Used phone buying advice

August 5, 2011 4:05 PM

Best bet for a deal on HTC Thunderbolt? It can be refurbished or lightly used. I lost my Droid Incredible (or it was stolen). Contract not due until late 2012. Don't need an additional line. Besides eBay or Craigslist any suggestions or warnings? I don't want to overpay or get scammed. Thanks in advance.

I am a Verizon customer, btw. If there is any other phone you love, I'd like to know. I'm not tech savvy. Like big screens, don't need lots of apps, use phone for email and internet, hardly ever text and I like speed!

posted by joz1 to Technology (3 answers total)

A friend of mine went through this last year (with the same phone!). If you go the Craiglist route, ALWAYS get an ESN/MEID number from the seller and check the number with Verizon. They will be able to tell you if the phone is stolen or blacklisted for non-payment. Unless things have changed a lot in the last year about 75% of the phones for sale will be stolen.
posted by The Lamplighter at 5:23 PM on August 5, 2011

Response by poster: As I thought! Thank you for the advice.
posted by joz1 at 6:05 PM on August 5, 2011

I have no experience with using it, but Swappa seems to be another venue to look into for a used/refurb Android phone.
posted by joydivasian at 6:57 AM on August 7, 2011