Buying a Used iPhone or iPad? Check These Three Things First

A customer once bought an iPad from a pawnshop. It was locked. The shop had no refund policy. He was out the money and holding a device he could not use — and that shop is not unusual.

Used phones and tablets get sold locked constantly, at pawnshops, on marketplace listings, out of car trunks. Two minutes of checking beats finding out afterwards.

1. Is it reported lost or stolen?

This is the one that ends the conversation. A blacklisted device cannot be unlocked by any service, at any price, ever. Anyone who tells you they can clear a blacklisted IMEI is lying to you. Get the IMEI before money changes hands.

2. Which carrier is it actually locked to?

Sellers guess, and they guess wrong all the time. A phone described as unlocked, or as a Boost phone, or as a Cricket phone, is frequently locked to something else. The carrier determines whether an unlock is even possible and what it costs. Our $1 carrier check answers this from the IMEI — cheaper than getting it wrong.

3. Is there an account lock on it?

Two different screens catch people. Activation Lock asks for the previous owner's Apple ID. Remote Management, which is MDM, means a company or school still controls the device. Ask the seller to fully erase the device and set it up in front of you. If it lands on the home screen, it is clean. If either of those screens appears, you have a problem to solve before you buy, not after.

Getting the IMEI

Dial *#06# on the device, or Settings, then General, then About. Fifteen digits. Ask for it in the listing before you drive anywhere.

Already bought one?

Depending on what is locking it, there may still be a route. Run the $1 carrier check first so you know exactly what you are dealing with, then pick the service that matches. Call or text (940) 344-3069. Prices and turnaround for every service are shown at cellphoneken.com before you pay.