need new "used" phone, which one do you recommend?

[bindi123]

My husband has had nothing but my old hand-me-down phones for 4 years. He currently has my Charge, which is a piece of crap, the battery life is terrible. We are grandfathered into Verizon's unlimited data plan and don't want to lose it by buying a new phone from them and renewing our contract, so I want to get him a used/refurbished phone. I have a Razr, which I really like, and am leaning towards for him. But, I have never bought a used/refurbished phone before and don't know what to look out for or how much is too much to pay for a used/refurbished phone? He doesn't spend a lot of time online or checking email, but he does check the weather a lot

So, can anybody offer me any advice, recommendations on what to buy, how much is too much to pay, where is the bet place to buy (ebay, Swappa, etc)? Thanks

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Either here or swappa. Swappa is nice because if you know what model you want you can compare prices pretty easily. Just be careful because a lot of the phones are rooted. Most sellers will return back to stock if you want.

On this forum you just need to monitor the classifieds. If you see something that interest you then check the price sharing swappa and see if it compares.

With both sites don't be afraid to haggle a bit, just don't insult the buyer with a really low offer.

 

[chrlswltrs]

I sell all my old phones on eBay. I would recommend eBay or Craigslist.

Just be careful buying a used phone for Verizon. If it has a bad ESN they will not activate it for any reason. eBay is good for this reason. If you buy a phone and it turns out it has a bad ESN and the listing didn't say it had a bad ESN you would be covered under PayPal buyer protection and get your money back.

 

[kool kat2]

Just some advice, if you deal on Craigslist, deal in the carrier store and pay after the phone has been activated. Just some extra protection. I use Craigslist a lot and learned to be cautious early on.

 

[chrlswltrs]

Just some advice, if you deal on Craigslist, deal in the carrier store and pay after the phone has been activated. Just some extra protection. I use Craigslist a lot and learned to be cautious early on.

Never thought about doing that, but that is great advice!

 

[Rxpert83]

Yep, I always meet in the carrier store and have the sales people verify a clean esn

 

[bindi123]

Either here or swappa. Swappa is nice because if you know what model you want you can compare prices pretty easily. Just be careful because a lot of the phones are rooted. Most sellers will return back to stock if you want.

On this forum you just need to monitor the classifieds. If you see something that interest you then check the price sharing swappa and see if it compares.

With both sites don't be afraid to haggle a bit, just don't insult the buyer with a really low offer.

If the phone is rooted, will it not work? I have been thinking about rooting my Razr so I can remove all the crap-apps Verizon keeps installing. Since this is going to be his "new" phone and he will have it for a year or more, is there one particular phone that would give him the best usage/quality for the money, or should I just stick with another Razr? I don't want to get a phone that has been outdated for a year now.

 

[Rxpert83]

Root by itself wont prevent activation, but if they have some software (the rom) on there that's very different than what it came with it may not be able to communicate correctly to activate it.