I am thinking about switching from AT&T to Cingular.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about purchasing phones through eBay. I have never of thought of eBay for Cell phones.
But, I guess I wanted to know if anyone else had purchased phones via eBay and what is the process after you receive the phone?
And most importantly....what are some of the things that I need to look for in the auction. Are things to avoid?
Sometimes with auctions it is important to make sure that you look at all that is listed and look for things that are not listed but should be.
Thanks for any help you could give.
~Linde
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NDogg78 Posts: 87
Phone Model: Motorola V600
Service Provider: Cingular
Tue Dec 07, 2004 9:06 pm
well, i bought my phone off of ebay. it was an unlocked motorola v600. since i was already using cingular (GSM) i just popped out my sim card out of my nokia and stuck it into the new v600 and that's all!
i would only recommend buying GSM phones off of ebay, it's less of a hassle cause you dont have to activate the phone, just have a working sim card. if you do decide to purchase a phone off of ebay, make sure the phone supports the frequencies of your provider (850/1900MHz for cingular).
lastly, treat the purchase the same way you would treat any other auction purchase. buy from someone that has great feedback, avoid sellers that only accept money orders, western union wire transfers, etc - u cant get your money back then, make sure you're actually bidding on a phone and not a link to information on how you can get a top of the line phone for free or some really low $ amount (lol), and it would be good if the GSM phone is unlocked. thats pretty much all you can do.
lindealso Posts: 2
Service Provider: AT&T
Tue Dec 07, 2004 11:00 pm
Thanks so much for the info.
I just wanted to hear from people that had done this before I buy one from ebay.
MrAkai Posts: 1
Phone Model: Motorola E680
Service Provider: Cingular GSM
Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:27 pm
I've purchased three phones off of ebay in the last 5 years or so.
Ericsson T68c (updated to T68i)
Sony Ericsson Z600 (transaction was good but phone broke within a year and SE wouldn't fix it, bastards)
and
Motorola E680.
All in all the transactions went really well. Make sure you check feedback for the seller, make sure the price is within the same range as others are selling the same model for (don't think you're getting a deal paying 1/2 of the going rate, you're probably getting used or non-existant product). Most of all, pay with palpal or credit card. on my E680 purchase, PayPal/ebay included a rebate guarantee if the sale was a scam.
Of course if you're switching from AT&T to Cingular, and don't mind a contract, you can get a pretty good deal on a subsidised phone right now.
sumorai Posts: 19
Phone Model: Nokia 6820b (from ATT)
Service Provider: Cingular (was ATT)
Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:25 pm
If your existing phone is a GSM phone, there is most likely no reason you cannot use that phone with Cingular.
I got a Nokia 6820 through ATT Wireless, then switched to Cingular and got a free Nokia 3120. I called Cingular up and got the settings for WAP, GPRS, SMS, MMS, etc. and configured my phone. I had them change the IMEI # (Serial #) of my phone on my account to match my Nokia 6820 (*#06# on any Nokia phone will give you the IMEI #) so my 6820 will be covered by the equip. protection plan.
But, if you want a new phone, you can just get any GSM phone from eBay that supports the 800 / 1800 / 1900 MHz GSM bands. (I think you only need 800 and 1900 for America)
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