Ebay auctions legit?

Im new to these forums and I was wondering...are all the "unlocked" razr's for 20.00 etc. actually unlocked? I guess im wondering where is the cheapest place to get a razr that is unlocked and new. I really dont know anything about unlocked phones, but I have Cincinnati Bell (Cincinnati, Ohio)

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unlocked razr for 20 bux screams fraud kinda like fake nigerian rolex salesmen

$20 screams fraud, but, how about purchasing an unlocked RAZR on ebay for about $200? Someone at a cingular store suggested that I wouldn't have cingular software on it, which would cause all kind of problems. Any thoughts?

I have a unlocked V3 without the cing software on it (my old t-mobile phone) works fine unless your trying to access the web then you'll have to check out the v3 thread at the top of this forum for that

You must be very careful reading the wording on some ebay auctions. Sometimes the price is to unlock your phone, and other times it's for a link to put your name on a list to get a free or really cheap phone. It's not always for the actual phone itself.

Originally Posted by jmhickman09

Im new to these forums and I was wondering...are all the "unlocked" razr's for 20.00 etc. actually unlocked? I guess im wondering where is the cheapest place to get a razr that is unlocked and new. I really dont know anything about unlocked phones, but I have Cincinnati Bell (Cincinnati, Ohio)

If you look at those auctions again, I'm sure you will see that that $20.00 is the current bid, rather than what the phone actually will cost, especially if it's a newer working phone, unlocked or not.

That or the auction may be for something FOR the phone (accessory, case, dohicky), rather than A phone. And often ads that ae seling things for phones will have a picture of a phone in them. And often there well be some text in the ad (what I like to call weasel words), that say what you see ain't what you get. heheh.

So always read those ads fully, send email (to the person selling) to ask questions about the auctions if you do not understand the ad, and if it seems too good to be true, you're most likely correct!!

The trick to eBay, as a seller, is to start the bid off low,
and let each other drive the price up with hopes of it far
exceeding what you want for the item.

Another trick on eBay is to charge only a few dollars
for the item, and something ridiculous for the shipping
and handling fees. For instance they will sell a $400
item for $6, and at the bottom of the page it will say
$394 for shipping/handling fees - which is all legit.
And you will have to pay that shipping rate if you won
the auction, or risk being banned from eBay for not abiding
by the rules and regulations you agreed to when opening
your eBay account.

If the Buy it Now price was $20 then I would be suspicious.
Just ask the seller when in doubt, and check his/her feedback.

alright thanks for the help/guidance guys.
I think I'll just end up getting a samsung x496 once I get some money saved up. I can't afford these phones anymore but I desperatley want to get something better than the free nokia 6010 i got when i signed up. Its embarrasing i dont even carry it on me at school lol

edit:wait does anyone know phones that you actually can get fairly inexpensive that are good (ie flip and maybe camera-phone)

I purchased my new razr at Wal-Mart of all places for 68 bucks!!!!!!!!! I am an old at&t customer that still needed to migrate to Cingular, and the deal was for new customers to Cingular (which I was). I did ton of research and priced this phone everywhere, and never thought to look at wal-mart!!!

wacoachrusso where/when did you get it? Was this a local thing or would this be at my walmart too?

I just got it a week ago. It should be at all wat marts......check it out

i got my razr off a ebay store called cellz4less it was a black razr with case+mpt+usb cable+car charger for 200
i didnt want to migrate over to cingular orange so i bought an unlocked black razr

Originally Posted by v34me

Another trick on eBay is to charge only a few dollars
for the item, and something ridiculous for the shipping
and handling fees. For instance they will sell a $400
item for $6, and at the bottom of the page it will say
$394 for shipping/handling fees - which is all legit.
And you will have to pay that shipping rate if you won
the auction, or risk being banned from eBay for not abiding
by the rules and regulations you agreed to when opening
your eBay account.

I have a theory about this. I think that if someone does a lot of selling on eBay, they must claim that as income on their taxes. Soooo, they make the purchase price really low, then jack up the shipping rates, which doesn't count as income, therefore, not taxable. It may only cost $20 or less to ship something, unless it's an oversized item, but if you charge $350 for shipping, you make >$300 profit, without having to pay taxes on it. Of course this is just theory, and it could be wrong, but it kinda makes sense to me. Oh well, just thought I would add my $.02...

Originally Posted by MotoMadMan

I have a theory about this. I think that if someone does a lot of selling on eBay, they must claim that as income on their taxes. Soooo, they make the purchase price really low, then jack up the shipping rates, which doesn't count as income, therefore, not taxable. It may only cost $20 or less to ship something, unless it's an oversized item, but if you charge $350 for shipping, you make >$300 profit, without having to pay taxes on it. Of course this is just theory, and it could be wrong, but it kinda makes sense to me. Oh well, just thought I would add my $.02...

Good theory. Just to expand a little on it, this price structure is mainly used to circumvent paying the Ebay End Value surcharge. The charge on a $6 sale item is a LOT less than the surcharge on a $306 item. I hate this practice (as well as shill bidding) but that is getting more and more prevalent on the site. Caveat emptor!

that is definitely why they do this. it's to avoid the ebay costs. and it really stinks that they do it. especially when they mail you your item, for 37 cents and charge you $5!