iPhone Buying a new unlocked iPhone 4S. Tips?

[tomsart]

Hi,

Im looking into buying a second hand iPhone 4S for my girlfriend and got a few questions (we are living in London).
Ive checked on eBay (UK) and have seen iPhone 4S from £300 to £600 and they all say unlocked.
I know that theres a difference if its "properly" unlocked, ie you are buying a phone that was originally bought unlocked or unlocked by the provider, or if its been jailbreaked unlocked.
Is there any way to confirm (more than asking the seller) if a phone is properly unlocked since we are trying to avoid jailbreaks? Do you got an idea what a second hand iPhone 4S, properly unlocked (so not in a contract) "should" go for on eBay (average price)? Is it round £300 or £600? There are cheaper ones but I guess they might be "fake" unlocked, jailbroken (?).
Last, are there any problems if buying an iPhone from a different country? Read somewhere on a forum that Apple started selling properly unlocked iPhones direct (in US) in stores but these models only worked on AT&T's networks, any problems like that here in the UK?
Got a budget of round £320, will that be enough to get a properly unlocked iPhone 4S or should I wait until we have saved up to round £600 and then go to the Apple store and buy a properly unlocked one?

Thanks

Tom

 

[dhlizard]

Scams using a software unlock being sold as IMEI unlock are common, but, in the case of a 4S, there never was a software unlock.
A 4S can be unlocked via sim interposer but it is a mediocre solution.

Chances are if it is unlocked, it is a legitimate IMEI unlock. Not sure what difference you see between a phone sold unlocked (thru Apple store) and one unlocked later by provider. All iPhone IMEI unlocks are done by white listing the IMEI with the Apple unlock server.

An unlocked GSM phone, regardless of who sold it, will work with any GSM sim.

 

[tomsart]

Thanks dhlizard!

Thats good to know, will do a bit more research. Basically, just spotted so many unlocked iPhone4S on eBay.uk ranging from £300 to £600+ so just wondered how they could differ that much in price and if there are any obvious things to loo out for (scams etc).

Cheers

Scams using a software unlock being sold as IMEI unlock are common, but, in the case of a 4S, there never was a software unlock.
A 4S can be unlocked via sim interposer but it is a mediocre solution.

Chances are if it is unlocked, it is a legitimate IMEI unlock. Not sure what difference you see between a phone sold unlocked (thru Apple store) and one unlocked later by provider. All iPhone IMEI unlocks are done by white listing the IMEI with the Apple unlock server.

An unlocked GSM phone, regardless of who sold it, will work with any GSM sim.

 

[Barneygumble47]

A nnew 4s from apple store will only cost you £449 not anywhere near the £600 you mention.

http://store.apple.com/uk/buy/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone4s?product=IPHONE4S


Perhaps waiting a little longer a getting a new one would be an option for you.