10 ways not to screw up when buying a smartphone from your hands

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

After Apple's presentation, kilometer-long queues lined up for new iPhones. And the previous models are looking for new owners on Avito! There you can also buy other good smartphones at very reasonable prices. We will tell you what to look for when buying a hand-held phone.

Check seller profile

Goods on Avito are sold by ordinary people (individuals) and companies. Study their profiles to see if you can trust them.

What is worth doing

• See how long the seller has been on Avito, whether he has completed transactions, study the rating and reviews. If your profile has less than four "stars" and there are negative comments, moreover informative, and not just emotional, it is better not to get involved.
• Be wary of sellers who signed up a couple of days ago and only offer one item. These can be not only ordinary people, but also bots or representatives of companies that create many accounts in order not to pay for Avito services.
• Please note if the seller, acting as an individual, has several of the same type of products in the profile, for example, 30 smartphones. This is most likely a reseller: hardly any person decides to sell three dozen of his own gadgets at the same time.

Consider if the price is adequate

The price of a smartphone from hand is the first selection criterion. On Avito it is convenient to look at goods in a certain price range. For example, iPhone XR with different memory sizes can be found in the region of 30,000-40,000 rubles. These smartphones were officially imported to the Russian Federation and passed the Rostest quality certification (PCT). This means that they will work in the network of any Russian operator.

If you are offered a gadget that is much cheaper than the "average for the hospital", look for a catch. Either the smartphone will be locked for use outside the US, or it is seriously damaged or drowned, or stolen. Finally, it could be a Chinese copy.

Last year's iPhone XR on and from official retailers starts at 49,990 rubles. On Avito, we found an option for 37,000 rubles. This phone has been used for only six months, it is not locked under a certain operator and has retained a good presentation. And the seller is not suspicious: he registered a long time ago, and he has good reviews.

The older the model, the more profitable it can be bought. But for old smartphones, it is more difficult to find spare parts, covers, protective glasses. And firmware updates for them are rarely released.

If the budget for the purchase is small, it is better to take “branded China” - Xiaomi, for example. So, the hit Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 on Avito can be found for 10,000-11,000 rubles or even a little cheaper.

Diagnose faults in advance

A couple of scratches on the back don't matter. But chips on the screen, hardware malfunctions, a worn-out battery are more serious problems.

What is worth doing

• Ask for large photos of the ends and edges of the smartphone. Traces of autopsy can often be seen on them.
• Test the battery for the declared capacity - for example, ask the seller to install the AccuBattery application or similar and take screenshots of the test results.
• Suggest the owner to diagnose the smartphone with a program like TestM and reset screenshots with test results. Honest sellers respond to such requests normally.
• Check your serial number for e-Warranty. This service is available from Samsung and a number of other manufacturers.

Rate if the photos are real

If the price or appearance of the product is in doubt, take a close look at the pictures. Perhaps the seller's photos have little to do with the product he offers, or he doesn't have a smartphone at all.

What is worth doing

• Look at photos from the manufacturer, video reviews, pictures of similar devices in other ads. Study in detail the location and shape of the buttons, the logo, the joints of the elements - this will help to recognize a fake.
• Try to find a photo from an ad on the Internet. In well-known search services, you need to go to the "Pictures" tab and click on the camera icon in the search bar - an image search form will appear. If you see that this photo has already been posted on other sites before, and by sellers with different names, refuse to purchase.
• Be careful! Fraudsters can use the image of the original smartphone in the ad, and replace it with a Chinese counterfeit when meeting in person. How it works: the seller lets you hold the gadget in your hands, check the software, and then picks it up under some pretext. For example, to show how the device fits in a pocket, or to wipe the screen with a T-shirt. After that, in his hands is a copy or the same smartphone, but with damage.

Compare characteristics

There are manufacturers who have gotten their hands on counterfeiting expensive smartphones, and in such a way that it is difficult to suspect a fake not only from the photo, but also in reality.

Chinese iPhones with iOS-style shells based on Android are not uncommon. Expensive Android gadgets are also counterfeited - and usually copies have a different processor, less memory, and a battery of lower capacity.

What is worth doing

Take a look at the device parameters. To do this, ask the seller to go to the phone settings and take screenshots. For Android, you can use special applications: AIDA64, System Info Droid. Compare the data with the information on the manufacturer's official website

Do not make prepayment

Fraudsters often ask for prepayment and then disappear. Here are just a few examples of cunning pretexts under which they will try to lure all or part of the amount from you:

• “We urgently need money. The product is popular, there are many applicants for it, I will sell it to the one who is the first to transfer the prepayment to the phone number."
• “There are so many people willing to buy! Whoever transfers the maximum prepayment for a smartphone, I'll sell to that one."
• “I will send the goods by cash on delivery. But in order to get to the dispatch service and make sure that you really want to buy, I need money.

Make an appointment with the seller in person. Or use it. It is convenient, profitable and safe.

The cost of services is calculated prior to purchase and will not change during the delivery process. The seller will not charge you more than necessary. Upon receipt, you will be able to inspect the goods. If it does not fit, it will be sent back to the seller - you will not be charged a dime. You can pay for the goods and delivery by card. The seller will receive money only when you pick up your smartphone.

To see only those gadgets that are available with delivery from Avito, put a tick in the required field under the search box.

Be careful with couriers

It would seem a common thing: the seller offers to send the smartphone by courier. But at the last moment he says that this person is working the second day and does not inspire confidence. Therefore, you need to wait for the courier, inspect the smartphone and, if everything suits you, transfer the money to the card directly to the seller.

Then the fraud begins. The courier arrives, you examine your smartphone, transfer money to the seller. He calls the courier and says that the payment did not go through. The courier picks up the smartphone and leaves. That is, you are left without money and without a purchase.

What is worth doing

In theory, you could call the bank and report the fraud. But attackers buy stolen cards on the darknet or accept payments to a phone number. And then they withdraw to other cards or accounts. So, even if the bank blocks the account or card to which you transferred money, it will not help you. Therefore, it is better not to mess with courier delivery

Search in your area

A smartphone should definitely be examined before buying. Residents of major cities can find options in their area and meet with the seller in person. At the same time and save on delivery.

On Avito, you can search for goods in the desired regions, within a certain radius from a point on the map, and in Moscow and near specific metro stations (you can select one or more). Search within the radius is available after you select a region, near the metro - after you select a city.

Check IMEI before buying

IMEI is a unique identifier for the device. You can see it in the settings screenshot or on the box. Thanks to this number, you can find out if it is an original smartphone, whether it was stolen, and in some cases - how new it is.

What is worth doing

• If you are lucky and your smartphone has its own packaging, make sure that the IMEI on the box and on the device itself are the same. If these numbers are different, then the gadget was either stolen or unsuccessfully reflashed after repair. You can check IMEI, for example, on the website or similar. The service will show the model by IMEI, find out if there is a smartphone in the stolen database. True, the database does not cover all such gadgets. Many manufacturers have their own services for checking these identifiers. For example, u and.
• In the case of iPhone, you can find out by IMEI when it was activated. To do this, go to the Apple website, enter the IMEI and verification code, read the item "Eligibility for Service and Repair." The iPhone activation date is one year less than one day less than the specified date. Example: If service ends on October 31, 2019, then the iPhone was activated on November 1, 2018. If the smartphone is not activated, then it is new and has never been turned on: Apple's servers have not registered it yet.

If the seller does not want to give you the IMEI, then for some reason he is afraid of such checks.

Don't buy faulty smartphones

We do not recommend purchasing such models. More often than not, you will have to spend a lot on repairs. The low price of the device is deceiving. Of course, the web of cracks is easy to cover with a cover. But such a smartphone can have hidden damage inside, and many breakages from falls do not appear immediately.

Some sellers directly write what needs to be replaced, and even call the price of the repair. But they come from the bottom bar of the cost of work in a provincial service center and non-original spare parts. In an authorized service center, everything will be much more expensive.

Will the smartphone work like new after repair? Will you sell it later for adequate money? It is difficult to predict in advance, so it is not worth the risk.

You may not know that you are buying a faulty smartphone if the dishonest seller has not indicated this. So you need to inspect the gadget very carefully before you hand over the money.

What is worth doing

When examining your smartphone, pay attention to:

• external damage;
• the presence of a box, a branded charger, a warranty card;
• build quality (if the elements are unevenly fitted, this hints at a poor-quality repair);
• Whether the previous owner left the Apple ID (for iPhone);
• sound quality for calls;
• the status of the charging port and SIM tray contacts;
• the state of the cameras - this can be checked by taking a photo of a white sheet, a picture in bright light, in the dark;
• screen state - applications like Display Tester, Yet Another MultiTouch Test will help;
• support for Wi-Fi and GPS (whether it quickly finds networks and satellites, shows the location correctly).

Avito is actively fighting fraud on the platform. It regularly talks about new ways of deception. In addition, smart algorithms and manual moderation help find scammers and block them.