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Every phone I've ever bought in the past I've bought from Verizon store and the cost is always egregiouy extortionate. I know there is a less expensive way. Please tell me.
How to be sure the second-hand phone is in good shape & functional & legal & not stolen/ resold by criminals etc?
Update: Thanks y'all! I made my selection & purchase through Swappa. You made a girl happy today.
A number of my friends have used Swappa with success. They seem to have a competent return policy and most sellers include a checklist of quality steps they look for. All listings have a top level quality grade you can filter by.
They do seem to be a little higher price than what you can find on eBay or Craigslist, but require less "digging" to find a good phone.
In the US Bestbuy sells their returns as open box and if your local store has any you can usually check out the exact item you plan to buy in store.
Another option, though the most expensive, is to go with a manufacture's own refurbished units. Both Apple and Google list refurbs for a couple percent off directly on their websites.
Swappa looks good thank you and I'm narrowing down my selections now but first can you please ELI5 the difference between a "locked" phone and an "unlocked" phone, some of them specifically say they're unlocked but the other ones don't specify, and if I buy a locked phone then it can't be unlocked? What does that mean, if it's locked I can't get service to it? Please explain if you have a moment.
Locked means you can only use it on one specific carrier like only ATT or only T-Mobile. They should specify which network it'll work with. Unlocked means it'll work on any carrier (assuming the phone has the physical antenna for that networks broadcast frequency).
It is possible to unlock a phone, but there's normally a waiting period which can be quite long. The process, fees, and eligibility to unlock will depend on your jurisdiction.
You probably want an unlocked phone.