Buying Used Cell Phones from Third Party Vendors

Anyone that's ever lost their cell phone or had it break before their contract expires knows how difficult it can be to find a good deal on a replacement phone. Heck, even people that simply want to upgrade their current phone can't do so easily through their service provider. Cellular companies get customers to commit to long-term contracts by offering them good deals on new phones when they sign up for a contract.

While this is nice in the beginning, it becomes a problem when the same customer needs to replace their phone before the contract expires. All of the sudden, the great deals are gone and you're forced to pay full retail price for a phone that you originally got at a discount. The alternative, switching to a different carrier and taking advantage of one of their great phone deals, also doesn't work because your current company charges you huge fees to cancel your contract.

Enter the third party used cell phone market to save the day. A number of third party vendors are out there that sell a variety of new, used, and refurbished cell phones that people can buy and activate on their network without having to sign a contract, renew a contract, or pay contract cancellation fees.

Going this route has the advantage of avoiding all those risks/costs and also provides the freedom to move from carrier to carrier should the need arise. For example, if a couple gets married and had both previously held contracts with different carriers, they would likely want to take advantage of the savings that can be had with a "family plan" on one of the carriers. However, the chances that their contracts expire at the same time are not very good. However, if they were using phones obtained from a third party vendor and weren't locked in to a contract, they could easily move to a family plan.

The idea of buying a phone that's used might sound like a bad one. You may be afraid that you won't be able to get the "latest and greatest" in technology with a used phone. Not true. The used market is full of great deals on every kind of phone imaginable from your basic flip phone to every model of the fancy used blackberry that you could find at a service provider's store or kiosk. In fact, often you'll be able to find a phone in the used market that isn't available through your carrier.

Used cell phones bought through third parties come in a variety of conditions. The majority of them are completely refurbished and come "unlocked," meaning they are able to be activated and operate on a variety of networks. Refurbishing a used phone involves cleaning the phone and erasing all of the previous owners settings, information, and memory. At most, the phone might have a scratch on it, but the savings you'll get from buying used will make up for the scratch that you'd inevitably put on the phone anyway.

Third party vendors can be found all over the place, from strip malls to the internet. Some offer warranties, and most phones that are refurbished by the manufacturer come with a manufacturer's warranty. So, if you're one of the millions thinking about replacing your current model with something better but don't want to pay the high costs associated with going through your provider, do yourself a favor and look in to used cell phones available through third party vendors.

When you consider the number of people that use cell phones these days, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to hear that estimates say over 2 million cell phones are replaced every week. Have you ever thought about what happens to those phones? There is a growing concern for used electronic waste and the potential environmental impacts, so much so that the EPA has tagged old cell phones as potentially hazardous the the planet. So what are you supposed to do with that old phone when you replace it with a fancy used Verizon Blackberry?

A number of people simply keep their old phones around the house after getting a new one. They figure they'll go back to the phone if their new one breaks or is lost. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but at some point they will want to get rid of the phone...maybe after they replace their newest phone with an updated model. Other people recycle or donate their old phones and a large used cell phone market has sprouted up whereby people sell used phones at discounted prices. Regardless of what you decide to do with your old phone, when it comes time to get rid of it, keep the following in mind:

Ensure that your account with your service provider has been updated to reflect your new phone and remove the old phone. Even if you've purchased a used AT&T cell phone and are an existing customer with AT&T, you need to double check. If not, you could donate a phone that is still active, giving people the ability to make calls on your account.

Also, take the proper steps to clean all personal information off the phone. Resetting the phone to original settings will help and make sure you triple check the phone for contacts, phone numbers, calendar dates, etc. that could potentially identify your or a friend. Manufacturers provide information for how to properly do this in users manuals. Some also offer it on their websites.

If you know that your phone is going to be reused, try to get it unlocked before getting rid of it. This will make it possible for people to activate the phone with a different provider. If you plan to try and resell your phone, an unlocked cell phone will generally get you a bit more money in the sale.

Finally, do anything you can to keep the phone from landfills. Don't toss it in the garbage. Recycle it. Donate it. Keep it for emergencies. Do anything but trash it. The potential environmental impacts are not good and can easily be avoided by any of the aforementioned strategies.

Whatever your reason for a new phone, getting rid of your old phone is not something that should be taken likely. Cell phones pose a threat to landfills and should not end up there. Make sure you take the necessary steps to ensure your old phone doesn't end up in the garbage.