Buying a pre-owned iPhone enables you to afford your dream device, but you should be careful. Here are important things to consider when buying a used iPhone.
Data, although old, claims that upto November 2018, approx 2.2 billion iPhones were sold around the world. Apple has just released its latest and greatest phone, but it can be a bit expensive. If you wanted to save some money, you could always buy a used phone.
Buying a pre-owned iPhone enables you to afford your dream device, but you should be careful. Here are important things to consider when buying a used iPhone.
1. Make sure the Seller is Genuine
When buying a used phone, you should first make sure that the seller is legit. If you buy from a sketchy seller, you run the risk of buying a damaged or even stolen phone.
To check if the phone has been stolen, you should check the IMEI. This is a unique ID number that is specific to each phone. You can find it on the outside of the phone or even on the phone’s display.
If someone’s phone has been stolen, they can actually block access from other people using it and being able to access other cellular networks.
When you find the IMEI number on the phone, you can check online to see if it has been blocked or blacklisted.
2. Check the Quality of the Phone
Before buying the phone, you should also check the external quality of the phone. You should always ask to see it in person before you buy it.
There may be a little bit of wear and tear, but if the phone is completely damaged, you obviously shouldn’t buy it. If there are a few scratches on the screen, you could always buy a iPhone 7 screen too and replace it on your own.
You should also check to make sure that the buttons and the touch screens work. Also, check the speakers to make sure that they still function. If there is a headphone jack on the phone, you may want to plug your headphones in to see if that works as well.
Make sure you know what does and doesn’t work before you commit to buying a new phone.
3. Which Carrier Do You Have?
Before buying a used phone, you should also consider which carrier you have.
Sometimes the phone will be locked to a certain cellular service, and if you don’t have that service, the phone won’t work for you.
Some phones will also have different bands. For example, some phones may not be able to have LTE service if they are not a certain model or through a certain service.
Make sure that you ask the seller about all the carrier information before you buy the phone. Depending on which model you are trying to buy, you should do your own research as well to make sure that it will actually work.
4. Check Find My iPhone
Before you buy the phone, you should also check the Find My iPhone feature. This is a newer feature with the iOS updates.
If the previous Apple user has it enabled on their phone, it will prevent you from being able to wipe everything off and starting over.
It’s a nice feature to have if your phone is lost, but it can be difficult when you are trying to buy a used phone.
If you want to check if it’s still enabled, you can go to Settings and then iCloud. If the option is turned on, you will want to make sure it’s turned off and deactivated before you buy the device.
If no one is logged in, then you should be good to go.
5. See How Much Storage Is Available on the Phone
You should also check to see how much storage is actually available on the phone.
The seller may have told you that it has a certain amount of storage, but you should check to make sure that it actually has that available.
If you want to check how much storage the phone actually has, you can go to settings. Then go to general and about to see what the capacity is.
You should be aware though that a 64GB phone, for example, may only have about 55GB available because there has to be room for the iOS and other systems installed on the phone.
6. Is There Water Damage?
Another thing that’s important to check with a used phone is to figure out if the phone has had water damage.
The seller may tell you that the phone is still covered by Apple Care, but Apple Care generally doesn’t cover water damage. And Apple will be able to tell if there has been water damage to the phone.
If there are visible signs that the phone has water damage, you probably don’t want to buy it anyways.
Liquid damage can sometimes look like splotches on the screen, but it doesn’t always look like that. You should pop the SIM tray out and shine a light in there to check the liquid damage indicator.
If the indicator is red, that means that it has had exposure to liquid, and you should definitely not buy that phone.
7. Check the Battery
One last thing you want to make sure is okay with the phone is the battery.
You should look up what the average battery life is for the phone model you are looking to purchase. You can also take the phone into the Apple store to get a new battery if the one it comes with isn’t in the best shape.
Buying a Used iPhone Today
Buying a used iPhone can be a great way to save money, especially with how expensive the newer models are becoming.
If you follow these tips, you may even be able to get a phone that works just like new!
For more tips on saving money, make sure you check out some of our other blog posts!
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