How much does it cost? You can just walk in there and ask them for a microsim just like that?
 
motoleo said:
How much does it cost? You can just walk in there and ask them for a microsim just like that?
Click to expand...

Through ATT it's free, if you have an account with them. Just tell them what you are doing (replacing a 3GS with a 4)... it is completely legit. It has to be an official ATT store. Resellers will charge you for the card, as high as $25,
 
Thanks everyone. I can see my philosophy of buy high, sell low would have gotten me again. Thanks for the reality check on the prices. I saw a few 4's on Craigslist closer to the prices you listed, but I assumed something was potentially wrong with those.


Hmmmm, was just looking at my bill. The 3GS which we got 1st isn't eligible for upgrade until Sept 2012, however the IP4 I just got 3 months ago, as an added 2nd line, shows out of contract and I could upgrade to a 16GB 4s for $199 or get another refurb IP4 for $99. The drawback of course; the new phone would be locked in for two years. I don't know why that bugs me, but it does, even though I've had the same job for 22 years, been married for 10 years, had the same car with loan for 4 years, so it's not like commitment is an issue....
 
i feel like a dumbass
i got my i4 on 4.10.xx bb with original case and accessories for $350
flawless condition

got my gevey and on tmobile $30 prepaid plan yuppp
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Try and get one that is still within the 1 year warranty. You can verify by asking the seller for the serial number located in settings. Apple has a tool on their website that lets you verify an iPhones warranty. It's not hard to find.
 
Picked up my iPhone 4 32gig off eBay for $295. I wasn't going to burn another two year contract on the 4s dud.
 
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