Buying things off the internet has become such a routine thing that most people don’t think twice about it and just go ahead and do it. This is mainly because if you get scammed there are no better ways to get your money back. Still, getting scammed is no fun, and it can be a hassle to get your money back. If you’re putting down a pretty penny to get a new phone, that’s the last thing that you want to have happen to you. Should you then buy an unlocked phone Amazon Marketplace offers? We are going to be going over a lot of the dos and don’ts of the whole process here. Including if it makes sense financially and what that’s going to mean for you if you want to get a plan on that phone.
Unlocked phones in general are going to give you the freedom to search for the best deal from a service provider. For years people have been tied down to one service provider because they buy their phones directly from them. This happens all over the world. That’s why in particular American companies offer to buy out your contract with another company so that you can sign with them. Getting an unlocked phone Amazon offers is going to save you the hassle of having to buy out your contract or try to unlock your phone. This is easier or harder depending on the process. Having an unlocked phone in general though has plenty of benefits. In any case, here’s our experience in buying from Amazon.
- Can you trust the seller of an unlocked phone Amazon offers?
- Things to watch out for before you buy
- Are prices better on Amazon?
- Buying directly from the manufacturer
- Buying a refurbished unlocked phone Amazon offers
- You may not want to trust your service provider blindly either
Can you trust the seller of an unlocked phone Amazon offers?
There are certain items that you can take a gamble on. These are particularly like low-priced items, novelty things that if you had them, and it worked it would be really cool, but you can go one without them, and you’d be fine. If it comes in, and it’s not necessarily what you’d hoped for its sad, but you’re just like oh well. A phone is not one of those items. Therefore, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to take a gamble on something like that. Get a phone from a seller that you can trust. Amazon hosts a ton of official stores from phone manufacturers. You can get it straight from there.
If you are thinking about taking the gamble and buying from a third party seller that you don’t know at least make sure it has a good rating. Also, make sure the price tag on the item is reasonable. It can be cheaper than what you’re getting in the official store. Although to be honest that should raise some eyebrows for sure. If you buy from a trusted seller you are going to be less likely to get scammed. Also take your time actually reading through the product description. Most of the time you’re going to be able to find everything that you need to know in there.
Things to watch out for before you buy
Definitely the main thing that you want to watch out for when buying an unlocked phone Amazon offers is the condition of the phone that you’re buying. If you’re looking at a phone, and it has a price tag that seems too good to be true. Basically anything that falls below the official price on the manufacturer’s site check the condition of the phone. Amazon is actually cracking down on this. Forcing sellers to be forthcoming about the condition of the phone. You’ll know if it’s a new, used, or refurbished model. Once you got that down you’ll be able to better evaluate the offers for sure.
Other than the seller and condition another thing that you need to be on the lookout for is the model. Some sketchy sellers like to get really creative with their titles. They’ll say things like “new iPhone”. You think that you’re getting the latest version that’s out today. When in reality you’re getting a new phone, but an older model. Sellers, the sketchy ones at least, love to play with those types of things. As a buyer you really want to look out for these things. Even if you can get your money back, going through that process can be a hassle.
Are prices better on Amazon?
The truth here is that they might be. At least for the first results that you find. Again though you have to do some diligent searching. A good way to approach this is, if you see a price that seems way too good to be true you should operate under the assumption that it is. We are not saying that you should just then disregard that option. What you need to do though is search through all of the information that you can find on that phone. At times sellers won’t point out the device is refurbished in the title. Therefore, it falls on you to search for anything that may give you an indication that something’s up and that’s why the price is so low.
Another thing that you can find on Amazon that could make the price better in a “legal” way if you will is a better rate if you pay full price for the phone. Most sellers, whether it be your wireless service provider or the phone manufacturer will want to sell you the phone at a fixed monthly rate. If you pay for the full price of the phone in one payment you could access better deals. If you find that time of scheme it would make more sense to find the better price tag. Otherwise, if you think logically it wouldn’t make a lot of sense that a phone manufacturer would give their product to a third party seller and allow them to charge less.
Buying directly from the manufacturer
There are a couple of benefits that you’re going to be able to obtain when buying directly from the manufacturer. One of the main benefits that contradicts what you might see when buying an unlocked phone Amazon offers is that you can pretty much be certain that you’re getting a brand-new phone. If you can’t be guaranteed that you’re getting a truly new phone from the manufacturer directly then who can you really trust? As we’ve mentioned another advantage is that you can use their loyalty program. Essentially you’ll have a scheme with a phone manufacturer that allows you to get a new model every couple of years at a decent rate. Just like a car lease you can trade in your old phone and get the new version.
You don’t have to put down a ton of money to buy the phone outright to make sure that you can get an unlocked version. Just make sure though before you make the final purchase on the site that you chose the option of getting an unlocked phone. In recent years we’ve seen phone manufacturers grow closer to wireless service providers. In our experience the two were not that close even a few years back. Therefore, it’s certainly surprising that now you can get all of the deals that wireless service manufacturers offer under one roof. If you’re looking for an unlocked phone though make sure that you select that option.
Buying a refurbished unlocked phone Amazon offers
We can’t say that all of the refurbished phones that you see on Amazon or other sites for that matter are bad deals. In fact, you can find yourself a great deal on a refurbished phone. Particularly if the phone had maybe a screen issue that was fixed. Sure a cracked screen can be a major dealbreaker for a phone. If they fixed that up though and the device had very minimal use to begin with you could be looking at a great overall deal. What’s the problem that we see with this? For the most part you’re just going to read refurbished in the caption that accompanies the listing. That’s all of the information that you’re going to get. Sure, there are certain sellers who are very honest and give you a detailed description of the repairs. That’s not the norm though.
What happens then is that you as a buyer are essentially shooting darts in the dark. Particularly with the prices on some of these phones. If you’re able to find an unlocked phone Amazon offers that is refurbished and at an awesome price then it could be worth taking a gamble on. Make sure though that you read through the warranty and the return policy that the seller has. Just so that you’re clear over the terms that you’re accepting. Although buying these refurbished phones is always a bit of a gamble you’ll at least be taking a more calculated risk.
You may not want to trust your service provider blindly either
When you go out and buy phones or any other device from Amazon or eBay you kind of have the sense that you need to check it out to see if anything is up. There’s a bit of a sense of distrust. Particularly when you’re buying refurbished or used items. When you buy a new phone from your service provider you may not have that same level of distrust. We are not trying to give any service provider a bad reputation, but still you may want to get into the habit of checking your old phones. We explored this side when we looked into the insurance options that different service providers offer. Virtually all of the insurance companies or service providers that fix phones are going to put in used parts to these refurbished phones.
What we are saying is that all it takes is for your phone to come from the refurbished pile by mistake. It’s a good idea to check your new phone no matter where you got it from for signs of wear and tear. When you’re buying something particularly when it’s used they typically let you know that there are certain things about the item that aren’t in the best shape. We understand that you don’t want to have a negative mindset when looking into your new phone. However, as is often said it’s better to be safe than sorry. Make sure that you look through the phone to see if you can find signs of wear and tear. If you do then don’t hesitate to return the item. It’s as simple as that.
Unlocked Phone Amazon – Conclusion
We’ve spent quite a bit of time on this article talking about some of the negatives that you can find when trying to buy an unlocked phone Amazon sellers are offering. We want to make it clear though that it’s not all bad. At the end of the day we’ve mentioned some of these things so that you can be sure to stay vigilant when you’re buying a phone. We always say that when something seems too good to be true it usually is. So you want to make sure that you check things out and essentially see if you’re up to taking the risk. If there’s one key element to keep in mind out of everything that we mentioned it would have to be the importance of the seller.
When you work with decent sellers you’re going to be able to essentially breathe a sigh of relief. Particularly if you can see from the listing itself exactly what you’re getting into. That’s really the big issue with these phones. There are sellers out there that don’t exactly have your best interests in mind. Just make sure that you’re vigilant and read through the product description before you buy. That way you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re buying. We feel that the biggest issue with buying an unlocked phone Amazon offers is managing expectations.