How to prep a BlackBerry for sale?
March 31, 2010 8:23 AM   Subscribe

How to prepare a Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630 for sale on Ebay?

A friend gave me a Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630 after she upgraded to a Palm Pre. I currently use a "dumb" LG ENV 2 phone with Verizon, off contract.

After some thought I've decided it's not worth the mandatory $30/month add'l charge for the data plan to be able to use the BlackBerry phone with Verizon, so I'm putting it up on Ebay.

I want to ensure that the potential buyer of this phone can use it fully with Verizon, but that none of my friend's info is retained on the phone and that there is no way she can be liable for any charges as a result of someone registering and using the phone.

I've already done a "Wipe Handheld" on the BlackBerry which I believe cleared out all her old email settings, messages, contacts, pictures, etc. However I notice that a couple of games she had on the phone are still there. Is that a problem, or a benefit for the potential ebay buyer? Is there anything else I need to do within the phone's software to prepare it for sale?

Also, the phone has a verizon/vodaphone "smart card" about half the size of a stick of gum inside under the back cover. Should I include that with the phone as part of the ebay auction, or does that need to be retained/discarded?

Anything else I've missed?
posted by de void to Technology (7 answers total)
 
Set a password, then enter it wrong until it triggers a wipe. The security wipe it triggers (IIRC) wipes absolutely everything, then scrubs over the memory with random data a few times for good measure. Also, your email settings are stored in your BlackBerry Internet Service account, not on the handheld itself. I'd make sure they're gone from there before you sell as well (though her BIS account should have been disabled when she switched to the Pre). The SIM is used for international roaming; I believe you can discard it but I'm not sure how Verizon handles them.
posted by ConstantineXVI at 8:39 AM on March 31, 2010


Response by poster: (Just to clarify, I never activated the BlackBerry on my Verizon account, so *I* have no settings to worry about)
posted by de void at 8:44 AM on March 31, 2010


In that case, the password wipe should destroy anything left. If there's a microSD card, don't forget to wipe it as well (just format it from your PC)
posted by ConstantineXVI at 8:46 AM on March 31, 2010


Previously, how to wipe a phone.
posted by oxit at 10:36 AM on March 31, 2010


Is there a way to use the nifty blackberry without a dataplan with verizon?
posted by edman at 1:13 PM on March 31, 2010


Response by poster: Everything I've read says "no", you have to have a data plan to use a blackberry on Verizon.
posted by de void at 1:47 PM on March 31, 2010


Response by poster: ..even just for voice and plain SMS text messaging.
posted by de void at 1:48 PM on March 31, 2010


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