Selling an EVO

[Crane]

So if I decide after my 30 days is up that I want to switch over to verizon for the droid x, or droid 2, can I sell my phone on ebay? How does this ESN thing work? Will somebody else be prevented from activating my phone on their own account? Thanks.

 

[CPR]

I don't think that would pose a problem, although I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

 

[Painkillaz]

it wont be a problem, just as long as the phone isnt reported lost or stolen they won't lock up the ESN number and you can sell it to whoever

 

[RickyRudy]

If you cancel the service within 30 days why would you need to sell the phone? Sprint will take it back with a full refund as long as you haven't damaged it or void the warranty in any way.

 

[Wadester]

After 30 days, you'll be hit with a hefty termination fee ($300?) if you switch carriers.

 

[Crane]

Returning it within the 30 days is definitely one option - however, I also need to keep my cell phone number. If I just return the phone, my understanding is that the number is lost. Any ideas on what to do to keep the number for 2 weeks until the droid x comes out?

 

[Rigmaster]

Returning it within the 30 days is definitely one option - however, I also need to keep my cell phone number. If I just return the phone, my understanding is that the number is lost. Any ideas on what to do to keep the number for 2 weeks until the droid x comes out?

If you return the phone inside 30 days, you can still port your number to another carrier. Carriers are not allowed to hold numbers hostage for any reason.

 

[unplugged1]

If you pay an early termination fee, you can sell the phone. If you simply cancel and don't return the phone, Sprint will lock the phone out of its network. (After all, the phone cost was subsidized by Sprint to the tune of several hundred bucks.)

Thus, you can't cancel your Sprint service and keep the phone without buying the phone outright or paying the early termination fees.

Is that what you were asking?

 

[unplugged1]

If you return the phone inside 30 days, you can still port your number to another carrier. Carriers are not allowed to hold numbers hostage for any reason.

You can port it to another carrier if you have one to port to. If he was returning to Verizon, he could use his old phone. However, I think the OP wants to start NEW service with VZW and the problem is that the Droid X won't be available at that time.

I don't know of anyway you can suspend your cell number while you wait for the new phone.

 

[tardmobile]

get another phone to hold the service

Pull one out of a drawer from '97 if you really need to.

 

[Crane]

You can port it to another carrier if you have one to port to. If he was returning to Verizon, he could use his old phone. However, I think the OP wants to start NEW service with VZW and the problem is that the Droid X won't be available at that time.

Winner winner, chicken dinner. I'm coming from an iPhone 3G which I sold a couple of weeks ago on ebay.

I'm wondering if Verizon would give me a "loaner" phone for a couple of weeks to get me to switch.

 

[Rigmaster]

You can port it to another carrier if you have one to port to. If he was returning to Verizon, he could use his old phone. However, I think the OP wants to start NEW service with VZW and the problem is that the Droid X won't be available at that time.

I don't know of anyway you can suspend your cell number while you wait for the new phone.

I don't think you can suspend or reserve numbers in any way. Tough situation. Might have to check into porting to a non-contract phone. Then to VZW.

 

[PoundSand]

Pull one out of a drawer from '97 if you really need to.

you actually probably need a phone less than around 5 years old- they won't activate a phone without location services for e911

 

[unplugged1]

I don't think you can suspend or reserve numbers in any way. Tough situation. Might have to check into porting to a non-contract phone. Then to VZW.

Yes, this may be your only option. You could port your number to Cricket or one of those carriers on a cheap 30-day plan. Unfortunately, the investment might end up costing $80+ to get the phone and the 30-day plan. Not sure of the pricing, though....

 

[RickyRudy]

Yes, this may be your only option. You could port your number to Cricket or one of those carriers on a cheap 30-day plan. Unfortunately, the investment might end up costing $80+ to get the phone and the 30-day plan. Not sure of the pricing, though....

I was just thinking of this. If you have a phone that works on Verizon's network you can go with Page Plus Cellular and use their pre-paid $30 plan. You get 1200 minutes, 1200 text msgs and I believe 20 MB of data. I still have a plan with them and have my primary number there while I test out the Evo with Sprint. If you dig around you may even find that some Sprint phones can be flashed to their network. However, to be safe, just get a cheap VZW phone and go with Page Plus. This would satiate you until the Droid X becomes available in terms of both having cell service and being able to preserve your number.

 

[GaryColeman]

Returning it within the 30 days is definitely one option - however, I also need to keep my cell phone number. If I just return the phone, my understanding is that the number is lost. Any ideas on what to do to keep the number for 2 weeks until the droid x comes out?

Paid

 

[RickyRudy]

Per RickyRudy's note, let us know if you can port to a pre-paid plan. I don't know if it matters which carrier (i.e. does it affect your status as a "new" customer). Porting to a prepaid would be sweet...except the free prepaid phones are junk.

Yes, you can port to a pre-paid plan. I did this back in December when I left VZW for Page Plus. I had been out of contract with VZW for a few years and owned the phone. It was the first cell number I received when I signed up with Sprint to get my first cell phone some 10 years ago. So I ported from Sprint, to VZW, then to Page Plus where it currently resides until I figure out my long term situation. The issue I see with the OP is his contract status with Sprint, but the general concept of porting to a pre-paid still applies.

 

[mattdouglaschambers]

So for clarification if I'm not satisfied with Sprint can I return my Evo and cancel my contract without any penalties since it's been less than 30 days? Or will I still have to pay the ETF?

 

[Bat~man]

If you do port your number to a prepaid phone, you might wanna double check that it can be ported from a prepaid phone to verizon.

I had a prepaid phone from straighttalk and sprint said they cant port any prepaid numbers...so I had to get ANOTHER new number =\ ..

 

[acuracing]

Winner winner, chicken dinner. I'm coming from an iPhone 3G which I sold a couple of weeks ago on ebay.

I'm wondering if Verizon would give me a "loaner" phone for a couple of weeks to get me to switch.

This is what I did with Sprint before I got the EVO. I had the moment for 2.5 weeks and was still able to preorder the EVO and get it on release day. This was through Radio Shack. They didn't even charge me any restocking fees for the exchange.

 

[RickyRudy]

If you do port your number to a prepaid phone, you might wanna double check that it can be ported from a prepaid phone to verizon.

I had a prepaid phone from straighttalk and sprint said they cant port any prepaid numbers...so I had to get ANOTHER new number =\ ..

Well, I haven't encountered this yet. If that's the case the I would just continue using my Google Voice number, which is what I'm doing now with my Evo. Thanks for the heads up though. I've always been told I own the number and haven't had any problems so far. But for the OP it's best he asks those questions up front before making a move.

 

[Crane]

I'm definitely going to talk to Verizon about my options. It's a shame because I really like the EVO (and the sprint plan pricing), but ran into some heavy roaming areas today and literally had my battery go from 100% to dead within 3 hours with virtually no usage. I travel quite a bit and according to their map, Verizon should be good to go in my area and basically everywhere I'm ever likely to go in the US. My wife has been running into the same problem and it's important for her to have good coverage when she's traveling.

I think that I'm either going to see if they'll give me a droid for 3 weeks until the droid x is available or keep the phone until the droid x is out and then pay the ETF. I'm actually leaning towards paying the $200 ETF on both my EVO's right now. My net out of pocket cost is $75 for each phone if I keep it past the 30 days due to my corporate discounts. I figure that in 3 weeks I'll be able to sell my barely used phones for well over $275. I might actually make a little bit of money if I go this route - it's definitely more of a hassle though.

My main concern behind the original post had been that I saw used EVO's on ebay that specifically stated "clean ESN". Which made me wonder if there was something that I had to do in order to for somebody to be able to activate the phone if I sold it to them.

 

[StuntHard]

Pretty sure you can not keep that number i work for a preffered retailer u cancel your line in 30 days that #'s gonna be gone how many people you have in a 2 week period that has that number that its going to be a huge deal? was it a new activation or upgrade if it was a upgrade activate your old phone and return the evo in the 30 days and then you can port your # out

 

[Crane]

Pretty sure you can not keep that number i work for a preffered retailer u cancel your line in 30 days that #'s gonna be gone how many people you have in a 2 week period that has that number that its going to be a huge deal? was it a new activation or upgrade if it was a upgrade activate your old phone and return the evo in the 30 days and then you can port your # out

These are numbers I've had for the last 5 years on AT&T. I don't see why I wouldn't be able to keep the numbers if I move to Verizon. I would just call Verizon and have them port the numbers, which automatically cancels the service on Sprint. I would then send the phones back if it's within 30 days or pay the ETF and sell the phones on ebay if it's after 30 days.

 

[Crane]

I talked to the manager at the Verizon store near my house this morning. He told me that if I wanted to port my numbers over that I could pick out whatever phones I wanted (I would probably pick the Droid if I did this), and then they would give me the new customer pricing on the Droid X when available and waive the $35 restock fee when returning the Droid.

Thought I would post this in case anybody else is in a similar situation.