Totally, look for phones in "excellent" or "mint" condition, read the description carefully, and check the seller's feedback carefully. I've bought 4 or 5 phones on eBay with great results. Every phone I've gotten is indistinguishable from new.
But never buy the like new condition. Good is better in this case. I once saw a documentary about swappa using third party replacement parts to refurbish those phones which have far worse quality than the original parts
Edit: I confused swappa with swappie and managed to find thedocumentary I was talking about (it is in German though)
eBay is fine. Just check the seller's reputation first before buying.
If overall positive feedback is greater than 99%, and they've sold hundreds of items, then there's no problem buying from them.
I've bought dozens of phones from eBay over the last two decades, never had any issues.
I personally would be very wary of eBay as even with a paid check before buying, the seller could potentially take your money then claim on their insurance. The phone then becomes blacklisted (sim no longer works, only works abroad or on wifi). If you confront the seller they could just say a previous owner must have reported it stolen.
CeX used electronics store guarantees against this & also gives a 2 year warranty
This sort of scam would only work for sellers with zero/bad reputation. Only an idiot would buy from a seller like that.
If the overall positive feedback is greater than 99% and they've sold hundreds of items then there's no problem.
I've bought dozens of phones from eBay over the last two decades, never had any issues.
Over the past 10 years most of my phones have been used, and I've been way happier with it. Save money for the same thing.
Sure . I normally buy top of line flagship phones used. Except for my most recent purchase, they all came from ebay . Most recently I purchased something 'renewed' from Amazon.
Make sure the description says the battery is good and that the photos show the screen in good order . I don't care about scratches/cracks on the back because the thing is going into a case anyways .
I’m on about #2 or #3 IPhone from eBay.
No issues, but I always made sure I purchased ones that were in the condition I liked in the photos and also were listed either for the carrier I had in mind or unlocked and then threw in a mvno sim as soon as I’ve got it. eBay is pretty good about processing returns that are legit and I’ve always tried to vet the device the day I received it. Issues with other electronics I’ve filed a notice report immediately and either returned or accepted a partial discount.
Looking to sell my old devices on eBay soon. Not going to make a fortune, a few bucks helps, yanno.
Depends on the condition and the age but I personally say yes it's worth it especially if its still getting security updates
Just look through the product info and make absolutely sure it's not a "Bad IMEI" phone. These are usually stolen phones laundered through china, and will not connect with most regular carriers in the US (or in much of the EU)
On a phone with spyware installed that wouldn't do anything. There are probably ways to get rid of it, but how can you be sure?
By checking whether the bootloader is unlocked or not. If the bootloader is unlocked, then all bets are off, but if the bootloader is locked, you can only run the original, unmodified firmware. Any alternation to the firmware will result in the dm-verity check failing, causing the system to not boot at all. The only data which can be altered is user data, which is wiped in a factory reset. So a factory ressr definitely gets rid of it.
If you're paranoid though, you could always flash the stock firmware downloaded directly from the manufacturer's website, which will override all system partitions, so you can be absolutely sure there's no spyware - besides the spyware included by Google etc of course, or the spyware embedded into the hardware by the chip manufacturers...
None of this will save you. The boot loader can be replaced with one that merely pretends to be locked and merely pretends to flash the replacement operating system it's sent over the USB port.
If the phone has ever been in the custody of someone you don't trust, you can't trust anything about it.
Those usually are made to persist after factory reset. The phone is rooted and factory reset is modified to not remove the bad software.
And rooting the phone requires an unlocked bootloader, which would present a warning when the phone is booted up.
Yes it will. There's no way to bypass it, if there is, that would be a serious security flaw - the kind that would get patched very quickly. There have been some phones which had a vulnerable bootloader that allowed this in the past (eg: OnePlus devices), but there's no such exploit available for current generation devices
I'd like to see some sources backing up your claim, which is applicable to current generation phones.
Yeah, maybe not ebay. I used Swappa back in the day and that was cool. But phone hardware hasn't improved THAT much in the past 5 years. You can go pretty far back and have a pretty decent phone. Android phones lose their value a lot faster so you can usually get them super cheap. Should probably buy unlocked
Mostly. I'm certain some of the stuff moved on secondary markets is stolen, and if the previous owner did their due diligence, it should be blacklisted by service providers by the device's unique ID.
There's also plenty that are 100% legit and you won't have any trouble whatsoever. I try to stay away from eBay for phones; I go to the local marketplaces, like FB marketplace, Kijiji or Craig's list and do the exchange in person. Being able to look someone in the eyes and ask them why they're getting rid of the phone, in and of itself, can weed out theives.... Not entirely, but mostly. You also get a clean cash transaction, you can look at the device and check it over to ensure it's what was described, get, and likely test any accessories, and do any last minute negotiation that might be required based on what you've found while handling the item.
It's not perfect.... But your only other option is to buy a refurb from a first party seller like your mobile provider, which will probably cost more, it will also likely be carrier locked... But you can rest easy that it wasn't stolen....
I switched to buying directly from manufacturers (in my case, Google) and just plugging in my carrier sim card. I've been happy with that. I also always run with a good case on my phone, usually spigen, and I haven't had any notable damage to my device as a result (which would require an early replacement).
YMMV. Good luck
I got my last 3 phones used, all were at a great discount, and all lasted about as long as you'd expect a new phone to.
I'll continue buying used until new prices become reasonable again, and even then I will still probably buy used because it's cheaper and helps combat ewaste (if only a little).
I've had good experiences both times, definitely communicate with the seller and make sure you know what you're getting as there's a lot of shady people who will rip you off. Also, check and see what other people have said about them in the feedback section.
I never have problems with phones from ebay. Take your time, look and read closely. I buy a lot of the cheap ones for family members who are too rough/careless with their phones, and it's worked out pretty good.