iWant an iPhone, but how much should iOffer?

December 17, 2007 4:11 PM

How much should I offer for a barely used iPhone and how easy is it to get service with AT&T on a used iPhone?

A co-worker of mine has an 8GB iPhone that she bought when it first came out. She only paid $300 when it came out because she has friends in high places. The phone is barely used and in great condition. I've played with it because I'm a tech geek. There are no scratches to the screen or body as she keeps it in a case all the time.

She told me she rarely uses it, even as just a cellphone or an iPod, and has decided just to get a cheap phone that does nothing more than make calls because she also already owns an iPod.

I have never had my own cellphone service as my family has always shared a family plan from Sprint. So I'm a tad worried about getting an account with AT&T, as I basically have no credit.

So basically what I want to know is:
- Is it relatively easy to re-activate a used iPhone? Will I need some sort of proof she sold it to me?
- Is passing an AT&T credit check relatively easy?
- Should I make an offer for her iPhone and how much?

posted by aristan to technology (7 comments total)

my experience with at&t and cingular was absolutely horrible ... unbelievably bad - but that was 2 years ago ... i wonder if you can't get the iphone then crack it to work on your network?
posted by specialk420 at 4:17 PM on December 17, 2007

You will need a new SIM, which an ATT store should provide you with, then you'll activate the new SIM and phone together in iTunes. (Let's leave aside the problem of your friend breaking a 2-year contract, and the hundreds of dollars in fees that will incur, aside.)

If you fail AT&T's credit check you will be offered the chance to do a month-to-month fixed cost plan (GoPhone).

(And in re: Sprint, No, you can't make the iPhone work on the non-GSM network.)
posted by squid patrol at 4:35 PM on December 17, 2007

It's in their interest to sell you a plan, so I would think there might be some kind of prepaid options if you can't qualify because of a lack of a credit history. I don't know how that would affect the required contract for the iPhone.

(Let's leave aside the problem of your friend breaking a 2-year contract, and the hundreds of dollars in fees that will incur, aside.)

Just because the friend is getting a new phone, it doesn't mean she's breaking her contract and getting a new cell phone plan.
posted by Airhen at 4:49 PM on December 17, 2007

My experience with T-Mobile has been very pleasant, although I don't have an iPhone. If you don't want to go the AT&T route, T-Mobile is easy to sign up for, and very easy for a tech geek like you to unlock and use with a T-Mobile SIM.
posted by InsanePenguin at 4:52 PM on December 17, 2007

If your credit sucks, they'll either ask you for a refundable deposit or tell you to sign up for GoPhone. A friend with bad credit was asked for a $500 deposit. He made the deposit because he preferred the regular plans to the GoPhone plans, in terms of price and what you get. I would recommend this course of action.

You should offer her $300. It's none of your beeswax that she got a deal on it, and it costs $400 new. 3/4 of the new price, with no sales tax, for an iPhone in extremely good shape, is a pretty good deal.
posted by evariste at 6:25 PM on December 17, 2007

Just because the friend is getting a new phone, it doesn't mean she's breaking her contract and getting a new cell phone plan.

The problem is that the iPhone has a $20 data plan which is specific to that model, and which incurs a 2-year commitment. But at any rate that's her problem, not aristan's.
posted by squid patrol at 9:09 PM on December 17, 2007

If you don't want to go the AT&T route, T-Mobile is easy to sign up for, and very easy for a tech geek like you to unlock and use with a T-Mobile SIM.

This is generally true but less so if the owner has updated her iPhone's firmware to 1.1.2 (which iTunes does semi-automatically.) Unlocking an upgraded 1.1.2 phone is quite time-consuming and non-trivial, although it can be done. aristan might want to find out what firmware version it is at first if he/she is looking to unlock.
posted by squid patrol at 9:13 PM on December 17, 2007