Advice Requested

[lanray]

Hopefully this is the right forum for my question. If it's not, (mods) please move it to the proper spot.

I'm past my 2 year contract with AT&T, so I'm eligible for an upgrade. What I'd like to do is what I've read somewhere at MacRumors: get a different phone, then sell it, then use that $$ for an iPhone. Genius idea, really. I'm not up on the "new, cool" phones, though. What would be your suggestion for a phone to get, to maximize my ability to sell it quickly and at profit. Bear in mind, as you suggest, that I don't want to use eBay (I'll be doing this on good old Craigslist in St. Louis, MO).

It's kind of crazy, but with the sale of a new phone, and the sale of my Cingular 8525, I'll be able to get a refurb iPhone for almost nothing. And, just to say, the 8525 is great, but I'll be happy to get my hands on the iPhone if only to sync my contacts/calendar more easily.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Lanray

 

[question fear]

How much do you think you can get for the 8525, for starters? Look on craigslist in St Louis, see what those are going for, and see what other phones are selling at and where the demand is...that'll be a starting point.

Unless you are selling a smartphone, my guess is CL is going to get you a lower price than you'd get on ebay. You can probably flip the new LG Trax or a RAZR 2 for a good price, but you're narrowing your web a lot on Craigslist, so you're going to need to make sure its a phone that is in more demand or more likely to be searched for by someone on CL. I'd go for a blackjack, or a second 8525 if you can get it cheap enough...something that really creates demand even in a small market.

 

[lanray]

I'm guessing about $200 for the 8525. Maybe a tad less, though I'm not sure. And, I think I could get a Blackberry Curve for $150 (a refurb), and maybe turn around and sell it for $300, again maybe a tad less. If I did that, though, it'd be ~$350 that I can put toward an iPhone. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the Razr phone you mentioned, as well.

Any other suggestions?

And, what about unlocking? I was looking online, and it's about $25ish to get a code to unlock your phone. Is this a racket? Is there a legal way to do it on your own?

 

[question fear]

And, what about unlocking? I was looking online, and it's about $25ish to get a code to unlock your phone. Is this a racket? Is there a legal way to do it on your own?

Unlocking can be done either through a carrier or through one of those companies, 25 is about right.

Unlocked will get you a slightly higher price sometimes, but honestly I don't think you need to unlock it to sell it. Put in your ad that the phone is locked to ATT and that if they want to unlock it they can get a quote from one of the unlocking services. I wouldn't go through the expense and trouble of doing it yourself, chances are whoever buys it is ATT or TMobile and if they are buying a GSM phone off CL they probably already understand unlocking and what needs to happen. Hopefully.

If this helps at all, linkety on SIMs and locking. I've never unlocked a cell phone myself so I am not sure who is reputable. Hopefully someone who has will come along shortly.