Used phones, is it worth buying them?

Oh yes, the greatest time of the year has arrived, Christmas is here. Now I can focus on buying my family some new phones, so that they can enjoy their lifes even more. Wait what ? Why are the prices so high, they were a lot cheaper not long ago? Oh well, I cannot afford them.

Did this type of situation ever happen to you? Did you feel that you let your family down, because of the high prices? Well we have been there as well.

There is however a simple solution to your problems, you can buy a used device. Many online shops like amazon, or ebay offer a huge amount of used phones that are in perfect condition. They not only look good, but they cost less as well. In some cases you can pay a couple hundret dollars less than a new model. We know that it isn't the same as getting a brand new model, but hey you need to do everything you can to put a smile on your loved ones faces.

Problem solved right? Not really...

The condition of a used device is not the only problem you have to deal with. There is also something called blacklist and it is a huge problem.

Every device has its own IMEI number. It is a special sequence of 15 or more numbers, that seperates your device from others. No other device will have the same IMEI number.

Blacklist is a list of IMEI numbers that have been reported as lost or stolen, or have unpaid bills. When an IMEI gets blacklisted it cannot receive any signal even from the original network that sold the device.

If you buy a device that is reported as lost or stolen, you can be sure that the police will pay you a visit really soon. They can track a blacklisted IMEI number, in which case they can take the phone from you, without giving you any money back.

You might think that I can go to the network and explain the situation in which case they will remove the blockade right? Well.... it depends. If the device is reported as lost or stolen, they will take the device from you and give it back to the owner. If it has unpaid bills, they will ask you to pay the missing amount, and it might be a really high amount, you can trust us on that.

Ok enough with the bad things, let us tell you some good things now.

Blacklist works only in the given country or region. For example a device that is blacklisted in the UK will work perfectly fine in the USA.

Another thing is that you can check if the IMEI you are planning on buying is blocked or not. Thanks to websites like IMEI24.com, you can check the IMEI number for free. The only thing you need is the IMEI number which you can get by dialing *#06# like a phone number, or by going to the settings. Don't take the sequence from the box or sticker, many sellers switch the box to a better looking. However by doing so the IMEI on the sticker is different than the one from the system. In which case you might get an inccorrect result from IMEI24.com.

If for any reason a shop or seller doesn't want to give you an IMEI number, or pictures of the product that he is selling, stop the transaction. You will find many offers on the market, and every doubt or problem stops the bussiness that is how it works. We don't want you to loose your money or time, spend a couple of minutes on checking the history of the device you want to buy.

All in all buying a used device is a great idea. Just make sure that you know as much as possible about the product, before you click on the buy button, or decide to send any money.

We must tell you one more time IMEI24.com checks your device for free, so please use it as much as possible even if you think that you don't have to.