I bought 2 "new" iPhone 8+ phones from 2 large sellers and both of them were defective

[storagecraft-gps]

This is not a surprise, but I bought a "new" iPhone 8+ from a seller who had 100's of this item sold.   It did not work at all and would not even take a charge.   When I returned it he gave me a 50% refund.  I open a case with ebay a got the rest of the refund.

So I bought another "new" iPhone 8+ from another seller who had about 500 of this item sold.   It worked except it had a defective microphone.  We took it to the apple store Genius Bar and they tested it with test tools and said the main microphone module was defective.   This seller was very cooperative.  They gave me a full refund.

I have never had these issues buying Samsung Galaxy phones on ebay.  Have bought a few over the years and they all were good.

[mudshark61369]

@storagecraft-gps,

There are two things I do not do. One is buy used cell phones online.  Since the iPhone 8s came out in 2017 and how it was used can't really be determined, the battery condition is often a problem.  It may have been partially charged and would take a charge when traded in, but if it sits on a shelf long enough to completely discharge, it will not take a charge, unless one knows the secret to reviving them.   The other thing I do not do is buy anything with the Apple brand.  That is a personal choice however. 

[storagecraft-gps]

Both of these sellers listed these phones as "new" and they were packaged as "new".   But apparently there are supply channels that are good at faking "new" packaging on phones that are not new.
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Finally I bought a new iPhone 8+ from the Apple Store.  I have  no idea if these are still being made or if apple keeps a reserve of prior models.   The price from apple was only about $80 more than the ebay sellers . . but I had no idea that Apple sold older models directly.   

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I would never have bought the phones on ebay if I had known I could buy directly from Apple.