Most bad used-phone deals are not sophisticated. They are ordinary handsets with something attached to them that the buyer did not check: a theft report, a carrier lock, an activation lock the seller cannot remove. All of it is visible from the IMEI in under a minute. Here is the order we run them in.
1. Get the IMEI before anything else
Dial *#06# on the handset and it appears on screen, no unlocking needed. On an iPhone you can also read it from Settings, then General, then About, or off the SIM tray. If a seller will not give you the IMEI, walk away. There is no innocent reason to hide it.
2. Check the blacklist first, not last
A blacklisted handset is worth parts money, not phone money, and no amount of haggling changes that. A worldwide blacklist check takes seconds and tells you whether the device has been reported lost, stolen or barred for an unpaid bill. Do this before you agree a price, not after you have handed over cash.
3. Find out which carrier it is locked to
A phone locked to a carrier your buyer does not use is a phone that sits on your shelf. A carrier and SIM-lock check tells you the network and whether the lock is on, so you know whether you are selling it as-is or budgeting for an unlock.
4. Check Find My and activation lock
This is the one that catches people. A device with Find My still on cannot be set up by the next owner, and only the original Apple account can remove it. A seller who says they will turn it off later is a seller you will not hear from again. Check it while they are standing in front of you.
5. Confirm the model, colour and storage match the listing
A serial or IMEI lookup returns the exact model, colour and capacity as it left the factory. Compare it with what is in front of you. A mismatch means either a wrong listing or a swapped housing, and both are worth a conversation before money moves.
6. Look at the warranty and repair history
An Apple GSX report shows coverage, purchase date, and whether the device has been replaced or repaired before. A refurbished replacement unit is not a fault, but it is a fact that belongs in your pricing.
7. Take a photo of the IMEI with the phone in shot
If a dispute comes later, a photo showing the IMEI on the screen next to the handset settles it. It costs you five seconds.
Doing all of this at once
Most of the checks above can be run in one lookup rather than five. A combined carrier, Find My and blacklist report covers the three that matter most on an Apple device, and costs less than a coffee. Our pricing page lists everything with the price beside it, and a check that comes back empty is refunded automatically.
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