When Buying a Fairly Used Phone These Are "6 Things" You Need To Consider

   
At times you may resort to buying a fairly used phone because of one reason or the other. One of the main reasons why people settle for fairly used phones is the cheap price which is usually miles cheaper than the brand new phones. So in this post, I will show you important things to consider when buying a fairly used phone. Below are the top things to look out for. 


1. THE PHONE’S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Although, the more rusty or roughly the phone looks, the lesser the value but hey! You shouldn’t go for the less just because your pocket isn’t smiling. You need to check the body of the phone for not only scratches but also rust, which is a sign of liquid damage.

You also need to check for screen damages by powering the phone and operating it. Try to make calls and open apps and take note of how the screen responds to tap and swipe. A fairly used phone in a good condition shouldn’t lag while operating it and the call quality should be good without background noise.

Once you are through examining the screen and external body of the phone, the next thing you should check as well is the ports; which includes charging port and headphone jack port. Check the two ports for any sign of rust and use earpiece and charger to test the working condition of the two ports. Some usb charging ports when connected to a charger, indicates charging but doesn’t charge faster because of rust and faulty ports. Pls take out your time to check the ports thoroughly before paying.

Another interesting thing to checkout for is the battery, remove it (if it is removable) and check the terminals for rust. You should also check the battery and make sure it isn’t swelling already.

2. THE PHONE’S SPECIFICATIONS

Phone specifications should be at your fingertips. Ever phone has a specs sheet that shows all the features in the phone so before buying a new phone or a fairly used phone, endeavor to have the specs with you. Very important. Before you put your money on a fairly used phone, check out the specifications of the phone online. You can check phone specifications at SpecNG.Com

Knowing the specs of the phone you want to buy educates you whether the device is suitable for the main purpose you are buying it for. As a mobile-game lover, the megapixels of the camera mightn’t matter to you; instead, you would be interested in the RAM size, the GPU, and the speed and number of cores of the processor. Similarly, photo freaks (especially the ladies) would go for phones with better camera features like bigger pixels, better lens, LED flash and other photo enhancement features.

3. THE PHONE OWNERSHIP

As we all know, people’s phones are stolen every day – and all these stolen phones end up in the black markets of the fairly used phones in Nigeria. So if you are buying a fairly used phone, especially from individuals, you must ask questions about the ownership of the phone and the reason the phone is put up for sale.

Asking to see the original receipt of the phone is a way to authenticate ownership, and as a rule, if a fairly used phone comes with a security lock (like phone lock, SIM lock or any other locks) don’t buy it and go format or restore to factory settings. Those kinds of fairly used phones are likely to be have been stolen.

If the seller is really the owner of the phone, he shouldn’t have forgotten his security codes at the point of sale. Be careful when buying fairly used phones in Nigeria, for most of them are stolen.

4. PRICE

Yes it’s true that fairly used phones are expected to be cheaper than to the new one, but when the price is too cheap to be true, then you should be worried. How can someone say she is selling her fairly used iPhone 7 for NGN70,000 and you want to buy it. It is either the phone is stolen or it is a scam. Be wise! 
5. SCAMMERS

Scamming is no longer a strange term in today’s world especially when it comes to deals both online and offline. Whenever you want to buy fairly used phones over the Internet, scams should be a major concern to you. There are websites that allows people upload their fairly used phone online and sell. While some sellers are genuine, most of them are just scammers that are either selling fake phones or pretending to sell phones they will not deliver once payment is made.

So if you are buying a fairly used phone online, make sure you only pay on delivery. Don’t send any initial payment to the seller, and when you are to meet the seller one-on-one, make sure you are meeting in a public area. I will also advise you to go with someone (a guy) if you are a lady.

6. CHECK IF THE PHONE IS STOLEN

Do you know you can check if a phone is a stolen phone? Although this method might not be 100% realistic in Nigeria where some Android users usually tweak and change their phone original IMEI. This is because, to check a Stolen phone status, the website dedicated to that checks for the IMEI of the phone and when it’s not the original IMEI, it labels it as stolen. Here is the website to check if a phone is stolen.