Buying an unlocked Bold on the net

There is this guy who is selling a Blackerry Bold at a fairly decent price. I asked him via email if I'd be able to use it in France. he told me there is no problem for the phone is unlocked.

Is there such a thing as an "unlocked Blackberry"?

I thought those phones were always tied to a special carrier?

I'm reading about people having problems of authentification after buying their "unlocked Bold". It seems to be a very special process. Can anyone enlighten me here?

Thank you.

The risk of being scammed is at it peak right now. Only a few carriers actually have them, so it may appear ligitamate.

The give away is the price, if it is low, the odds are good it is phony. Right now, Bolds on eBay are fetching $1000 each in bundles of 5.

All BlackBerrys are carrier branded and locked. Unlock codes are not difficult to get, but it does take time. That would also point to "too good to be true" situation.

Last, use a service like PayPal. If there is any question of the deal being off, their will hold back the sellers money.