Buying a second hand iPhone. Any pitfalls I should avoid?

[Spidermama]

I have a year left on an Orange contract which includes free unmlimited internet use for 15 per month. But I have such a rubbish handset at the moment that there's no point in my going on the internet. So I reckon I should get an unlocked iPhone then be contract free in a year and avoid another tie in.

I know I should get a factory unlocked rather than a jail-broken phone so it stays unlocked.

Ideally it would have some apple warranty.

I'm finding the 3GS phones (because people are upgrading to the 4) are typically going for just under £200 on Ebay.

There's one on Gumtree which is only 2 months old so has 10 months apple warranty but is tied into O2.

Anyway ... nuff babbling. I'#m just after some advice from people with experience really.

Thanks.

Is there really anything special about an iPhone that you want/need compared with any other smartphones? Just that at around half the price you could get a brand new phone to use for the next 6+ months, rather than someone's used, marked, phone, and maybe sell it later in the year if you are tempted by an iPhone 4 (when the iPhone 5 comes out and the price of iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4s on Ebay will drop, one assumes).

Have seen very positive comments about the Orange San Francisco (Android) and price is around the 120 pound mark (including a 20 pound top-up, but you could perhaps sell the SIM and top-up once you knew the credit had been applied, on Gumtree or Ebay, for say 15 quid, or use the top-up if you are heavy on voice calls !) Some places have shown the San Francisco at around 80 (+10 pound top-up) but are sold out.

If you went for some types of Android, you'd have the use of a microSD card which you could use to take MP3s etc to the next phone...

I have also been looking on ebay for a 3Gs.. and now have a perfectly decent one.. so there are good sellers on there however you do have to look carefully (my son lost his and then I flushed mine down the loo so went to ebay for one while waiting for mine to be replaced on insurance)

However.. I did have one bad experience with ebay 2 weeks ago. I won a NEW 3GS..and it really was brand new..still all wrapped etc. However when set up it had a 'limited service' network sign..and when I contacted my network it turned out the phone had it's IMEI blocked..so was either stolen or an insurance scam phone.
Pay pal sorted it for me very promptly and the seller refunded straight away.. but it has made me very wary of trying to buy a new one.. and when I googled it appears this is quite common:(

Yeah it is very common. A friend of mine bought one off someone at work and it turns out that its stolen and has been blocked. He's now the proud owner of a very expensive paperweight.

At least if you pay with Paypal, you get protection. Unfortunately it's not clear at the moment whether this colleague has ripped him off or a victim of unfortunate circumstance himself.

ok thanks. I will make sure I pay by paypal. am using friend's iPhone and mumsnet app to write this. I reckon I will have to buy one tonight.

You can avoid this sort of problem by carrying out a few simple checks as outlined in this article: www.macbooty.com/secondhand-iphone-7-things-to-check.php