Ysellit GSM Phones 

What is GSM?

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a cellular technology used by over 99% of countries worldwide.  GSM provides the best digital wireless voice quality.  We believe it will eventually become the cell phone standard in the world.

Is My Phone GSM?

Some North American GSM providers are AT&T, Cingular, Fido, Cellular One, Rogers AT&T, SunCom, and T-Mobile. Your phone is likely a GSM phone if you use one of these providers.

GSM Plusses

Each GSM phone has a removable sim (Suscriber Information Module) card that holds all the suscriber's information and codes necessary to connect to a cellular signal. You can switch the sim card form phone to phone, making the new phone receive all calls to the suscriber's number.  You are no longer tied to one phone!

Unlocking a GSM Phone

Your phone is usually "locked" to your provider.  Unlocking your phone is easy and legal and enables you to use it with competiter's or "foreign"  sim cards. You can switch companies and keep using your favorite phone, or use cellular service from each country you travel!  Unlocking increases the useability, and therefore, the resale value of a used phone.

Buying a GSM Phone

GSM phones are much easier to purchase online! Because Nextel, Verizon, Sprint, and other phones are digitally "tied" to a suscriber, a phone cannot easily be used by another person. GSM phones will work immediately as long as the sim card matches the phone (Cingular phone- Cingular sim card) ot if the phone is unlocked.

You can make a confident online purchase of GSM phones. Just buy from a seller with a healthy feedback rating.

GSM Bands and Worldwide Use

GSM has four possible bands.   850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz.  A few phones, like the Motorola V551, V600, V400, V505, Razr, Slvr L7 have all four (Quad Band) and are a great choice for travellers. Most North American phones have two, maybe three.

Buying Do's (Buying Strategies)

1. If you are looking for a Motorola razr phone, filter your cell phone searches using several words like "Cingular" "Unlocked" Motorola"  "(razr,v3)" "pink"  Seee this example: Pink Unlocked Razr  This brings the choices down from the thousands to the hundreds.
2. On the left hand menu, filter for "Phones Only" to separate out the zillions of car chargers, faceplates, cases,  etc.
3. filter again for price range  Pink Unlocked Razr Priced $150 - $180 This brings the choices down from the hundreds to the tens
4. filter again for sellers that do not charge outrageous shipping fees, ( $15-$100) You will have to do this visually because eBay does not have this feature yet. Ebay Buyer protection only covers the selling price, not the shipping charges, so if you ever have to make a buyer claim, make sure you are not fighting for only $50 for a $150 phone.
5. Caution on the "Featured" listings at the tip of most pages. Sellers pay $19.99 to gain this access to the top of the page, and usually charge over $40 shipping to make up for it. You think you are getting a deal but then see #3. Scroll down to the "Grey Line" of normal auctions.
6. "Buy It Now" could be a way to get a super deal, but filter for "Newly Listed" auctions.
7. Regular auctions could be a great deal if the phone is poorly or mis-listed (Razer,Razor) or ends at 2:00 AM PST.

Top Ten Features to look for:

• as new
• excellent condition
• Unlocked
• Quad band
• with acessories
• usb data cable / software
• case
• car charger
• original box
• European adapter

Buying Dont's  (Top Ten Buying Mistakes)

1. Buying from seller with few or poor feedback rating. (<10 feedbacks 98% or less)
2. Buying from seller who has "padded" feedback. (Many feedbacks, but are of the $0.01 ebook or erecipe variety)
3. Buying from seller who doesn't usually sell cell phones.
4. Buying from seller who charges outrageous shipping fees ( see #4 above)
5. Buying from seller who does not return email promptly ( you will get similar shipping behavior)
6. Buying from seller whose photos are nonexistent or too grainy to see details
7. Buying from seller who sell "As is" because you have no recourse if the phone is bad.
8. Delaying in payment or returning seller's emails.
9. Initiating angry emails
10. Giving neutral or negative feedback without giving seller a chance to resolve.

Ysellit GSM Phones