The Clueless' Guide to Buying Pre-Owned Cellphones

This is the second part of a series of blog entries about buying pre-owned gadgets

Here are some tips in buying cellphones from the pre-owned market:

• Evaluate your needs. Make sure that the unit you are about to get fits your lifestyle, your knowledge, your requirements and your budget. If you only use a cellphone for making calls and sending/receiving SMS, why get a unit that has BlueTooth, MMS and GPRS? If you have no way of storing pictures, why get a unit with a camera? Remember that the simpler the phone, the less problems it will bring you in the future.
• Not all cellphone casing/housing and keypads can be replaced. If that is the case make sure that there are minimal scratches and there are no dents at all. If the case/housing and keypads are replaceable, ask the seller to bring the original keypads and case/housing with the unit.
• Check the LCD display. Make sure that the display is clear and that there are no lines visible on the screen. Make sure that there are no discoloration nor distortion on the display. All buttons and switches should work without any additional effort.
• If possible, ask the seller to bring the original box of the unit together with the original charger and other accessories when buying a pre-owned cellphone. The box should have an IMEI number that should match the IMEI number of the unit itself. This will assure you that the phone you are about to buy is not stolen. Be wary when the seller can't produce the original box, charger and other bundled accessories.
• Pre-owned cellphones rarely carry warranties. Make sure that your unit can be serviced either by an authorized service center for the brand you are getting or by independent cellphone technicians. This is one of the reasons why Nokia cellphones usually have higher re-sale value: almost all independent cellphone technicians can scvervice most Nokia models and having them repaired by them does not cost too much.
• Scout the market for accessories you might need in the future. Make sure that you can get chargers, batteries and other accessories for the unit in case those bundled with it gets damaged or lost.
• Make sure that the phone you are about to get can accommodate the SIM card you intend to use with it. Not all phones are open-line and not all phones can be open-lined easily.
• The price should be reasonable. Check online auction websites (like Bidshot, eBili and www.ebay.ph) and research on the prevailing price of the unit you are getting. Also, if you are a member, check out the Classified Ads section of PhilMUG, MaPalad and other local user groups. If the price quoted is not too far off the price of a brand new unit, save up a bit more and get a brand new unit (together with a full warranty and more peace of mind).