My name is Glenn and I have worked in cellular phone sales since 1996 selling Nokia, Ericsson before Sony, Samsung, Sidekick, Blackberry, Motorola and most recently a Sales Manager for a chain of shops in Missouri.  I have a MBA 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 the operating frequencies can be dissimilar.  For instance in the US the frequencies typically 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 occur.  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 usually fakes but instead poorly refurbished phones from China.  A fake would be a phone that says NOKLA 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 as any buyer would notice and complain but with the refurbs they might not notice.  With this established fact we will concentrate on refurbs.

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 defective 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 usually labeled refurbished and are destined to be used by someone else.  That phone you received for free when you signed up is probably refurbished and you can know by checking the label on the box or looking at the sticker under the battery for the answer.  Now a refurbished phone is nothing to lose sleep over as they are essentially just like brand new unless in my opinion they are from China.  When T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T 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 more components, but there is no way to tell as Chinese copy housings are almost indistinguishable from originals.  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 instead of painted on, and the biggest tell is under the back cover one screw will be covered by a sticker. 

So why do people sell refurbished Chinese phones as opposed to new models well first 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 as to almost ruin the mobile phone eBay market.  They also make it diffulcult for legitimate businesses to opporate on eBay.  Second sellers choose the refurbs because they do little research in finding phones and get connected to Chinese trade sites like Alibaba, Global Sources, and others where 99% of all mobile phones exporters are illegitimate. 

Lately I have receive two emails regarding Nokia's International Warranty where buyers have seen this type of warranty adverstied on eBay listings.  It is false!  Nokia has NO INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY.  Certain models of phones are built for certain markets, you may have heard of US models having the NAM software, and they are only warrantied for that market.  For instance, if you purchase a US phone and you live in Japan the warranty is only for the US and you will have great diffulculty getting any work done by Nokia on that phone.  This also works if you buy a European market phone and use it in the US and so on.  Buy a phone for your market or realize you will not have a warranty on your phone.

Are Nokia phones not made in China?

This is incorrect.  Like other companies their products are produced 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.  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 on the box 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.  

In what countries are Nokia phone manufactured?

Finland, Mexico, and China.

Also watch out what sites you register with if you are looking into purchasing mobile phones.  Sites like Alibaba, Tradekey, and any others that have a large Chinese presence more than likely have hundreds of sellers who all sell the best phones, purses, and clothing.  Well they do have the best fakes, but do not think for a second they have authentic items.  Also never register with these site unless you would like 100+ spam emails each day telling you of the great deals they can get you on iPhone (note they left off the Apple), Aple iPhone (note Apple is misspelled), or iphone copy (here they just came out and said it).

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 pcs.     403.00 USD ea.    

Here are some prices from a known Chinese refurb phone supplier T-Link:

Nokia N95 8gb                     1 pcs.         320.00 USD ea.

Nokia 5300 blue                   1 pcs.         88.00 USD ea.

Nokia 6500 black                 1 pcs.         159.00 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 slot or memory card slot 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 me to post the answer to here.  Last updated 7-17-08.

Thank you for making eBay a better place by not purchasing fake phones.

Glenn Kirk

Sales Manager

AIM