Where to get a new phone? - General Topics

I'm on sprint and have been for a year now with my HTC EVO 4G. Since I'm on a family plan I don't have a yearly upgrade (although they did away with that...). The EVO is just kinda slow hardware wise, so I'm looking for a new phone from now till I can upgrade to an LTE phone in yet another year.
Thing is, I want a Galaxy s2 epic 4g touch. So I need it off contract, and with my $200 budget it would have to be used. Where should I look to get it? Ebay has it priced at $300, a but too pricey. Where do you guys go for off contract used phones?

Try Craigslist. If you buy a phone off someone from craigslist, I suggest you meet the person at a Sprint store to do the phone transfer. This makes sure you get a phone with a clean ESN (in other words to not get scammed).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

adelmundo said:
Try Craigslist. If you buy a phone off someone from craigslist, I suggest you meet the person at a Sprint store to do the phone transfer. This makes sure you get a phone with a clean ESN (in other words to not get scammed).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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That's a really good idea. Would they not activate it if it had a bad ESN?

rocket999 said:
That's a really good idea. Would they not activate it if it had a bad ESN?
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If it has a bad ESN, it will not get activated. So it's a good idea to do it at the Sprint store so the store can check if the phone does have a good ESN before you shell out the cash to the seller. Plus doing it at the Sprint store is also a public place as well, providing safety, especially if you're carrying $200 cash. People have been mugged from fake Craigslist ads as well, since the thieves know you're carrying large amounts of cash.

I would have rather asked you to buy the phone from flipkart . I find it much better than ebay ( but it is just my review )

I don't think you'll find a E4GT for less than $300.
-Sent from my Droid 2-

adelmundo said:
If it has a bad ESN, it will not get activated. So it's a good idea to do it at the Sprint store so the store can check if the phone does have a good ESN before you shell out the cash to the seller. Plus doing it at the Sprint store is also a public place as well, providing safety, especially if you're carrying $200 cash. People have been mugged from fake Craigslist ads as well, since the thieves know you're carrying large amounts of cash.
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So one more question. If I were to get a GS2 with a bad ESN AND find a bricked GS2, then use CDMA workshop or a similar program and switch the two ESNs would they activate it over the phone? To them the GS2 with a bad ESN would look like the bricked one that would have a clean one.
I have seen people that do this to flash phones to other cariers. They get an old donor phone and use the esn from that for the new phone. Then they just have the carrier activate it. The process would be the same, except without switching carriors. Thoughts?

I think you should look at XDA Market Place.

You can get a Nexus S off of CL for cheap. Around $150-$200 or straight trade. You have to look around but you can always find a deal. This is coming from a person who deals on CL regularly.

rocket999 said:
So one more question. If I were to get a GS2 with a bad ESN AND find a bricked GS2, then use CDMA workshop or a similar program and switch the two ESNs would they activate it over the phone? To them the GS2 with a bad ESN would look like the bricked one that would have a clean one.
I have seen people that do this to flash phones to other cariers. They get an old donor phone and use the esn from that for the new phone. Then they just have the carrier activate it. The process would be the same, except without switching carriors. Thoughts?
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Swapping ESN's is very illegal. I would suggest not going down that road.

Related

In a bind and need some help

Ok, right to the point, I need some money, real fast. I had an idea and need to know if it will work. Could I sell my inspire for about $300, keep my sim card, buy a cheap phone, like, an iphone2G, pop in the sim, and use it just like nothing happend, would that work? or would I have to do someting in order for it to work. My bill is due on thursday and im not gonna be able to pay it. It must be payed by then or they will shut off my service. I love this phone, but I need the money, not just to pay my bill, but other reasons as well. What do you guys think? I can always go back and buy a better phone later on, not worried about that now.
Opinions needed.
I think you'll have a hard time gettin $300 out of it when they can be had for so much cheaper now, new.
Tx Redneck said:
I think you'll have a hard time gettin $300 out of it when they can be had for so much cheaper now, new.
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alright, what do you think is a reasonable price?
That's really dependent on its condition and how good a salesman you are or how bad the potential buyer wants the phone..
Best Buy has it for $0.... So good luck
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
A quick check on eBay shows many used Inspire auctions in progress with bids in the $250 - $300 range. You can't compare a free phone at Best Buy to this, because that free phone comes with a $1500 contract. People will pay much higher than the carrier subsidized price to get a contract-free phone.
henrybravo said:
A quick check on eBay shows many used Inspire auctions in progress with bids in the $250 - $300 range. You can't compare a free phone at Best Buy to this, because that free phone comes with a $1500 contract. People will pay much higher than the carrier subsidized price to get a contract-free phone.
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thats kinda what I was gonna say... I dont see whats wrong with $300 or maybe $250, its in MINT condition, its been in a otterbox defender the whole time, so absolutely nothing wrong with it. If i had to Id throw in the 16GB class 10 SD as well.
Edit: BTW Its about a month and a half old
My real question was, if i sell it, will who ever buys it be able to use it with their own SIM Card, since i still have service and am under contract, would i be able to keep my sim and use another phone?
BAleR said:
My real question was, if i sell it, will who ever buys it be able to use it with their own SIM Card, since i still have service and am under contract, would i be able to keep my sim and use another phone?
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I bought ans Aria, then about a year later, bought an Inspire using an upgrade option on another account, but I don't have any problems using the Aria SIM in my Inspire, nor any other combinations of phones and SIMs on the other accounts in my plan (I have 4 total accounts in my plan). Also, I loaned my wife's Aria to a friend that had some AT&T non-smart phone and he plugged his SIM into it and it worked fine. His wife has a data plan with her iPhone on the same account and it worked fine without even upgrading to another data plan.
In short, the SIM is the account and the phone doesn't matter. You shouldn't have any problems.
For a good comparison for asking price check craigslist.org. See what they are going for on there. You could also post an ad to sell it there.
Yeah y would u compare contract price with no commitment price.
U can easly get in between 250 to 325 depending on the condition and accecories you have.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
ahm12 said:
Yeah y would u compare contract price with no commitment price.
U can easly get in between 250 to 325 depending on the condition and accecories you have.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
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Don't forget the local market affects price too. The more people selling them the lower the price. Supply and demand.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
yeah, theres a slew of em goin for $275-$300, its gonna be tough, but my sd card is worth $50 bucks alone. hoping thats the deal breaker. and the otter box defender case.
Exactly, 300 is a fair price and what is to be expected for a fairly used contract free Inspire. A new one can go as high as 425 off contact.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Reminds me of a joke from "Larry The Cable-Guy" about crashing your truck to get the insurance money to make the truck payment....
One thing you'll need to do is call AT&T to change your data plan to an iPhone data plan. Nothing will change with the rate, but they have two types of plans. One is a smartphone plan that our Inspires use. The other is an iPhone plan with the same data/cost, but they need to know or you won't be able to do anything on it. Other than that, yes, you should be able to do this no problem.
zuriken said:
Reminds me of a joke from "Larry The Cable-Guy" about crashing your truck to get the insurance money to make the truck payment....
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Haha, thats funny... im not sellin it now. Thanks to a good friend.
I sold my first one, unlocked, with a bunch of accessories for $400 on Craigslist.
ya if you unlock it first you open up your market greatly..
crip said:
ya if you unlock it first you open up your market greatly..
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Definitely, if you look on eBay there differences of hundreds of dollars between locked and unlocked phones.

[Q] Coming over from Sprint Epic 4G

Bottom line is I'll be joing the T-mo family, and I'm coming over because of cost.
I'm going to be picking up a Used/New Sidekick 4G off of craigslist. I'm looking at spending between 150-200. I need the Keyboard and the Touchslide is out of my cost range. I'm going on the family value plan for 99.89 for two lines. Any suggestions on this phone or anyother with a keyboard. What pitfalls could i get into with buying one off craigslist, can these phones be blacklisted like sprint(I.E. bad ESN), I know they take sim cards. Any other tips
Thx
With Tmobile, I'm pretty sure that popping in your sim card before you buy will tell you whether the esn is clean. I have always used keyboard phones, and for my taste, i'd say the other option besides the SK would be the G2... I think the SK4G has a better keyboard, but I prefer the G2 in just about every other way, the main one being the awesome development by XDA members and Cyanogen etc. that has and is being done for the device. That phone has been out for almost a year, but I am tempted to buy a new one and keep using that sucker. Lol. But I like the SK too, I think it's a great little phone, and the guys here have done some really good stuff with it.
Good luck with your switch!
I just bought my daughter a brand new SK4G for $149.00 at the local T-Mobile store at the Mall. It was an upgrade for an AT&T "pursuit" she had running on T-Mobile. Just a "heads up" for you in case you wanted to check new from a dealer than "Craig's flea market".
My bad, I am on a "classic plan". If you are a heavy texter, no better keyboard IMHO.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Tmobile will price match so go online and you can probably find someone giving it away free with a new contract then just show them the website. That's what I did and I used amazon wireless to show them, walked out of the store with a free sidekick
xmeatizmurderx said:
Tmobile will price match so go online and you can probably find someone giving it away free with a new contract then just show them the website. That's what I did and I used amazon wireless to show them, walked out of the store with a free sidekick
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They told me on the Value Plan I have to pay retail for the phone, and I don't even qualify for the rebates, however different rep's have told me different things on the rebates.

Can I sell my new Skyrocket? Or will I receive a penalty? Help, very desperate.

Hello everyone,
Times are tough. I need my phone for work but at the same time I also need some cash. Sadly I have to stick with my old Captivate. My plan was to sell my skyrocket, which I am already falling in love with.
I renewed my contract with ATT today at a ATT authorized small carrier dealer (Chinese shop). They ended up giving me the skyrocket for free. But the guy warned me that if I tried to sell the skyrocket then AT&T will terminate my contract. On my contract with this shop (AWG in San Gabrial Valley, CA), it says if my contract gets terminated in any kind of way within 180 days then I will owe AWG $300 for each PCS line. I have a family plan. He said if I wait 2 months then I can sell the phone, but not to sell it right away and that I need to use the phone during this 2 month period. He also said if I had an iPhone I would have to keep it for 6 months!
I don't know if this is true because I see people selling phones on craigslist left and right. Does anyone have any advice for me? Would AT&T really terminate my contract just because I choose to use my old phone?
SORRY FOR THE LONG POST! I hope you guys can help me here.
Its not true u can sell it your stuck with the sim card and bill for 2 years but u can sell the device ive done it so have many many others. Thats the great thing about phones with sim cards u can sell or trade them at your discretion. I traded my sgs2 for the skyrocket.
You should be able to sell it. The phone its self is not bindingly tied to the sim card it has. People do it with iphones, and well, every phone out there. I don't think at&t would terminate you for selling a phone. Now, if you sold/lost your phone with the sim card still in it and someone were to rack up alot of charges, then yeah, you might be penalized. If you do intact get charged, att cancels your contract, your cat gets eaten by a dog that subsequently gets hit by a car that gets hit by a semi, don't blame me as, I just was browsing and chimed in
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
bzmotoninja83 said:
You should be able to sell it. The phone its self is not bindingly tied to the sim card it has. People do it with iphones, and well, every phone out there. I don't think at&t would terminate you for selling a phone. Now, if you sold/lost your phone with the sim card still in it and someone were to rack up alot of charges, then yeah, you might be penalized. If you do intact get charged, att cancels your contract, your cat gets eaten by a dog that subsequently gets hit by a car that gets hit by a semi, don't blame me as, I just was browsing and chimed in
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
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silver03wrx said:
Its not true u can sell it your stuck with the sim card and bill for 2 years but u can sell the device ive done it so have many many others. Thats the great thing about phones with sim cards u can sell or trade them at your discretion. I traded my sgs2 for the skyrocket.
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Thanks guys. Yeah, I don't understand why ATT would terminate my contract out of the blue, specially for using my old phone. It just doesn't make sense or add up. I really wish I could have been apart of this great community. I hope ICS comes to you guys real soon.
Also, your sig on your internet speed and it being comcast = hilarious haha. For a second I thought it was your mobile phones speed!
Please, if anyone has a horror story of this actually going wrong. Chime in and let me hear. But if you guys have successfully sold your phones or traded them with no problems then let me know also.
Ahmen!
this is my phone speed 35.21mbps download
You would only be penalized if the line in question is cancelled. I work for At&t in the city of long beach (company owned retail) and we get customers in our stores that do the same thing... if its not blackberries, its iPhones... but yeah. You could definately sell the phone, but u gotta keep the 2 year commitment.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket using xda premium
Your contract and at least the $15 per month smart phone data plan as well, from how I understand.
Sent from my páhhōniē
Will a LTE sim work in a 3g phone? I know commingle from an infuse to a Skyrocket I had to get a new simcard. Not sure if that would affect your contract
SKYROCKET
whodat006 said:
Will a LTE sim work in a 3g phone? I know commingle from an infuse to a Skyrocket I had to get a new simcard. Not sure if that would affect your contract
SKYROCKET
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Yes! I took the sim out of my phone LTE Skyrocket and put it in my old cappy to get my contacts on it..LONG STORY WHY I WENT THIS WAY...but none the less..I kept the SIM in the phone for 3 days with no issues. Works fine!
imjester77 said:
Yes! I took the sim out of my phone LTE Skyrocket and put it in my old cappy to get my contacts on it..LONG STORY WHY I WENT THIS WAY...but none the less..I kept the SIM in the phone for 3 days with no issues. Works fine!
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Nice
SKYROCKET
theli0ntamer said:
You would only be penalized if the line in question is cancelled. I work for At&t in the city of long beach (company owned retail) and we get customers in our stores that do the same thing... if its not blackberries, its iPhones... but yeah. You could definately sell the phone, but u gotta keep the 2 year commitment.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket using xda premium
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Thank you. I think you gave me more better reinforcement along with everyone else here. I'll be sure to hit the thanks meter on all you guys.
I can't believe someone would blantantly lie like that. That's absurd.
Sent from my Galaxy S2
Simba501 said:
I can't believe someone would blantantly lie like that. That's absurd. AT&T would lose a lot of customers if what that guy told you was the case.
Sent from my Galaxy S2
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You also have to remember it came out of a retailers mouth not a corporate agent. I will only deal with cor stores. The hell with retailers
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
gr8hairy1 said:
Your contract and at least the $15 per month smart phone data plan as well, from how I understand.
Sent from my páhhōniē
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You Dont have to keep the data plan. Very common misconception.
Newter55 is correct. Remove that data plan and save yourself $25 (or $15) a month. As long as the line in question is active, you will be fine. I know going into corporate retail can be a major drag, but it beats dealing with authorized retailers... it seems like lately 95% of fraud gets tracked back to dealers... everytime I get manager escalation regarding fraud, its the first question I ask my customers.. and 9 times out of 10, it all goes back to them. The funny part is when u try to contact the dealer and they act like you are speaking Swahili lol...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Read your contract very carefully. If it's something like the contract that I signed with Amazon, if I remove my phone/data package within the first 6 months, I will get charged $250 (from Amazon, not from AT&T). This is partly because I got the phone for $.01, instead of $249 like I would have paid directly through AT&T.
This is usually only the case with e-tailers. I have not yet seen this type of thing from authorized retailer stores, but there's a first time for everything.
I work in customer care at ATT
Lol naa. You can sell it but u have to pay for you plan for the 2 years. People do it all the time aell/trade phones. If you pay your bill for the length u signed for u can sell it now
shimmyx20 said:
Read your contract very carefully. If it's something like the contract that I signed with Amazon, if I remove my phone/data package within the first 6 months, I will get charged $250 (from Amazon, not from AT&T). This is partly because I got the phone for $.01, instead of $249 like I would have paid directly through AT&T.
This is usually only the case with e-tailers. I have not yet seen this type of thing from authorized retailer stores, but there's a first time for everything.
I work in customer care at ATT
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silver03wrx said:
Lol naa. You can sell it but u have to pay for you plan for the 2 years. People do it all the time aell/trade phones. If you pay your bill for the length u signed for u can sell it now
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That's exactly my concern is too. I got the phone from Amazon for $0.1 and I am thinking about selling it and getting either the LG Nitro or Samsung Note but I'm worried about Amazon charging me $250.
It all depends where you bought it; read your contract. Do you have a contract with just AT&T, or do you have one with your retailer as well? If you have a contract with your retailer, for instance Amazon has contracts, you will pay a penalty if you change anything or take the phone off the line, even if you change the number. If you don't have a contract with your retailer, then you just have to deal with AT&T--for instance you bought the phone at Best Buy or a Corporate store. They don't seem to care what you do, as long as you pay your bill. Be careful, many AT&T stores look corporate, but are actually third party retailers.
Again, read your contract/contracts. Don't trust the advice of people who haven't read YOUR contract.
Nakel said:
It all depends where you bought it; read your contract. Do you have a contract with just AT&T, or do you have one with your retailer as well? If you have a contract with your retailer, for instance Amazon has contracts, you will pay a penalty if you change anything or take the phone off the line, even if you change the number. If you don't have a contract with your retailer, then you just have to deal with AT&T--for instance you bought the phone at Best Buy or a Corporate store. They don't seem to care what you do, as long as you pay your bill. Be careful, many AT&T stores look corporate, but are actually third party retailers.
Again, read your contract/contracts. Don't trust the advice of people who haven't read YOUR contract.
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I disagree completly i bought a tmobile phone from amazon and sold it no penality same with att. They dont even know you sold it amazon cant monitor you att acount too see if you changed devices on your account. You sir are wrong. That would mean if you had an old phone and wanted to pop your sim out of your new one and use the old one amazon would charge you 250 because ur not using that phonE. Amazon does not know they get money from ATT for selling you the 2 year contract.... if you terminate you contract before the 2 years then yes they can charge you for it

[Q] Is there any such thing as a non-US Sidekick 4G?

I saw a listing on Ebay for Sidekick 4G t839. The seller had all of the same specs and everything listed as every other t839, but in his description text he claimed that they would not work in the US, but only international. Also mentioned you'd need to unlock and that they would not work on T-Mobile. Is there any such thing? IS there any reason to think I could not buy such a phone, unlock it, root it, flash it with a different ROM and run it on ATT like I have done with other T839 Sidekick 4Gs?
SgtMac02 said:
I saw a listing on Ebay for Sidekick 4G t839. The seller had all of the same specs and everything listed as every other t839, but in his description text he claimed that they would not work in the US, but only international. Also mentioned you'd need to unlock and that they would not work on T-Mobile. Is there any such thing? IS there any reason to think I could not buy such a phone, unlock it, root it, flash it with a different ROM and run it on ATT like I have done with other T839 Sidekick 4Gs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like it might be a bad ESN. Trust me there are a lot of reasons not to buy a phone with a bad ESN. In XDA terms, bad ESN = another way to say "Do not buy." A bad ESN simply means the phone is locked or for some other reason you CAN NOT get it activated. Ask the seller for the ESN number, call the carrier of the phone (Probably T-Mobile) and ask them if they can run a check on the esn of that phone, if the seller won't give you the esn, well thats just another way of saying "Do not buy." Don't make a bad decision, if it seems to good to be true. It is.
The auction in question was this one. It ends a little after noon EST today.
Yup, it's a stolen phone.
Tanks for the feedback. I opted out of the bidding on this one...I'll keep waiting to catch another outstanding deal like the one I found for the one I'm currently using. (Trying to find one for my wife now)
I seend the phone for about 250+ nothing higher than 300 its a rage though
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App
I actually picked mine up in good condition off Craigslist for $70. I'm trying to find another deal for about $100 (now that I realize how much they're actually worth and what a good deal I got). I've seen quite a few that I could snag for near that, but my timing keeps missing out.

What is the difference with whole same name phones?

http://www.everbuying.com/Wholesale-Cell-Phones-b-22.html
Heres a little back story... my phone was stolen, I am with tmobile, I went into the store to replace the phone. Turned out since I had transferred from my contract to prepaid I still owed money on my contract so I wasnt covered with insurance, and they couldnt activate a new phone for me.
I called tmobile in the morning who helped straighten out my balance, but I didnt want to pay for a phone through air mail because I need the phone ASAP immediately. I had an HTC Amaze.
I went into the store where they told me they could still NOT activate me a phone, but they could add my new phone to my previous stolen phones pre paid plan. (its alot more complicated than this, but for the point of this threads sake...)
So basically if I bring in a phone they can activate my old plan and keep my old number. So I found this site http://www.everbuying.com/Wholesale-Cell-Phones-b-22.html but I do not know which phone is which because they are different names than the name brand phones.
I really really want the Galaxy S II from Samsung...or Nexus from Verizon... but which phone is close here? Which is worse? How can I find details of the best phone so I can get this situation straightened out, and get all of this horribke experience behind me?
Three words. Coun ter fit.
If not counterfeit, then if it looks too good to be true...........
85gallon said:
Three words. Coun ter fit.
If not counterfeit, then if it looks too good to be true...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.everbuying.com/product134739.html
http://www.everbuying.com/product111662.html
http://www.everbuying.com/product117369.html
These three are similar to the GSII Specs Hereut they all lack something. For one they are all 3G speeds. They wont let me buy the GSII at the store without paying full price so I am trying to find something close if not exact that is closer to my price range. They want $600 for the GSII at most I have like $400 and that is double what I prefer to pay...making payments is not a problem.
Here is something similar to the HTC Amaze but it has Android 4.0 on it. I was considering it but I really dont want the Amaze again...thats the one I just had that was stolen.
http://www.everbuying.com/product136232.html
Otherwise thanks for the feedback, I am getting my friend one of the cheap $40 iphones so I guess well find out how fake they are or real. + 1

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