buying a phone on craigslist..

[eleung321]

hey guys i was just wondering after looking through my local craigslist for cell phones and i see alot of people selling BB. anyhow my question is if these phones are stolen and i was to buy it (its brand new box never been opened, etc) and use it.. would tmobile be tracking me or my sim card? the phone is tmobile branded.

guess the phone could come from any of these scenarios...

1. the guy bought an upgrade and decides to sell it rather than use it
2. the guy stole it from someones mailbox who made an upgrade
3. he works at tmobile and got his christmas five finger discount monthly..
??
whatever the case i know its not the best deal to take but its super cheap! please advise.

[ncpete]

The imei number is on the side of the box, I think you can use that, with T-Mo's CS to determine the status of the phone?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[eleung321]

so if i buy it and i call tmobiel cs to check if it is legit?
and if its not i have to return it to them losing out on how much i bought it for? i am not that good of a Samaritan..

[fisherclive]

i did the same thing bought a 8320 on craigslist, called tmo and asked about the imie number, they don't really track them or so i was told. you can put a new sim card in a should be good to go
good luck

[Han-ShinBi]

No they don't track you, if they did, my stolen phones would've came back already!

[zarzamora_hermosa]

I am not willing to pay for such a device without holding the thing in my hand. If it's a local seller and he allows you to stop by and check it out, do it. I'm skeptical about investing in a product I can't even investigate prior to purchase. Also pay attention to his return policy.

[fatboy97]

Why not call TMO's CS when you see the phone (before you fork over the money)?

[Duvi]

T-mobile doesn't really do anything, but RIM does. If it's reported to RIM, they will block the PIN.

You can have voice and sms, but no bb data. Be aware. I buy all my BBs brand new. You can attempt to add everything prior to purchasing by getting the imei and pin first.

[walno1]

Originally Posted by Duvi

T-mobile doesn't really do anything, but RIM does. If it's reported to RIM, they will block the PIN.

You can have voice and sms, but no bb data. Be aware. I buy all my BBs brand new. You can attempt to add everything prior to purchasing by getting the imei and pin first.

What is imei? Sorry if dumb question. I am also looking at buying a curve on my local craigslist. What if I request that the seller walk into the verizon store with me to verify the phone can be activated with all the features? Assuming the seller would do this of course. Otherwise I would have to take his or her word for it.

Thanks.

[LYTBRTE]

I Say Go For It

[cliffr39]

Originally Posted by walno1

What is imei? Sorry if dumb question. I am also looking at buying a curve on my local craigslist. What if I request that the seller walk into the verizon store with me to verify the phone can be activated with all the features? Assuming the seller would do this of course. Otherwise I would have to take his or her word for it.

Thanks.

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a GSM thing. For CDMA (Verizon/Sprint) it's ESN (electronic serial number). They both are basically the same thing, a serial number to identify the device to the network.

[W33dLuva]

Originally Posted by eleung321

hey guys i was just wondering after looking through my local craigslist for cell phones and i see alot of people selling BB. anyhow my question is if these phones are stolen and i was to buy it (its brand new box never been opened, etc) and use it.. would tmobile be tracking me or my sim card? the phone is tmobile branded.

guess the phone could come from any of these scenarios...

1. the guy bought an upgrade and decides to sell it rather than use it
2. the guy stole it from someones mailbox who made an upgrade
3. he works at tmobile and got his christmas five finger discount monthly..
??
whatever the case i know its not the best deal to take but its super cheap! please advise.

Nobody takes the time to trackdown phones that were stolen. A bargain is a bargain. Its best to not ask questions

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[missouriboy611]

I bought my BB 8330 from someone on Craigslist. I say it is totally a judgment call. I felt like I was getting a good deal, and I didn't get a bad vibe. It was clearly used (had a few knicks and scratches but in ok condition) She assured me the ESN was clean and offered it to me to double check thru Sprint, ( I did not end up doing so ) She had everything with it down to a card in the bottom of the box that thanked her for for using the Sprint employee purchase program HAHA. So while I thought I was getting a great deal on a used phone, she probably paid next to nothing and made a profit from me!
But all is good. It works like a charm and I have not had a single problem with it.
Use your best judgement when purchasing a used phone, if you don't feel comfortable and know in your gut that SOMETHING might be wrong, don't do it. There will be another seller to come along soon.

This advice is for anyone who is thinking about buying used.
Good luck.