How to buy a used cellphone

April 8, 2004 11:14 AM

I lost my cellphone and my contract has a year and a half to run. I'm thinking, used phones? There must be a market. -->

Buying a new phone without a contract is expensive, and I really just want to get the same model (motorola c331 TDMA), so I don't have to futz with learning a new phone. Anybody ever bought a used cellphone? Where's a good place to find one? I tried ebay -- it took two weeks after putting in the first bid to actually get the phone. Which didn't work right. I returned it, and don't want to go through that dance again. I just want to buy one, now, cheap, from a trusted source. Anybody? (Tried google. The noise on any cellphone-related search is horrendous.)

posted by stupidsexyFlanders to technology (10 comments total)

Weird about eBay. I've bought and sold many there without incident. What, specifically, are you looking for? GSM? CDMA? What carrier? etc.

I would recommend you go to your provider's web site, see what phones they sell, and then just search for those specific models on ebay or half or other auction/sale networks. i don't know of a store or other retailer that carries or specializes in used phones as the models so quickly become outdated.
posted by dobbs at 11:37 AM on April 8, 2004

Yeah, the problem w/ eBay is that a lot of times the people selling the phones don't know the correct details about the phone - network, carrier, if the phone is locked, etc. Sometimes phones requires SIMs which you might have to get from the carrier. Sometimes the phones just don't work or are difficult to activate w/out detailed instructions. There are a lot of problems that can come up. But, if you shop around, you can probably find somebody on eBay who knows what they're talking about.

You might also want to call your carrier up and see what they can do for you.
posted by drobot at 12:19 PM on April 8, 2004

Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy ebay user. I just want my phone now. I don't want to go through the bidding, the shipping (if I even "win" the auction), etc.

Provider is Cingular, TDMA. As I mentioned, I don't want to change models.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:20 PM on April 8, 2004

Personally, this is exactly why I keep my old phones. When my wife's purse got stolen last year, we had her old phone re-activated for no charge. Now the theif cannot use the phone (on my account at least) and my wife had a cell phone until we could buy a new one with the insurance money.

If you have any friends on the same carrier, you can ask them if they have any old phones you could have as well. I gave a buddy one of my old phones to send in as one of those "Trade-In" upgrade rebtates. It was just sitting in my drawer. No loss to me, and maybe i get lunch out of it.
posted by stew560 at 12:34 PM on April 8, 2004

You know, Cingular is now entirely GSM, from what I understand. It's possible that you could call customer service, explain your situation, and get them to send you a SIM. Then, you just buy any GSM phone that suits your fancy.

GSM, by the way, is the bomb.
posted by bshort at 12:46 PM on April 8, 2004

Agreed -- contact Cingular immediately -- my hunch is that they will work with you to make both you & them happy.
posted by davidmsc at 12:54 PM on April 8, 2004

I have a Cingular GSM phone I'd be willing to give away, if you confirm that you're not on TDMA. It's a Nokia something or other, the previous rev of whatever the giveaway phone is; the small but not small enough one. Battery's a little crappy, only good for a couple of days at a time, but a new battery's cheaper than a new phone.

You'll just have to call 611 and ask for a replacement SIM. Drop me some email and I'll hook you up.
posted by majick at 12:55 PM on April 8, 2004

I've replaced a lost Cingular TDMA phone with no problem (actually, I've found the original phone, and I'd be willing to sell it for peanuts). I just bought the exact same phone on eBay, called Cingular, told them I had lost my phone and had purchased a replacement, and gave them a number on the back of the phone. In about 30 seconds, the new phone was working perfectly.

As stated above, though, Cingular is slowly phasing out its TDMA network. However, I've found that I get far better coverage with my TMDA phone than people with GSM phones.
posted by zsazsa at 1:46 PM on April 8, 2004

Thanks all. Cingular actually told me to go to ebay, and good luck, and we'll charge you $18 to activate whatever you buy. (Surprising 'tude until you know that my contract isn't eligible to upgrade until May 2005. I am Cingular's bitch.)

Thanks majick, but I can't switch over to GSM because my wife's TDMA phone is on my same current plan and we'd have to get her a new phone too.

Zszasa, thanks so much, I'm going to go back to ebay I guess, I really just wanted another one of the kind of phone I lost. That, or pay the $150 to get out of the Cingular contract and start over somewhere else, just out of spite.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:31 PM on April 8, 2004

Ebay. I had the same problem (except I dropped my phone instead of losing it), and got a new phone for $30. (Insert the SIM and you're set!)
posted by gramcracker at 4:13 PM on April 8, 2004