Cell Phones

Risks of buying Unopened phone from kijiji?

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  • Jun 16th, 2016 2:50 am
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Member
May 2, 2017
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Scarborough

Risks of buying Unopened phone from kijiji?

What are the risks involved with buying an unopened phone off Kijiji? Can the seller report it as stolen to microsoft?
33 replies
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Dec 12, 2009
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Huge risk. The box may have been opened, content taken out, nice ballast put in its place, box resealed to look like it was never ever opened. Remember the fake clay iPad caper at Future Shop not that long ago?

Unless I know the seller really well, the agreement for an unopened item would be that I will open and inspect the contents before paying. As part of the deal, I will not claim buyer's remorse once I open the box.
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Apr 1, 2006
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Gee wrote: Yes, there is always a risk of being blacklisted.
+1 - don't buy used from Kijiji. Stick to RFD (++ Feedback only)..
C:\RFD>ih8lowballers.bat_
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Apr 15, 2004
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Toronto
Yep dont use kijiji for cell phones
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Sep 12, 2015
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will888 wrote: Huge risk. The box may have been opened, content taken out, nice ballast put in its place, box resealed to look like it was never ever opened. Remember the fake clay iPad caper at Future Shop not that long ago?

Unless I know the seller really well, the agreement for an unopened item would be that I will open and inspect the contents before paying. As part of the deal, I will not claim buyer's remorse once I open the box.
+1. If the seller doesn't agree, then something fishy is going on
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Jul 28, 2014
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Androidmarshmellow wrote: +1. If the seller doesn't agree, then something fishy is going on
How about right after I open the seal, I say sorry, I changed my mind, it wasn't what I thought I wanted.
Member
Jan 22, 2008
474 posts
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It doesn't make sense to buy something NIB on Kijiji. There's too much risk for various types of fraud or hassle - UNLESS of course you're buying a relatively cheap,older, low-demand item that's simply not worth the time & effort of a crook to swap it out with a convincing fake and then re-seal the package.

Otherwise it's OK if you're buying something used, which you can test out beforehand, and preferably something thats been posted for a couple of weeks running not one of those "need gone today" adds...
Penalty Box
Mar 8, 2016
325 posts
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Ten Count wrote: It doesn't make sense to buy something NIB on Kijiji. There's too much risk for various types of fraud or hassle - UNLESS of course you're buying a relatively cheap,older, low-demand item that's simply not worth the time & effort of a crook to swap it out with a convincing fake and then re-seal the package.

Otherwise it's OK if you're buying something used, which you can test out beforehand, and preferably something thats been posted for a couple of weeks running not one of those "need gone today" adds...

when you say theres too much types of fraud or hassle, what do you mean by this? i've bought maybe in my life time, 30+ sealed electronics like phones/computers/ etc on kijiji, never once had a problem
Deal Addict
Aug 20, 2008
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Just open it, turn it on, make sure it works and avoid iPhone.
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Feb 18, 2016
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You have to wonder why someone would have a bunch of new-in-box phones and wants to sell them, how they got them etc. A few months ago wasn't there a thread about someone selling phones from their home and they had a hockey bag (or maybe gym bag) full of phones?
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petepw wrote: How about right after I open the seal, I say sorry, I changed my mind, it wasn't what I thought I wanted.
I would say you are a terrible buyer and should be blacklisted. Private sellers are not retailers, they can't match Costco or Wal-Mart for buyer's remorse. As I mentioned already, as a buyer, it is fair to ask that contents in an unopened box be inspected before completing the purchase. However, under no circumstance other than broken or fake merchandise should be buyer be a jerk and back out. Both buyer and seller have to show mutual respect.
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Dec 6, 2006
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notfromqc wrote: You have to wonder why someone would have a bunch of new-in-box phones and wants to sell them, how they got them etc. A few months ago wasn't there a thread about someone selling phones from their home and they had a hockey bag (or maybe gym bag) full of phones?
The phones are probably legit, but bought with illegal means, like fake and stolen CC.

Once I had a HS friend that I hadn't seen for a long time. Met with him and his other friends. They were like ok have to do some errands in a mall. They had a truck full of PS3 and selling them back to a certain game store.
Member
Jun 25, 2011
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Alberta
I recently bought an ipod of Kijii, it was like brand new unopened. When I went to see the seller, I asked him to make it open and also turn that damn thing on to make sure it works and not some fake iPod.
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Jul 28, 2014
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will888 wrote: I would say you are a terrible buyer and should be blacklisted. Private sellers are not retailers, they can't match Costco or Wal-Mart for buyer's remorse. As I mentioned already, as a buyer, it is fair to ask that contents in an unopened box be inspected before completing the purchase. However, under no circumstance other than broken or fake merchandise should be buyer be a jerk and back out. Both buyer and seller have to show mutual respect.
That's easily said. But the fact is, I have no leverage after you open the box. You can easily walk out after opening the seal. What am I going to do? Yell scammer? It is not fair as a buyer to ask to inspect the open box unless the money is already in my hands. If for some reason the box is empty or has a knockoff, you can have your money back.
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Dec 16, 2001
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Oakville
Come to an understanding between buyer and seller of exactly what Will described. Unless it's broken or doesn't work, buyer isnt going to back out.

Buyer hands over cash for seller to count and verify

Seller opens package

Done.

Personally, I'd never buy a phone off a stranger. Not worth it for me.

petepw wrote: That's easily said. But the fact is, I have no leverage after you open the box. You can easily walk out after opening the seal. What am I going to do? Yell scammer? It is not fair as a buyer to ask to inspect the open box unless the money is already in my hands. If for some reason the box is empty or has a knockoff, you can have your money back.
***
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Jul 28, 2014
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Kursor17 wrote: Come to an understanding between buyer and seller of exactly what Will described. Unless it's broken or doesn't work, buyer isnt going to back out.

Buyer hands over cash for seller to count and verify

Seller opens package

Done.

Personally, I'd never buy a phone off a stranger. Not worth it for me.
Right, but the key is for the buyer to hand the cash over first before inspecting. As a buyer, I could tell you I'm not going to back out after opening, or I could tell you I'm going to strip naked and dance on the table. It's not worth anything.
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Oct 28, 2004
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I sold an iphone a few yrs back on Kijiji and met a buyer..nice guy...he had a funny story related to previous posts..

He wanted to buy brand new in box sealed (Bell) and met another seller who claimed they were selling said item.

So he meets this lady and they open the iphone box together. Turn on the iphone and he pops in the sim.

Sim isn't recognized...turns out the phone was a telus phone and she thought incorrectly that it would lock to whatever first sim was inserted.

Suffice to say he didn't buy but the lady forced him to pay $20 for opening the iphone. He paid because he was a nice guy but thought to himself "heck, I asked a few times to make the seller confirm it works with Bell - not my mistake..."

And he drove about 1hr 1-way to meet the seller...lol!

He ended up buying my iPhone (used and opened)..he was able to fully tested it beforehand...lol!
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Dec 16, 2001
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Oakville
petepw wrote: Right, but the key is for the buyer to hand the cash over first before inspecting. As a buyer, I could tell you I'm not going to back out after opening, or I could tell you I'm going to strip naked and dance on the table. It's not worth anything.
I used my process with a kid who was trying to buy my extra NIB Wii U. Nintendo doesnt seal the boxes like Sony does, but I wasn't going to risk him messing up the nice internal packaging Nintendo made and back out.

He caved and let me count and verify the cash before opening.

my way or the highway. don't care
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petepw wrote: That's easily said. But the fact is, I have no leverage after you open the box. You can easily walk out after opening the seal. What am I going to do? Yell scammer? It is not fair as a buyer to ask to inspect the open box unless the money is already in my hands. If for some reason the box is empty or has a knockoff, you can have your money back.
The only leverage is the mutual respect. That is why I am leery of buying from kijiji as too many sellers lack the moral fiber to understand what this term means.

My last attempt at buying a phone on kijiji was unsuccessful and I saw it from a mile away. I responded to an ad and offered $20 less than the asking price to which the seller accepted. Then he goes on to say that the earliest he can meet me was 4 days later. Within 5 minutes of agreeing to my offer, he closes the ad and opens up a new one with the same ad information as the original one. I saw the new ad, but did not say anything to him immediately. On the day we were supposed to meet, I messaged the seller to confirm that we were still on for the sale. He proceeds to say sorry, it is sold already. I knew he was going to tell me this, but I was hoping that he would be the one contacting me instead of me having to contact him. It doesn't bother me that he sold it to someone offering better terms, but he doesn't have to be an @ss in the process. BTW, I found out months later the jerk is a not so active RFD member.

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