Purchasing a cell phone off of ebay

[Michalski]

I lost my cell phone today. Unfortunately, I renewed my contract in 2/07, and I am not eligible to for any offers for a new cell phone and must pay the full price for a phone through cellular south. I was wondering if I could buy a cell phone off of ebay? I don't know anything about buying cell phones and wanted to know what I should look out for. I planned on purchasing the same Nokia phone that I just lost, but I did not know if some phones were specific for certain carriers.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by Michalski

I lost my cell phone today. Unfortunately, I renewed my contract in 2/07, and I am not eligible to for any offers for a new cell phone and must pay the full price for a phone through cellular south. I was wondering if I could buy a cell phone off of ebay? I don't know anything about buying cell phones and wanted to know what I should look out for. I planned on purchasing the same Nokia phone that I just lost, but I did not know if some phones were specific for certain carriers.

I looked on their website and it looks like they use CDMA technology. That makes it much more difficult. You need to get another phone from that carrier. Its not like GSM where any unlocked phone will work.

-Jay

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I looked on their website and it looks like they use CDMA technology. That makes it much more difficult. You need to get another phone from that carrier. Its not like GSM where any unlocked phone will work.

-Jay

Not just that, the ESN number needs to be checked — if the phone has been declared lost, the ESN number would be blacklisted and it will be impossible to activate it.

[strunke]

Originally Posted by Michalski

I lost my cell phone today. Unfortunately, I renewed my contract in 2/07, and I am not eligible to for any offers for a new cell phone and must pay the full price for a phone through cellular south. I was wondering if I could buy a cell phone off of ebay? I don't know anything about buying cell phones and wanted to know what I should look out for. I planned on purchasing the same Nokia phone that I just lost, but I did not know if some phones were specific for certain carriers.

Just find one from a seller with a lot of good feedback. Ask for the ESN number of the phone before the auction ends, some have it in the listing. Then you just call up cellular south and ask them to check it and make sure it is clear of debt and not stolen. You could use a phone from a couple different carriers. But certain things may not work like the advanced media features and that. Voice always works as long as you can access the programming menu. Texting works most of the time. But if you buy a Cellular South phone you shouldn't have any problem.

There are a few on there for Cellular south...

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...uth&category0=

If not look for Alltel or US Cellular phones.
If you'd like let us know what model Nokia you are looking for and we can help you find one. There are crooks out there, but as long as you don't buy from sellers with only a 0 to 10 feedback rating then it improves the odds.

Here are some 6255's
Nice one....
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-6255i-for-...QQcmdZViewItem

This ones okay, sounds a little beat up.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USED-CELLULAR-SO...QQcmdZViewItem

Here are some 6265's....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cellular-South-N...QQcmdZViewItem

This is the only seller that doesn't have much credibility at this point....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cellular-South-N...QQcmdZViewItem

Here is a 6015
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-6015i-CELL...QQcmdZViewItem

[Michalski]

Thanks for all of the wonderful advice.

I had a NOKIA 2865 BAR. I was wanting a similar phone, but it doesn't have to be. I don't need anything fancy, just voice and text messaging. I called cellular south, and they told me a new phone would cost $109 + tax.

I actually left my cell phone in a hotel room. I remember it falling behind the night stand when I bumped it in the middle of the night, but I forgot about it when I checked out. When I returned that evening, someone else had already rented the room, and I waited hours for them to come back. The manager said that he couldn't go into the room if it was rented, so I had to leave to catch my plane. The manager said he would look for it. Unfortunately, I checked the website where it lists my phone calls, and a call was made on my phone about 20 minutes after I checked out of the hotel. I called cellular south and they suspended my phone service until I decided what to do about it.

[AnthroMatt]

Originally Posted by strunke

Just find one from a seller with a lot of good feedback. Ask for the ESN number of the phone before the auction ends, some have it in the listing.

Just to clarify...when I am selling on eBay I won't give out an ESN on any phone that was on my personal account until after the auction is over. I will, however, always put a note in the listing that the winning bidder is free to request the ESN prior to making payment. No one ever does! Not sure if it is because my feedback score is good or if people are not all that cautious, but I wouldn't ever pay for a phone without first checking the ESN. I definitely recommend asking for the ESN before making any payment.