I'm wanting to try the note series but I'm not feeling the curved screens or the price of these flagships so I purchased a New Samsung Galaxy note 5 from an eBay seller that had over 20,000 reviews. I asked the seller to give me the IMEI number of the phone I already purchased but that has not been delivered. They couldn't give me one quickly (as in I waited hours) instead told me not to worry that they would get it to me before the phone shipped. Seems underhanded to me because any legitimate transaction would have all item numbers and IMEI information handy at the click of a button. Is this behavior indicative of a scam? Are they selling counterfeit Samsung phones. Are they selling used phones but trying to pass them off as new? Are they selling stolen phones? Or am I just expecting something that for whatever valid reason they can't provide that information? Makes me very wary of buying "Brand New" phones off of eBay
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New eBay note 5 purchase
- Thread starter jackdy
- Start date
I believe you cannot get a IMEI number before owning the device
I'm pretty sure the retail box of most phones has the IMEI visible on a sticker. So even for a sealed unit they should be able to access it.
So is this a sign of something shifty? Hard to say. Expecting to have this information available "at the click of a button" is making assumptions about how the seller manages their stock and orders, and I could easily imagine a genuine small seller who didn't operate that way. Equally there could be reasons they don't want to tell you, as you've said. Judging how trustworthy a company operating using eBay is is important but not always easy, and without more information I don't think anyone could make that call. Can you find any information about them from other sources (i.e. not just their eBay reviews)?
So is this a sign of something shifty? Hard to say. Expecting to have this information available "at the click of a button" is making assumptions about how the seller manages their stock and orders, and I could easily imagine a genuine small seller who didn't operate that way. Equally there could be reasons they don't want to tell you, as you've said. Judging how trustworthy a company operating using eBay is is important but not always easy, and without more information I don't think anyone could make that call. Can you find any information about them from other sources (i.e. not just their eBay reviews)?
...or selling grey imports?
All are a distinct possibility with Ebay.
Bare in mind the Galaxy Note 5 came out three years ago. So I would be suspicious of such a phone being described as "Brand New" now.
It was difficult to tell, that's why I was asking. They had over 20,000 reviews and sold a lot of other phones, but the reviews that were positive at least as far as I looked into it seemed to be weird like they weren't written by a human customer. The negative reviews on the other hand were no doubt human
lvt
Android Expert
So you should try to ask for it, many sellers have the items at remote location so it would take days to obtain the IMEI number.