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Buying phones from Craigslist

M

mkhang

Newbie
Hi so I've been debating on whether to buy a phone off of Craigslist. I'm upgrading from the Dinc to the Thunderbolt but I don't want to buy the Thunderbolt at retail price; that's $579.99! And I don't want to cancel my line to get a new Thunderbolt at the price of $149.99 cause I'll lose my unlimited internet. So I decided to turn to Craigslist! I checked out a few ad's and they DO seem legit. I've contacted a few through text/email. But I'm still not 100% convinced. I don't even know if this is the right place to start this thread, but seeing as I'm getting the Thunderbolt I figured why not, right? So, what I'm trying to get at it, what should I look for when buying a phone off of Craigslist? I'm planning to meet these people in person and check out the phone itself. They're mentioning something about their ESN numbers being "clean". So I'm just asking everyone out here, what should I do? What are some precautions I should take? What are some questions I should be asking? ANY help would be great! I have a few offers for a rooted Thunderbolt for $200-$250. Is that sketchy to you too?
 
You can call Verizon and ask them if they can provide you with feedback on an IMEI and Serial Number. I doubt they can, but it's worth a shot. And you can also see about calling your local police department to see if the phone has been reported as stolen. Also, if you know someone that has a TB, have them go with you, and tell them you'll buy lunch/dinner for having them accompany you....
 
Best bet is to meet in a verizon store, activate it, then pay tthe person. Its how I've donne it for a while, im always on CL. That way you know there's nothing wrong with it and they can't pull anything funy like try to steal your hard earned $$$
 
kool kat2 said:
Best bet is to meet in a verizon store, activate it, then pay tthe person. Its how I've donne it for a while, im always on CL. That way you know there's nothing wrong with it and they can't pull anything funy like try to steal your hard earned $$$
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lol, ^^^ That's the streets of Compton talking right there! and a damn fine idea!
 
Haha it's not the streets of Compton here. Just the streets of Saint Paul Minnesota!! Haha ok thanks guys! I'll try to meet the guy in the Verizon store then! Thanks again guys! And his phone has been rooted, can I still activate a rooted phone? I prefer it to be rooted too. It's been quite a few months since I've rooted my Dinc. I kinda forgot how....whoops!! Otherwise I'll get one that isn't rooted and try to do it myself?
 
kool kat2 said:
Best bet is to meet in a verizon store, activate it, then pay tthe person. Its how I've donne it for a while, im always on CL. That way you know there's nothing wrong with it and they can't pull anything funy like try to steal your hard earned $$$
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A simply brilliant idea.Craigslist can be great but there is also a lot of scammers.
 
meeting at the store is how I've bought and sold my last two phones. They can't do anything sketchy and you don't hand over the $ till the big red employee says all is cool.
 
I bought my tbolt off CL. Met at the verizon store....checked to make sure the micro SD card was there. Had them add my number to the phone and make sure all was working fine. Transferred my insurance off my BB...and then handed her ..her $120.
 
I'm getting a thunderbolt that's already been root. Are there any special precautions I should take? Should I have him flash a stock rom? Anything I should have him do?
 
mkhang said:
I'm getting a thunderbolt that's already been root. Are there any special precautions I should take? Should I have him flash a stock rom? Anything I should have him do?
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I always like them stock but if you know what you're doing it shouldn't be a problem... I think?
 
Hm so even if its rooted it should transfer over to me with no problem yes? I'm worried that transferring a rooted phone wont work?
 
mkhang said:
Hm so even if its rooted it should transfer over to me with no problem yes? I'm worried that transferring a rooted phone wont work?
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Why would there be an issue? The only issue I'd see is the phone is probably already customized so doing a reset might change some of the settings that fix some of the little quirks of it being rooted. The Verizon person on the other side of the counter isn't trying to catch you if your phone is rooted, they just want to assign the phone to you and carry on with their low paying job.
 
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