How to Buy Refurbished Cell Phones Online
Get a used phone for international travel, a second or replacement phone, locked or unlocked.
Walk into any cellular phone store or big box electronics retailer and you can get a brand new cell phone in pristine condition, ready to go, from one of the major carriers. Just try and walk out with that phone before signing your life away for two years and listen to the security alarms go off. Aside from pay as you go cell phone plans, you need to make a major commitment to get a cell phone that will work on one of the big wireless networks. Is there any way to make a better deal?
Have You Considered Refurbished?
You bet there is. What you may be looking for is a refurbished cell phone. You can now get refurbished cell phones online to work with the carrier of your choice. You can even get unlocked GSM phones that aren’t tied to a particular carrier.
Find Refurbished Phones Online
Where can you find these used, refurbished and unlocked phones? They’re at CellularCountry online. All of their phones are 100% functional and are in stock for immediate delivery. You’ll get a free home charger and battery, a guarantee that the phone will function properly, and same-day shipping. That shipping is free on orders over $150.
Wide Variety of Phone Models
What kind of phones can you find at Cellular Country? Just taking a quick look at the best deals for today, there’s a slew of BlackBerry phones, including the Storm 9530, Pearl 8130, 8830 and 8330. Apple iPhone? Yes, there’s a 3GS 16 GB Bluetooth Wifi 3G White that works with AT&T Wireless that’s in excellent condition. You’ll also find phones by Audiovox, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Pantech, Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens and Sony.
From Pristine to Just Fair
These phones are offered in four different conditions. Refurbished means pristine condition with manual and box. Excellent shows very little sign of use. Good has normal wear and tear. Fair shows a lot of wear. What you choose depends on whether this phone is a replacement or second phone for your existing plan, a phone to take overseas on travel, or perhaps just something you want to give the kids without having to pay a lot and without worrying too much if it gets broken.
Locked vs Unlocked
Just a word about locked and unlocked phones. Those deeply discounted phone that the carrier sells you new come locked up tighter than a drum. They are subsidizing the cost of the phone to make the price more attractive to you. The last thing in the world a carrier wants is for you to take their cheap phone and put it on another carrier’s network. That gets them nuts because the real money they make is in the monthly fees they know they can collect for at least 2 years. I say at least, because inertia keeps a lot of people using their same phone on the same network for the same monthly charge even after the contract expires, That’s just gravy for the cellular carriers.
Carrier Networks
There are two major types of carrier technology. They are CDMA and GSM. CDMA is used by Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular and others. They don’t use what’s called a SIM card, so you can’t unlock them. The US is the major country with CDMA networks, although Canada, Mexico, India, Japan and South Korea also use them. If you buy a used CDMA phone, it will have to be used with the carrier it was programmed for.
Advantage of SIM Cards
GSM is another story. GSM is a world wide standard that was originally developed for Europe. AT&T and T-Mobile adopted this technology in the US. What’s special about GSM phones is that they use a removable SIM (Subscriber identity Module) card that can be swapped out to work on another network. If you have service in the United States but make frequent trips to Europe, you can buy a replacement SIM card that works with the cell phone network in the countries you are visiting. When you get back just replace your SIM card with the original and you are back in business on your regular network.
Multi-band Phones
Note that different countries use different cellular bands for transmission and reception. If you are traveling internationally and want the most flexibility, you should ideally buy a quad-band phone that works on all 4 GSM bands world-wide. A tri-band phone may also work for many users.
Why Unlocked?
GSM phones can be locked or unlocked. When you buy an unlocked phone it is not committed to any network. You get service from whichever GSM carrier you want to use. If you don’t like your carrier or move to an area where the coverage is better from another carrier, you can swap providers while keeping your phone.
Is Refurbished For You?
Are you interested in a used, refurbished, locked or unlocked cell phone ? If so, check out the complete selection and 30 day warranty available from CellularCountry.
If you are interested in a brand new cell phone with a traditional cellular service plan, then check out the wide selection of free and deeply discounted cell phone models with wireless service plans from the major cellular carriers.
