What is important when purchasing a used phone?
Many of us in one moment wants a new phone. Some of us are not able to pay a massive sum for new devices, considering the prices of new phones today that are known to move at drastic prices from €500 to €1400, whose price is rapidly falling on new devics. For these reasons many people choose to search for used phones, but there are unpleasant situations that can occur after buying a second hand device, such as purchasing a phone with broken components, stolen or blocked phones, a phone with invalid warranties, or devices that were in contact with moisture or water. When buying a used phone, you have to pay attention to a few things, and to facilitate the phone verification process, we have prepared some useful tips to make sure you are buying the right phone.
As the first thing, find a phone that will fit your needs at the right price. If you only use the phone for regular daily activities such as calls, text messages, chatting, and using social networks, you probably will not need a flagship model with top performance, but again on the other hand, if you use your phone for other purposes, such as playing demanding games or something else, and want to keep things running smoothly, you will need a phone with some more powerful specifications. Finding a phone at a much lower cost can often indicate to a problem with the phone, make sure that you have read all the information and that no such problems have been mentioned anywhere, maybe somebody just needs the money and you can use that.
When you are sure that you have found the right phone for you, contact the seller and ask him again if everything is okay with the phone, it is possible that damages or failures are not listed in the ad. Make sure you select phones from vendors in your region, it's immensely advantageous if you can test your phone when purchasing. Also, if you are buying a phone from another region, make sure you pick and choose the mail carrier with you can open and view your phone while receiving a shipment, so that you can see if the phone has any problems and if you notice any defects, you can dismiss it and return it back to the seller.
If you are meeting a dealer in person, let him know that you do not want a fast shopping, and inform him that you will test the phone and that you will need certain amount of time to do it. When you buy a phone through a shipping service, you usually do not have much time to check as you do when you buy it personally.
With a few steps you can check if the phone is stolen, and whether the guarantee is valid. We strongly recommend that you do not purchase the phones without any warranty. Be sure to buy only phones with original packing and all accessories, guarantee sheets, and valid stickers with the IMEI number on the box.
- Turn on your phone and enter *#06# in the call keypad, a unique IMEI number will appear on your screen. Compare this number with the number on the phone box too, this number should be entered on a certified guarantee sheet, be sure that it is a match and that the guarantee sheet contains the stamp of the company from which the phone was purchased.
- There is also a web site available on the internet to check if the phone is stolen or missing. Simply enter the IMEI number, and information on the screen will appear if someone reported the phone as lost or stolen. Very useful platform.
- If you are assured with the informations that the phone is "clean", visually inspect it. If there are fewer scratches on the case or on the screen of the phone, you can use this for an additional price reduction, ask the seller how the phone got scratched, let them know that you have noticed them, but be careful, deeper scratches on the screen may result in screen cracks when you use it. Anything that can be opened on the phone, open it, and see if everything is fine, make sure that nothing was taking out of the phone and that it is not open somewhere. Many models have markers over the bolts, make sure that there is no scratched sticker or VOID tag at any place, which will indicate that the sticker was removed from a particular location.
- Be sure to check all the ports on the phone, such as a charging or headphone port, try plugging components in the phone and making sure everything is OK. Try to insert your SIM card on the spot because it is possible that the phone is locked on certain networks. Try to call someone, send a text message, use the search engine, make sure everything works properly.
- All phones have a test mode check option. The access code depends on the model you are buying, search it online if you are not sure which is it, for most Samsung devices, code is *#0*#. Simply type it in the call keypad and you'll be able to test the screen, speakers, vibration, etc … Simply go through all the options and make sure the screen does not have dead pixels, that the screen registers all your touches, as that all the other components on the phone are working!
- Also, check that the phone was not affected by water or moisture, the small indicator should be white and it is usually located on the battery, at the SIM slot, charging port, or in the headphone port, illuminate these places and look for it, If the indicator changed its color to red, the phone was subject to moisture.
If the phone is completely correct, and if you're sure it's the right phone for you, you can buy it. But first of all, if you have any objections, tell the seller and you can ask him to drop the price further down if the phone is scratched or damaged somewhere, usually the vendors will accept this, but again be sure that both sides will be satisfied with the offer. It is very important for a seller to be happy because he might have some offer for you in the future or he might give you a phone for a few days to use and to test it, with a refund if you encounter some problems when using it. After these tests, everything should be fine with the phone.
We hope that we have helped you choose the right model for yourself, as well as not to be scared when buying a used phone, because with a good inspection, you are good at chance to use it for a long time!
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