Buy a Phone on eBay

[admedia]

So I found a phone / pda thing I think will be perfect for me (thanks gerbs). But apparently I am not "eligable" for a new phone for my Cingular account until April 2007, unless I want to buy it for $450, which I don't.

So I notice they have this particular phone on eBay. I notice some of the descriptions say "unlocked". So is there anything I need to be aware of when purchasing or bidding on a phone on eBay and what does "unlocked" mean?

[gerbick]

naw... just check to make sure it's a phone that covers your GSM spectrum - most really do, I've only seen a few Euro only Nokia's that have me double-checking to make sure that they support the Cingular GSM range.

unlocked phones are pretty simple. I purchased a Nokia 8890 via eBay, it arrived "unlocked", I inserted my SIM, it joined the network - I had called them beforehand to make sure I needed anything, they just said "Insert the SIM yet?" - without a hitch.

Unlocked just means it's not tied to the Cingular, Suncom, or any other GSM network. It's nothing major, really... it's a plus if anything.

[admedia]

Cool... I will keep watching these auctions then and try and snatch one up.

[swampy]

if it's quad band and unlocked it will work anywhere. "unlocked" means it will work on any network that operates on the band[s] the phone can access, some service providers lock their phones so that they only work on their networks