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that should work

Broken phones are going for between $100-200! Water damage, broken digitizer, faulty screens, and unlocks gone wrong.

He must've realized you were cheaper!

[UPDATE] If you care to read? I'll try to keep it as short as possible.

Received the $270 used phone and the condition was grossly misrepresented! Main reason I felt comfortable bidding that much was the seller offered a "7 day money back guarantee" (buyer pays return shipping). Email the seller and inform that I want to use the return policy. First says that he is sorry and to send the phone back for refund. Then immediately mails back saying that my refund will be minus eBay and PayPal fees. That set me off on a polite tirade on the guy. He eventually saw my side and promised to give all of my $270 back. Took my own photos of the phone and sent it back. He fully credited my PayPal account in a timely manner. He ended up being an iPhone game developer so I at least got three free codes for his game to give to my nephew ($3 value)!

I now vowed not to purchase a used phone (or any used electronics on eBay ever again). Search for new phones only found ones that were being unlocked (a couple locked AppleCare refurbs). They were going for between $300-700! Found a reputable person who had 4 similar for sale. Earlier one went for $390. The next 2 were ending within 15 minutes of each other. My dilemma was deciding which one to bid on? Didn't want to risk missing out so I went after the first one. Bid $432 and won at $405. The other ended up going for $308! Doh!

Now to sell my 'old' iPhone. Put it on eBay for 5 days with it ending on a Sunday night. Was hoping for at least $150 but thought it might go as high as the low $200's? It "sold" for $195 but that bidder was a deadbeat and quickly stopped communicating with me! Gave him a few days even though my auction clearly stated payment within 24 hours. Reported the item as unpaid to eBay (they no longer let you leave negative feedback from what I can tell). Offered "Second Chance Offer" to someone who bid $192 and they already bought another phone. Offered third person who bid $190 and never heard back from them. Fourth person was at $150 so I passed on trying eBay.

Off to Craigslist, posting it for $200 late on a Friday night. Got several inquiries and the usual fishing schemes. The next day I made plans to meet someone at 1pm at a local burger joint. As I was leaving for the meeting got a call from a younger 'kid' who lived 2 minutes from the meeting place. Told him he had second chance if first guy ends up not buying. First guy never calls back for meeting and never shows. At 1:15 I call the second guy and tell him the news. He shows up within 3 minutes and ends up talking me down to $185. That's more than I would have netted from eBay so I accepted. He was switching from an unlocked T-mobile G1.

I ended up locking my new phone back because it just seemed like an unnecessary hassle. I was really only interested in tethering and that proved to be far more than a trivial process for me. Wish I would have remembered about June Fabrics' PdaNet before I had locked it back.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Last edited by WhirlinGraphics (2009-09-16 6:27 pm)