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Buying second hand iPad

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Bayum

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I've found an iPad I would be interested in purchasing from the Facebook marketplace. I've got an opportunity to see it beforehand and make a decision etc. My only concern is that it's an iPad with a cellular option. I've bought an iPhone from a close acquaintance in the past, and they have then reported the phone as stolen, and blacklisted the device so I have an expensive brick.

Is there potential for something similar to happen if I bought this iPad? If it was on a non-cellular option I'd be a little less worried.
 
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GB

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Ask for the IMEI number and check if its already blacklisted. (search google for IMEI checker sites)
If its not listed as blacklisted/stolen then as with all transactions make sure you have a proper paper trail in the event of issues further down the line.
 

headshot119

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To be honest despite what GB has said, there's absolutely nothing to stop it getting blacklisted after the you purchase it, and there will be very little you can do about it.

It's up to you to decide if it's worth the risk of buying one from what is not a reputable source.
 

BluePenguin

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If the iPad is blacklisted by the network you then you will still be able to use it on a Wi-Fi network as though it was a non-cellular model.

Make sure the seller signs out of their iCloud account and turns off Find My iPad - if they say no or claim they don’t know how then stay away. Otherwise you have nothing to fear.

Doing a quick search I found this website which you can use to check the IMEI:https://www.imei.info/phone_blacklist_check/
 

Trackman

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I've been down this alleyway before when I gave an iPad to a relative.
They don't brick, it goes into activation lock - well the same thing.
Basically erase the device, if you see the activation lock screen when setting up the previous owner must delete the device from trusted devices.

Here's more about it:
 

ComUtoR

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iPads are notoriously bad after a few years. I could be more concerned about performance and it being life expired than getting scammed. Second hand electronics are something I have always avoided.
 

Trackman

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iPads are notoriously bad after a few years. I could be more concerned about performance and it being life expired than getting scammed. Second hand electronics are something I have always avoided.
You are right with old Apple devices, batteries especially.
Some devices like my old iPhone 6+ 'standby phone' will not even update to the latest OS.
 

bearhugger

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If the iPad is blacklisted by the network you then you will still be able to use it on a Wi-Fi network as though it was a non-cellular model.

Make sure the seller signs out of their iCloud account and turns off Find My iPad - if they say no or claim they don’t know how then stay away. Otherwise you have nothing to fear.

Doing a quick search I found this website which you can use to check the IMEI:https://www.imei.info/phone_blacklist_check/
Personally, I would recommend just resetting the device to factory settings. Although, in my view, buying from somewhere such as Facebook Marketplace is pretty much akin to buying from a car boot sale. I would much rather buy from a shop such as CEX, at least if something goes wrong like it getting bricked there's more protection for you a a customer i would hope.
 

GRALISTAIR

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iPads are notoriously bad after a few years. I could be more concerned about performance and it being life expired than getting scammed. Second hand electronics are something I have always avoided.
Agreed. I gave my last one to my grandkids to play games on and disabled everything else. I reset to factory settings first.
 

GusB

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I've found an iPad I would be interested in purchasing from the Facebook marketplace. I've got an opportunity to see it beforehand and make a decision etc. My only concern is that it's an iPad with a cellular option. I've bought an iPhone from a close acquaintance in the past, and they have then reported the phone as stolen, and blacklisted the device so I have an expensive brick.

Is there potential for something similar to happen if I bought this iPad? If it was on a non-cellular option I'd be a little less worried.

Apple themselves offer refurbished iPads if you want to avoid all the hassle and worry about buying second-hand. You'll also have a warranty to cover you if something goes wrong.

Am I correct in thinking that you're a teacher? If that's the case you may actually be able to get a better discount by buying new.

There may be other retailers that offer discounts on refurbished iThings, but I certainly wouldn't go down the route of buying from somewhere like Facebook marketplace when comes to electronic goods, and especially not if I'd been burned before!
 

snail

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Am I correct in thinking that you're a teacher? If that's the case you may actually be able to get a better discount by buying new.
You only get 10% discount on iPads from the Education Store. Better than nothing but a 128GB iPad still costs close to £500. You used to get 3 years free Apple Care but that's gone now as well.
 

[.n]

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Personally, I would recommend just resetting the device to factory settings. Although, in my view, buying from somewhere such as Facebook Marketplace is pretty much akin to buying from a car boot sale. I would much rather buy from a shop such as CEX, at least if something goes wrong like it getting bricked there's more protection for you a a customer i would hope.


Even when resetting to factory settings, you need to make sure the original owner has removed the device from their apple account, otherwise you get tripped up by the Activation lock as noted by Trackman
 

[.n]

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I've found an iPad I would be interested in purchasing from the Facebook marketplace. I've got an opportunity to see it beforehand and make a decision etc. My only concern is that it's an iPad with a cellular option. I've bought an iPhone from a close acquaintance in the past, and they have then reported the phone as stolen, and blacklisted the device so I have an expensive brick.

Is there potential for something similar to happen if I bought this iPad? If it was on a non-cellular option I'd be a little less worried.

If it was a close acquaintance then I hope they gave you the money back (or spoke with Apple having "found" the "stolen" iPhone and had the block removed)
 

D365

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If it was a close acquaintance then I hope they gave you the money back (or spoke with Apple having "found" the "stolen" iPhone and had the block removed)

Apple can't/won't remove iCloud activation lock.
 

Cameron Bowden

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Just a thought, but I think the network providers are likely to be doing decent deals on new ones. Often can be paid for monthly. Might not be the best for your situation, but if you’ve been with your network for a while you might get a good deal given the current climate?

ive been thinking of an iPad myself for commuting but will naturally wait until that picks up again and see what deals are on offer.
 

CrispyUK

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Some devices like my old iPhone 6+ 'standby phone' will not even update to the latest OS.
The iPhone 6/6+ is over 5 years old now and likely not powerful enough to run iOS 13.x versions smoothly, or it may simply be a decision by Apple not to support the older hardware in this latest version, I don’t see a problem with either reason.

It is however still receiving security updates, with iOS 12.4.7 having been released in the last couple of days.

Apple generally provide security and feature/version updates for their iPhone models for much longer than many of the Android manufacturers.
 
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