Buying on Ebay

[Hugh Jass]

Found a listing I'm considering on Ebay for a GS4. The discription is as follows:

Okay this is what's going on. I bought this two weeks ago because I needed a cell phone for a job that went south. outside of that I am a plumber and this phone will shatter in my pocket so I want to sell it while its valuable and in mint condition. It comes with original box and everything, however the proof of purchase was cut out by a Verizon retailer as a courtesy w/o my permission to get me a rebate which only I could have recieved because the serial number has to match the name of the buyer on the receipt. comes with otterbox in its original packaging and 3 screen protectors one of which is on the phone.

Seems to be a pretty good price ($475), but is their anything fishy with this? I know that things go south buying phones on ebay all the time and I'm not sure if this proof of purchase matching serial number stuff could this prevent me from activating the phone on my personal account?

 

[bbtkd]

Found a listing I'm considering on Ebay for a GS4. The discription is as follows:



Seems to be a pretty good price ($475), but is their anything fishy with this? I know that things go south buying phones on ebay all the time and I'm not sure if this proof of purchase matching serial number stuff could this prevent me from activating the phone on my personal account?

I'd be asking how he is exiting his obligation on the phone, so that when you go to register it it doesn't have a $700 charge associated with it. Did he buy it outright for $700? If yes then there should be no charges and this is a good deal. If he got it either as a new Verizon customer/line or as a replacement, then there are charges associated with it, and either he or you will have to pay up to $700.

 

[Vulcan1600]

You want the ESN, you want to make sure it's not blacklisted. Someone recently on either this forum or the S3 forum bought a phone and had it for 90 days then it was blacklisted because the person who purchased the phone sold it to this person and then let his contract go into collections. Once that happened the ESN was disabled and it doesn't matter who has the phone at the time, until the bill is paid that phone is shut off. I'd be extremely careful about this transaction.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Now I'm paranoid. I guess I'll just deal with an old X2 I have until I can't stand it any longer, can't really afford the alternatives.

 

[Vulcan1600]

Now I'm paranoid. I guess I'll just deal with an old X2 I have until I can't stand it any longer, can't really afford the alternatives.

I really would hate for you to get burned on this.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Yea, money is too valuable to flush away. I'll just suffer.

 

[bbtkd]

Yea, money is too valuable to flush away. I'll just suffer.

Dude - keep watching and you can find a good used S3, plenty of them on Ebay and you should be able to verify whether there are charges. An honest seller will have an excellent history, and will address any concern about a clear ESN right in the auction. Any posting that doesn't address this concern up front should be considered suspect.

 

[dezymond]

Instead of ebay I would give Swappa a shot. I've posted a few phones there and they always asked for the ESN or IMEI number and you can verify the phone through the posting.

Big ticket items, I tend to stay away from on ebay. I have yet to get burned on ebay, but I've heard too many horror stories and a few of my friends got burned on it. eBay usually settles the case on the buyer's side, but it's way too much of a headache.

 

[reybie]

I think I'd be more comfortable with swappa, I have personally sold a phone there.

 

[crmcsh01]

Swappa would be the route I would take too. I have been using eBay for over a decade and I swear over the last year, I have received more junk items not as described on eBay than the previous 10 years combined. I am not sure what the deal is, maybe it is my horrible luck.