Looking to buy a phone on eBay? Honestly, it’s not a half bad idea. We live in an age where carriers charge us full price for our phones. No longer do we get “free phones”, instead, we spread out our phones on our bill.
Flagship phones are also rising in price as Samsung phones and Apple phones alike can retail at over $1,000. But do we really need $1,000 phones? Honestly, for most of us, no. When your phone gets as fast as our phones our today, you are simply buying a phone so you can load a page milliseconds faster and for minimal upgrades.
This is why eBay can be such a great tool. Just like cars, phones depreciate in value rather quickly, and buying phones on eBay can be a great tool. At the same time, there are a lot of dangers on eBay that buyers must be aware of. Here are some helpful tips to help you avoid some of those dangers:
1: Generally speaking, try to buy from a seller with 99% feedback or better, and a seller that has sold over 100 items
On eBay, the best way to protect yourself as a buyer is to look at the feedback percentage of a person selling the item you are looking to buy.
If you are searching for a Samsung Galaxy S10, for example, after you find a specific listing you like, and you click in the listing, make sure to look at the top right-hand side of the page for the buyer’s username, feedback percentage, and also the amount of feedback they have.
From my experience, if someone has under 98% feedback, it means that, generally, they only take care of some issues. For example, if you buy a used phone that has a bad battery life, they may simply tell you it is subjective and do nothing. If you click on the feedback percentage of a seller and click on the number of negative feedback, it should share with you the things people have complained about. I have had decent success buying from people with 98% feedback, but what I can tell you, is that if you buy from someone with 99% feedback or more, it generally means that they are very responsive and they are very willing to work with you. In fact, I can’t recall many negative experiences with people with 99% feedback or higher. If I had any issue or really needed anything they were either willing to give me a partial refund or take my return as necessary. If you want peace of mind, look for someone with a high feedback percentage.
2: Read the bad feedback that sellers have, and avoid buying from sellers with the same, consistent issues (especially when buying a new phone!)
Some people have gotten very good at scamming buyers. Recently, I was helping someone buy a new phone, and they mentioned that they were looking to find a Samsung Galaxy S7 new online. Curious, I searched for a new Galaxy S7 on eBay, and what I found was pretty shocking.
I sorted by price, and the cheapest 20 listings for an S7 in “new condition” were generally listed by sellers with bad feedback. Finally, after searching through many listings, I found a listing with a seller that had about 98% good feedback. Overall, people seemed to have a good experience, but when I read the bad reviews left for this seller, I quickly found out about their scam.
This seller was an expert at refurbishing phones and sealing boxes to make them look new. Some people reported finding aftermarket chargers in their boxes, and other people noticed that the IMEI number (the phone’s identification number) was different on the box than in the phone’s settings.
When a phone has only been released for 6 months or a year, this scam is not quite as likely. Phones that have just recently released should have quite a large inventory of phones in “new condition”, but when a phone has been out for several years, there are very few phones in truly “new condition” left. Instead, like with the Galaxy S7, there will be thousands and thousands of old worn down phones. In order to maximize profits, some sellers will find phones that are in great condition, tweak a few things, and seal them in a box to the point that you can’t tell the difference between their “fake new item” and a real “new item”. That is the reason why many of these sellers can still keep 98% feedback because most people don’t notice. Most of the people that do notice their scheme, they offer partial refunds to in order to appease them. That is why it is very important to read a seller’s bad feedback before purchasing a phone from them.
Sellers can’t please everyone
As an eBay seller myself, I can tell you that I can’t appease everyone. In fact, I only have a 98.8% feedback percentage. I sell many phones that are broken and sell them “as-is” for parts. Many people buy certain phones expecting certain things to work, even though I am very specific in my descriptions. If certain things don’t work, even I have buyers who don’t even give me a chance to address their concerns and they leave bad feedback for things that I clearly listed in the description. In fact, the last two bad feedbacks I remember involved buyers who I gave full refunds to, but sadly those buyers did not respond to my messages to possibly change their feedback.
No seller can be perfect if they sell enough items. There is always a buyer that won’t even give the seller a chance to address their concerns. So please, don’t get too caught up in every single bad feedback, but if you see multiple people warning you about a scam like pretending like a phone is new, do yourself a favor and avoid buying from that person.
Protect Yourself
I will also add that eBay’s system radically favors buyers. As a seller, I find that there are countless ways that people will ignore the description I listed, and complain in order to get free stuff. As a seller, I have to either risk my feedback and my reputation, or I have to cave into a buyer’s demands. While this is in no way fair, it is better as a buyer to protect yourself and find a seller that has proven they are willing to work with buyers at all costs. Hopefully, you do the right thing and treat a seller fairly. At the same time, it is a seller’s job to provide to you what they promised, and if they don’t, just be honest with them about your experience, and a good seller will always work with you.