KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Questions I asked before buying a phone (including on ebay)
- If it was not specifically stated in the listing, I ALWAYS asked if the phone had a clear ESN and if they would provide the number to me so I could verify it was clear to be activated on Page Plus. You can actually check the ESN on the Kitty Wireless website. Just click on the banner above and at the bottom of the page, there should be a link at the bottom saying Check an ESN.
- When I was looking for a phone, I normally would look at the "New-Other" listings which normally were certified pre-owned phones or reconditioned phones which go through rigorous inspections, so most likely it could have been a replacement phone but they upgraded to a new phone in the meantime. The manufacturer refurbished phones (there are some seller refurbished phones but I stayed away from those) would go thru rigorous inspections also. But I had my luck by focusing on the used phones and looking for a phone that had not been used for a long period of time (mine was 6 months) and was in great condition. And if you are worried about buying a used phone, you can still purchase insurance for a used phone from Square Trade (which I did not do so I don't have much knowledge on how it works). Moneywise it just made sense to go with a used phone because you could practically by 2 used phones for the price of 1 new phone and still not have a guarantee there wouldn't be any problems with a new phone.
- I also preferred to focus on phones that had pictures of the actual phone itself instead of stock pictures. An individual selling the phone is going to be able to give you pictures of the actual phone for sale and have better knowledge of how the phone has been used whereas some of the larger resellers are going to use stock photos and give a general description of the condition of the phone.
- On ebay, I always looked at the seller's feedback rating. I tried to keep it as close to 100% as possible and I would even check their history to see if they were constantly selling phones or just occasionally.
- Even if there was a picture, I would still follow-up to make sure there was not an excessive amount of dents or scratches to the phone that wasn't easily seen in the pictures provided.
- I also would ask if there was any water damage. There is usually a mechanism inside the phone under the battery case that will indicate if there has been water damage and that is a big red flag if it has been exposed to water.
- Some listings are for just the phone and some come with accessories. Make sure you check to make sure what you are buying for your money. Some accessories can be purchased fairly cheap on eBay separately but I lucked out that my phone came with chargers, case, memory card and screen protectors, so just be aware of what all is included in the listing.
- Remember, if you ask all or any of this in a message of some sort whether on ebay or Facebook, if it is in writing, the easier it is to prove if there are problems once you get it and make sure you are protected.
- Additional ebay tips can be found on the Kitty Wireless website.
Setting up a smartphone
The most important thing you will need to do when you start to use a smartphone will be to effectively control your data usage. Some of the steps you will need to do to accomplish this include:
- Download an app that will track your usage for you--of course you want to download it when wi-fi is available. The one I use is 3G Watchdog.
- I personally keep my mobile data off at all times unless I manually turn it on. You should have a widget (or an icon) you can place on your screen that will allow you to turn it off and on. If there is no widget you should be able to search in the Google Play store for a data widget app such as Data On-Off or Data Enabler Widget. If you have to turn it on, you will be more aware of when you are using it. Just remember to turn it back off so you don't use data unnecessarily.
- In your phone settings (or at least this is the case for my phone), make sure any automatic mobile network options are turned OFF. If this option is checked on, even if you haven't manually turned mobile data on, it can lead to data leakage by using mobile data if wi-fi is unavailable.
- You can also download an app that will monitor your minutes and texting usage. I personally don't use one because being on the TnT1200 plan, I know I will never come close to using all of those minutes, but know I can always text BAL to 7243 to check the remaining balance of all items on my account.
More tips coming soon!!
- Download an app that will track your usage for you--of course you want to download it when wi-fi is available. The one I use is 3G Watchdog.
- I personally keep my mobile data off at all times unless I manually turn it on. You should have a widget (or an icon) you can place on your screen that will allow you to turn it off and on. If there is no widget you should be able to search in the Google Play store for a data widget app such as Data On-Off or Data Enabler Widget. If you have to turn it on, you will be more aware of when you are using it. Just remember to turn it back off so you don't use data unnecessarily.
- In your phone settings (or at least this is the case for my phone), make sure any automatic mobile network options are turned OFF. If this option is checked on, even if you haven't manually turned mobile data on, it can lead to data leakage by using mobile data if wi-fi is unavailable.
- You can also download an app that will monitor your minutes and texting usage. I personally don't use one because being on the TnT1200 plan, I know I will never come close to using all of those minutes, but know I can always text BAL to 7243 to check the remaining balance of all items on my account.
More tips coming soon!!