Florida Shooters Network

would like to hear your experiences, is swappa safe ?

In today's world I would NEVER buy any device like a cell phone or any personal mobile device that a person can buy lost or stolen insurance on. A personal friend bought a Iphone for 500$ in a private sale. It worked for 6 days and was permanently locked because the scum bag reported it stolen. It a great scam. Buy a couple of phone, use them for a couple of months. Sell one, then in a week or so report it stolen. Pocket the cash, get a new phone.

Swappa is pretty much like eBay where sellers have ratings. it also
uses Paypal for payments so you've got that protection.

I have used Swappa a few times.

One time, I bought a phone and the IMEI of the phone was on the stolen list, so all the carriers have a list and block them from working. The phone was useless unless you want to violate federal law and change the IMEI. Swappa uses PayPal and PayPal is worthless to fight for you. Hope you understand Indian accents if you have issues. So I had to go to the credit card company to get it disputed. Eventually got my $ back.

One time I sold a phone that I listed for parts only. Clearly listed as non-functional. Repair places buy them for parts, the screens, what have you. So this J3rkoff that could not write English bought it and wanted to use it as a working phone! IDIOT. He kept pestering me on how to get it working when I told him clearly it would never work again. Eventually, he opened a dispute with PayPal and said the purchase was not authorized. That time, PayPal paid me as I shipped it though them and had tracking info and his signature. This was the one time PayPal ever helped me.

I did have one good experience on Swappa. I bought a phone from a real retail establishment on there that had perfect reviews and the transaction was perfect. A couple of months later, the screen died totally. The phone worked. I emailed them and they sent me out a replacement, free of charge!

So Caveat Emptor really applies to Swappa!

I'd just buy the phone from the carrier you intend to use. I've not heard of Swappa, so I can't comment specifically, but buying on many of the selling platforms is a roll of the dice. As a buyer, eBay probably is a good bet, as they favor the buyer; they're dangerous to a seller if one runs into a sleazy "buyer". If the phone turns out to be bad or stolen, you can easily return up to a month, and possibly more depending on circumstances. I'd still prefer to buy from the carrier, though.