My name is Glenn and I have worked in cellular phone sales since 1996 selling Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Ericsson, Samsung, Sidekick, Blackberry, Motorola and currently am a purchasing manager for a chain of shops in Missouri.  I have a graduate degree in business and would like to expose the pitfalls of purchasing a mobile phone on eBay. 

The first thing you need to do is do your homework before you purchase a phone on eBay.  I would start with finding out what network my cellular provider used to provide me service.  Once the network is decided upon whether GSM, CDMA, TDMA, etc., we need to determin from which country you will be using your phone the most.  Different countries may use GSM technology, but there operating frequencies can be dissimilar.  For instance in the US the frequencies used for GSM are 850 and 1900, while most other countries operate 900 and 1800.  So if you purchase a phone that operates on 800 and 1800 only and plan to use it in the US, it won't!

Next let's deal with the fact that you cannot physically see the phone before you buy it on eBay and the issues that can arrive.  I'm sure if you are reading this guide you have heard about all the problem activity occuring on these websites where people are selling fake Nokia phones.  Yes it does occur but they are not really fakes but poorly rebuilt phones from China.  A fake would be a phone that says NOKLA instead of NOKIA and since these phones usually look as though they were designed by a five-year-old it is extremely rare to find one for sale on eBay so we will deal with refurbished phones. 

When you return a used phone to your cellular carrier or exchange one under warranty do you think they throw it in the garbage?

They do not and instead recycle it.  How's that for being Green!

When you have a warranty issue with a phone and exchange it the phone goes to a warranty center and is diagnosed.  Once the issue part is discovered it is removed and the rest of the phone is disassembled for parts.  These parts are then used to repair other phones and these phones are then badged refurbished destined to be used by someone else.  That phone you received for free when you signed up is probably refurbished, check out the label on the box for the answer.  Now a refurbished phone is nothing to lose sleep over as they are essentially brand new unless in my opinion they are from China.  When T-Mobile, Motorola, Nokia refurb a phone chances are it will operate worry free for years and it has a warranty similar to a new phone.  A refurb from China may only contain original chips or everything, but there is no way to tell as Chinese copy housings are indistinguishable from original.  The Chinese phone may contain pirated software, only work for a short time, have a battery that cannot hold a charge for more than an hour, contain instructions that are printed on poor quality paper, instruction page numbers will not match up with the table of contents, ear phones will be of poor quality, ear phones will have a Nokia sticker on them, and the biggest tell is under the back cover one screw will be covered by a sticker. 

These phones cost much less then those that are new and purchased from distributors in the US so the greater profit margin causes greedy people to sell them on eBay as new.  People like this have driven down the prices and built distrust on this site and others as to almost ruin the mobile phone market. 

Does your phone have a removable chip under the battery?

Then your provider uses GSM technology.

No Nokia phone is made in China.

False.  Like other companies their products are made all over the world.  The real skill is knowing what's real and what's garbage.

Some people ask if the phone is made in Finland in the case of a Nokia believeing that this will help them figure out who has the real phones and who has the fakes.  This does not work as all the refurbs coming out of China say made in Finland, the Chinese are not stupid, and this will put you at a disadvantage as you think the phone you just bought is brand new.  You can tell by the type of IMEI sticker they use on almost all the refurbs coming out of China if they are real or not.  If the IMEI sticker looks like four stickers placed together then you have a Chinese refurb.  For those who would like our help please contact Glenn or Tyler via eBay and we will be available to look at any pictures you have of a phone.  Also ask for a picture of the Nokia box seal on higher models like the N-Series as the refurbs never have sealed boxes. 

Well again using real boards in a refurbished unit will still say made in Finland but in case you did not know Nokia's are also made in Mexico and China, as well as, other famous brand models, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.  Remember you do not need to buy a Rolex from Switzerland or a Lotus from England to have an authentic model.  There are authorized distributors of Nokia, Motorola, and others here in the US who do not have any ties to Finland.  

What countries are Nokia phone manufactured?

Finland, Mexico, and China.

What is your strongest weapon against fake phones on eBay?

Ask for a picture of the Nokia seal on higher end models, like the N-Series and only purchase sealed boxes from authorized resellers.

Finally I would like to share a few actual prices of what phones cost a legitimate business purchasing 100+ units.  So if someone is selling for less than these prices I would be very skeptical unless they can afford 1000+ units.  Our company is able to supply eBay sellers phones and accessories at wholesale.

Apple iPhone 16gb                100 pcs.     589.00 USD ea.

Nokia N95 grey model          10 pcs.       435.00 USD ea.

Samsung G810                      190 psc.     403.00 USD ea.    

I have noticed a recent increase of fake Nokia N95 phones on eBay so here are a few things to watch out for in order to avoid being ripped off:

a) Phone has a touchscreen.

b) Bigger battery.

c) No GPS, (all N95's have GPS).

d) No memory card or memory card is Mini SD or other format other than uSD.

e) It has dual SIM support.

f) Listed as "Chinese Version".

Any of the above apply to the phone listed then avoid as the N95 is fake.  Also remember that if the price is much lower than other online retailers then it might be a fake.

Help me make this guide better by voting if this information was helpful or by asking me a question that you would like the answer to.  Last updated 7-17-08.