Cell Phone Question

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

ok so i put the phone that i have for sale in the classifieds on ebay. ive been asked by two people for the ESN number so they can check to see if the phone has been stolen.

is this normal? in someway am i trying to be scammed or is this perfectly ok? never sold a phone on ebay before and 2 different people have asked me for it in the last ten minutes so wanted to ask you guys.

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[jer_stud56 10+ year member]

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Zm4StFgDyhMJ:reviews.ebay.com/Tips-for-Buying-a-Cell-Phone-to-Suit-you_W0QQugidZ10000000000024348+ebay+cell+phone+ESN&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

With some carriers (Verizon, US Cellular, Sprint, to name a few), you may want to call in the ESN number for the phone and make sure there is no bill attached to it. Sellers often lack the time to do this themselves and will not refund on a phone that cannot be activated for this reason. This is one of the top reasons for bad transactions on eBay. Try looking in the ad for the ESN first. If you don't see it, ask the seller. If you cannot get an ESN from a seller before buying a phone, I highly advise looking elsewhere.
If you are a US Cellular customer looking for a used phone, be sure to ask if the phone you are looking at has been activated on US Cellular service before. They are very proprietary and require the phone’s ESN to have been entered into their system before they will activate.

If you are a Cingular or AT&T customer, note that the two carriers are not automatically interchangeable. Both run primarily on GSM networks (Meaning they require SIM cards) and phones may be locked to accept either one SIM card or the other. If buying a phone that names the other carrier in the ad, make very sure it also says unlocked. Unlocked phones are those that are not carrier specific.

If you are a Verizon customer, you should be aware of the recent changes in their policies. Essentially they now tie cell phone ESN to the past user’s account if they leave an unpaid bill, meaning you cannot activate the phone if money was owed on the former account. Your best bet is to call in the ESN before buying.

In short, yes it's okay I think...eBay guides says so.

They couldn't do anything with the number by itself, but to be on the safe side, don't give it out, just guarantee it's clear and was your phone, saying you got a new phone and don't need the old one. Make sure you delete everything (reset it before you ship it out!!!!!)

It's your call really, no harm can be done.

 

[slam 5,000+ posts]

must be a verizon or sprint. I wouldnt give out... just guarantee it to be clear in ur listing. there has been some stolen esn numbers

 

[Moto959 10+ year member]

I've never heard of someone asking for an ESN number....? I wouldn't give it to em, but I don't see how they could doing anything to scam with just that #........?

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Zm4StFgDyhMJ:reviews.ebay.com/Tips-for-Buying-a-Cell-Phone-to-Suit-you_W0QQugidZ10000000000024348+ebay+cell+phone+ESN&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us



In short, yes it's okay I think...

thanks man didnt even think to search ebay was going to call sprint to ask them directly and they put me on hold for like ten minutes so i figured id ask the vast knowledge of ca.com thanks

I've never heard of someone asking for an ESN number....? I wouldn't give it to em, but I don't see how they could doing anything to scam with just that #........?

yeah i didnt think so either but i just thought it was weird that in 10 min i got 2 people asking for it. just made me nervous. so many different ways to be scammed these days you never know.

 

[jer_stud56 10+ year member]

thanks man didnt even think to search ebay was going to call sprint to ask them directly and they put me on hold for like ten minutes so i figured id ask the vast knowledge of ca.com thanks

I actually googled "eBay cell phone ESN" and that was the first thing that came up and just cached it lol.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

fyi if the phone is locked with Verizon, you might still be able to use it with other CDMA companies, like Cricket, US Cellular, etc. Verizon doesn't lock their phones, either.

But yes, I wouldn't buy a CDMA phone without verifying the ESN/IMEI was unlocked with my provider.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

any easy way too format a phone? ive looked over it a bunch of times to make sure ive deleted all my personal files and what not on it im just a really paranoid person ha ha

nm i got it. had to go through all the security settings to get to the format stuff.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Yeah, in cell phone lingo they call this a master clear and master reset so you can google that for each specific model of phone and you can find out how to do it.