Can I online order phone (contract upgrade) then sell it unopened?

[stephens24]

Ok, this is what I'm thinking, tell me if this would work or bad idea etc......

I currently have iphone 5 and contract is up.... Thinking of buying unlocked 2014 moto x $500..... So I'll buy it outright , then to make that up....sell my iphone 5 (prob for a couple hundred) then use that couple hundred and order online a iphone 6......then when it arrives leave it unopened and sell it for prob cost of moto x and then some....then just activate moto x.

Is this just a terrible idea? Can I sell the 6 unopened with doing anything about my sim? (Since it's in the iphone 5)

Is it illegal? Would you do it, if strapped for cash? Thanks for the help.

 

[lunatic59]

Sure, you can, and people do this all the time. Here are a couple of things to consider ... The phone's going to be locked to your carrier (AT&T, I assume) and will be listed as a contract phone under your account.

If whoever you sell it to is on AT&T (and plans to stay there) and you maintain your account according to your contract, then all is cool.

Here's how it could go wrong:

You default on your contract. If you do not complete the contract and just stop paying without paying a termination fee, they will deactivate (aka. blacklist) and phone still on contract. The buyer will wake up one day and it just won't work as a phone and they won't have a clue. Unfortunately this is a scam that happens all to often.

The buyer wants to move to a different carrier. In the U.S. there are not a whole lot of options for moving around since all the major carriers do something just a bit differently and make phones incompatible, but I suppose T-Mobile would be an option. To move, the phone would need to be unlocked and AT&T doesn't have to unlock it until the contract is up, even though the buyer bought the phone without a contract, they are still tied to yours.

The phone is lost or stolen. If the buyer would report the phone lost or stolen, you still would need to complete the contract and not be eligible for a replacement.

The phone fails within warranty. I'm not sure what Apple's policies are on second owners, but they may require original proof of purchase or even deny the claim. I do think Apple has a pretty liberal policy about it's devices so that might not be much of an issue. I really don't know.

Let's do the math ...

iPhone 5's used seem to be going for $250 ~ $350 so let's say $300. The 2014 Moto X unlocked is ~$500. The iPhone 6 lists for $650 and on contract is $200. You won't be able to sell it for full list, but probably close so let's say $600.

So you sell the iPhones for $900 and pay $700 for the Moto X and the contract so you make $200 (minus tax and shipping and whatever else you need to pay out) so let's say your net is $100~$150. Seems like a lot of hassle, if you ask me. I can make $100 in a couple of hours freelancing free and clear with no contract.

Personally, I'd sell the iPhone 5, buy the X and be done with it. Then start looking into cheaper plans and you'll be able to save a heck of a lot more that $100.00!

 

[stephens24]

Thank you for the help, and your prob right.....I am keeping my plan as I'm grandfathered in to unlimited data etc through att. Let me ask you this....as one who doesn't use a ton of apps (my 16gb iphone is fine, I just have to unload pics and vids every once is a while) if I get the 32gb moto.....should I care about the att bloatware to get it in contract for only $150?

Seems to me, getting a 32gb for $150 instead of paying $550 unlocked for a little bit if bloatware might be worth it. What do u think? Am I missing out on anything else? Faster updates from google maybe?

 

[lunatic59]

Never been an issue for me as I'm usually quick to root and flash a rom. My wife has an S3 that's stock and the AT&T apps don't seem to bother her being there even though she never uses them.

Regardless of whether you buy the Moto X outright or under contract, the system updates won't come from Google. Now, what most people aren't considering is that as Google unbundles play services and framework from the ROM and makes them updatable in the play store, anyone with Android 2.3 or later will get a lot of the Android improvements faster, without having to do a full system upgrade.

 

[funpig]

We bought a brand new unopened Iphone 5c off of craigslist. The seller received it from Telus as part of a renewal. We activated it on koodo (related to telus) so we did not have to unlock it. As long as you make it clear to buyer which network the phone is from there should be no problems. We just bought a koodo sim card and activated it. We could have bought a phone locked to a different provider and unlocked it, but why bother when there are so many available choices.