I've been looking into buying a new phone recently, and have come across a few independent sellers that have some feedback that their boxes weren't sealed, but the price is a bit cheaper and from the comments, it seems like the phones worked just fine and are apparently still original or at least run like the original regardless of the fact that they aren't factory sealed. Have any of you out there ever bought a phone like this? If so, how did your product turn out and how long did it last? Also, anyone knowledgeable about this situation enough to share some insight as to why these products wouldn't be sealed? Could they possibly be changing the parts or using them first before selling? Like I said, they apparently don't have even one scratch on them when the customers get them, so I'm wondering why they wouldn't be sealed if they are supposedly brand new.
I've never bought any phone, or anything in particular, that is not sealed. I wouldn't trust a phone coming from a box that isn't sealed, I mean, that phone could be stolen or smuggled or even secondhand, who knows. But if the phone still works and there doesn't seem to be a problem, then there's really nothing to worry about.
I had the same worry as well and it's why I'm mostly leaning towards just ignoring this option altogether. However, I'm still very curious as to why this type of business exists and why their products are unsealed. From what I gather in the videos and articles I've seen commenting about them, they all sound like they are uniform in quality in that they are all pretty much as good as any other brand new item, and the sellers of these items always have tons of these unsealed phones. I'm just really confused why these people have so many unsealed phones of uniform quality and wondering where they are getting these from. Anyway, thanks for adding your thoughts, and hopefully someone who knows the ins and outs of the phone business can add to it some more.
Unsealed brand new phones sound like a bit of trouble to me. The only time I would sell a phone as new unsealed would be if I couldn't trust it to be in good condition, or I need to be sure because there's nothing worse than having your buyer contact you three days later because they left it as a gift for someone, and when they unboxed it it wouldn't turn on. This would be a problem especially if you've already used the money. But in general, I would be weary of these types of sales.
I think they test it before shipping, because my brand new Sony Ericsson phone has a cumulative talk time of almost 3 minutes even if it's scratch free, so I messaged the seller, and he told me that they did test the phone to ensure that there are no defects before shipping.
I would say that if you are looking to get a phone at a bargain price and in good condition, then i would suggest that you buy a phone on amazon. It has a range of products and has a range of prices and i have never had a bad experience on Amazon and so you should really never worry about buying from there.
I honestly don't think they are opening these boxes just to test them, though. I am really skeptical since they are somehow able to offer the phone for significantly less so I have a feeling their unsealed packages have something to do with that. I'm just unsure as to what those reasons could be, but you're right that it might be a possibility. Although, I really don't trust them enough to take their word for it, but the rice is very tempting.