Greetings to all Ebayers, welcome to my guide on purchasing a cellular phone on Ebay. Many tell me they are afraid to buy a cell phone on Ebay in fear of it being stolen, broken, or simply different from what was listed in the auction. Of course, these problems could exist with any Ebay auction, but with cell phones there seems to be an even higher level of concern.

As someone who works for a cell phone company, and someone who sells cell phones on Ebay. I created this guide to educate everyone on what to look for when bidding and purchasing a cell phone. The Cell phone has become a new 'need' to almost everyone on this planet, so there should be no fear in purchasing one here.

Listed below are four things to look for when it comes to cell phones and Ebay. By following this guide, there should be no reason to fear any cell phone auction.  

1 - The first step is knowing what you want. When purchasing something like a cell phone, you don't want to go in not knowing anything. Many times the seller on Ebay doesn't know anything about the phone or the service either, so they might leave out features the phone is capable of. When looking for a specific phone, make sure to know the manufacturer, model number, and service provider; example Motorola V3i Cingular. Many don't know that there are two different technologies for cell phones in the United States; GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile, Nextel) and CDMA (Verizon, Sprint). The main difference between the two is that GSM uses small computer looking chips called SIM or Smart Cards in the back of the phones, while CDMA does not. CDMA can ONLY be used in the United States, so if you currently use Verizon or Sprint, you CANNOT use a GSM phone. Nor can one of their phones be used with a GSM carrier. GSM is what the entire world uses for its cell phone technology. So as long as the UNLOCK code has been entered into the phone, there is no limit to any GSM phone being used with any GSM carrier as long as the phone itself is able to. That is where you need to know if the phone is a Dual 850/1900, Tri 850/1800/1900, or Quad Band 850/900/1800/1900. All three cover the US, while Tri would cover parts of North America and Europe. Quad is the best because it will work in every country that has cell phone technology other than Japan. The Japanese went out on their own and created a 5th band that only works in Japan. A GSM phone is the easiest to set up after purchasing from Ebay. As long as it matches your current carrier or says UNLOCKED, all you have to do is place your currently Active SIM card from your current phone in the back of the new phone, and it will work AUTOMATICALLY. No calling the company or going to a store for programming. Plus, as long as your phonebook numbers are saved to the SIM card, they will transfer to the new phone automatically as well. None of this can be done with CDMA  

2 - The second step in buying a phone is looking at the experience of the seller. Just like anything you would purchase on Ebay, it is important to look at both the Positive Feedback and Tenure of the seller. For those that don't know, the Positive Feedback score is that number next to the Ebay screenname which represents how many different people have left a Positive Feedback response to a previous auction. Below the name, you will see a % of the Positive from the total number of auctions completed by the seller. If the seller has received any Neutral or Negative Feedback, the % will be below 100. If you click on the number, you can read all the feedback, and many times see what the negatives were all about. Your best bet is to only bid on sellers with 97% or higher.

The Tenure is the time the person has been on Ebay, which can be found below the Positive Feedback %. Anyone that has a decent Feedback score and many years of Tenure is going to be WAY more realible over someone who only has 3 positive and joined two months ago. That doesn't mean all new sellers are unrealible, just that you have nothing to go by when looking at the auction. Because cell phones are so common on Ebay, you will not have to take the risk as often.

3 - Next step is looking at the layout of the auction. Does it look professional or simple? Is there a real picture or stock photo? Has the seller sold cell phones in the past or is this the first one? From my experience, you should NEVER bid on a cell phone auctions that either has no pic or uses a stock photo (unless you are going through a high feedback Ebay Store). A store will have posted feedback from others who have successfully won a phone despite not having a real pic. Any auction that has completely no pic will most likely be very simple, so you have no business buying a phone from them.

4 - The final step applies to ANYTHING you buy on Ebay. ONLY PAY WITH PAYPAL. Paypal is free to set up, and costs nothing when paying for something. The best part though is it comes with free insurance of your payment. Should the phone be different from what was advertised or you simply never received it, by filing a complaint to Paypal, your money is refunded. Cash, Checks, and Money Orders all have no form of insurance, so once you pay. You have to trust that the person will be honest. Most of the time everything will work out, but why take the chance when a free insured option exists. Plus Ebay owns Paypal, so there will usually be a direct link through the auction to pay immediately after the auction ends. So you end up getting the phone much faster over having to mail the payment.

By following these steps, no one should ever have problems with bad phones on Ebay. I hope this guide proved to be worth your time. Thank you.