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Hi guys,
I don't know which subreddit to ask this.
I am a T-Mobile customer and currently looking at an eBay listing for an iPhone 11. The listing says Verizon and seller told me he has it for about a year. He said "the phone is locked to Verizon, but paid off." He doesn't have the receipt but he bought it at Target, and he is sure Verizon will have record. However, Verizon unlocking policy website states it will auto unlock after 60 days, and I guess in his case when purchased from a retailer, will be 60 days after activation? Is his phone locked or not? This is my first time buying used phone from eBay. I just want to make sure that I can still use my T-Mobile sim in the new phone. If you can share any advice on buying practice or what questions I need to ask him before joining the bidding, I will be truly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
iOS 14 has somewhat solved this problem. Tell him to send you a screenshot of the Settings -> General -> About page, specifically the line that reads "Carrier Lock." If it says "No SIM Restrictions," the phone is unlocked. Otherwise, the phone is not unlocked.
I used to have Verizon, and I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max, so I can tell you how they handle locking. Verizon sells their phones locked, but they will be automatically unlocked after being on the Verizon network for 60 days. The process is completely invisible to the user--you don't get any kind of notification when unlocking occurs. So this particular phone would need to have been active on Verizon for 60 days to be unlocked. If that hasn't occurred, you're out of luck, which is going to be a big problem.
However, I find this eBay listing to be extremely suspicious. You didn't say how much the seller is asking, but, given the budget you mentioned, there's no way you're getting that phone for that price. Either the phone is stolen, or the seller is going to stop paying on it and/or report it lost/stolen after you buy it. Either way, it will be blacklisted and unusable on any network. And this assumes that you even receive a phone at all. In short, you need to run away from this deal as fast as you can. I know you don't have much to spend and are looking for a good deal, but this one is way too good to be true.