What's the catch?

[Jonathan99]

I live in Montreal, Canada and I am looking for a Galaxy Nexus in classified ads (Kijiji). There are many people/ads selling "brand new unlocked Galaxy Nexus in sealed box" for around 300$ (cheaper than Google play in US). But when I call and ask more details, like "Where did you get it?" or "Do you still have the bill?", they get very evasive and most of the time just hang-up. With another one, I just wanted to meet him to see the phone. He was OK to meet anywhere, except at his place... he gave me lames excuses for that... just like he does not want anybody to know the address.

So what's the catch? What are those "brand new", "sealed box" Galaxy Nexus with all accessories at such low price? Where do they get those phones? Did they steal a container of new GN phones?

Thanks a lot
Jonathan

 

[Petrah]

With what happened regarding the Craigslist killings, I don't blame anyone for not giving out their home address or wanting to let a stranger into their home. This is a legitimate fear, and you cannot blame people for being afraid or wanting to be safe.

As far as the others, now those do sound rather fishy and Id stay away from those. Where they came from is anyones guess. Any time you purchase a phone anywhere other than a legal merchant you are taking a risk with your cash.

 

[ChazzMatt]

I live in Montreal, Canada and I am looking for a Galaxy Nexus in classified ads (Kijiji). There are many people/ads selling "brand new unlocked Galaxy Nexus in sealed box" for around 300$ (cheaper than Google play in US).

So what's the catch? What are those "brand new", "sealed box" Galaxy Nexus with all accessories at such low price? Where do they get those phones? Did they steal a container of new GN phones?

Thanks a lot
Jonathan

Very strange! I just bought a new Galaxy Nexus from Google Play for my wife. But the week before that (when Google had temporarily suspended sales due to the weasel Apple lawyers) I bought my new Galaxy Nexus from a respected eBay merchant and it was marked UP some for profit, plus s&h. I ended up paying $47 MORE for mine than for my wife's, but at the time I didn't know how long the injunction would last.

But undercutting Google for brand new Nexus? There's a scam there somewhere. Here's MY theory:

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Those you are seeing advertised are FAKE.

Here in Atlanta a couple of years ago when the iPhone 4 first came out, there was a group of people selling Chinese knockoffs on Craigslist. They LOOKED like iPhone 4s, but the quality was not the same and they were running 2.1 or 2.2 Android. Screen resolution was nowhere near Apple's Retina of course. It was a cheap knockoff (Huawei quality or worse) to LOOK like an iPhone 4, probably for 3rd world markets.(<there's actually a review of one!)

cheap iPhone 4 lookalike
http://micgadget.com/5629/iphone-4-knockoff-review/

But some unscrupulous people were SELLING them here as REAL iPhone 4s -- at less than full price. At this point in time, used iPhone 3GS were going for $350 - $400. NEW off contract iPhone 4s were going for $800 (demand was high), and these "iPhone 4" knockoffs were going for $300.

They would meet you somewhere, show you the box, even let you open it and see it was "brand new", take your money and LEAVE! By the time you actually turned it on, started looking at it carefully, "hey something is wrong..." your cash was gone.

This scam was more targeting teens who didn't know any better and wanted a cool phone for school, to show off to friends. You know, people who had only seen an iphone that other people had, but had never owned one themselves so any minor differences would not be noticed during the 2 - 3 minute "inspection".

So, it could be something like that? Not REAL GNex phones but cheap quality lookalikes?

_________

EDIT:

Here ya go:

Chinese knock off clone of Galaxy Nexus.

I BET you this is what they are selling and trying to pass off as a REAL Nexus.