Potential bidder asking for IMEI number?

[j_finderskeepers_k]

A potential bidder has just emailed me asking for the IMEI number of the phone I have up for auction. Isn't that the number used to unlock it? Are they checking to see if it's stolen? That's just info you don't need unless you win the auction - which of course they'll find out when they get it anyway.

So why would they want it? Any ideas?

[neatful_collections]

This is not true. No seller is allowed to require you to pay return shipping if their description is wrong and the device is not usable. Ebay does not allow this, and yes they monitor emails sent between a buyer and a seller. I am both a buyer and long time seller on Ebay. The only reason they could require this is if you are not telling the whole story and the device is either not the IMEI they sent or it is not in the condition it was originally sent in. The IMEI is on the outside of the packaging so it should always still be in sealed packaging.

[y2kos]

The buyer wants to check to see if it is a clean imei. Why not post the results from your own check of the imei so the buyer can rest assured as to the phones status??
http://www.imeipro.info/check_imei_iphone.html
there are a number of sites that do this for you for free.

[voalfa7]

so i'd have to drive so many miles to buy something and i can only check it when i get there? why am i doing an online purchase and verification then?

[voalfa7]

your response about the ebay buyer protection is the best answer so far in response

[zykus1]

I hope people with this question are able to make it to the end of the comments because I believe I have the perfect answer for both buyer and seller. The seller can print out the info that is provided on the IMEI site checker page. They black out all but the last 3 or 4 numbers. They take a photo of that along with the number printed on the box or on the phone, likewise covering all but those last numbers.  Seller is safeguarded and buyer gets the desired info.  I'm asking that of the phones I'm looking at and everyone has been willing to accomodate my request for this!

Hope that helps someone!

[rbkmiller425]

To verify eligibility with their carrier online

[zykus1]

UPDATE - there is a site that runs the report for you and blocks the imei from the buyer. Its free and sellers can create a link for buyers to view all the information;

IMEIPRO.INFO

[Anonymous]

Yeah it's a risk to buy over internet. I suggest getting the IMEI when you have won the item and checking it, and don't provide payment until you have confirmed its legal

[y2kgus]

Don't give it out ! In my iPhone offering, I'm getting these same IMEI# requests. The latest one was from a message that originated from Russia. These hackers are everywhere, so just tell them that if they don't trust you, Ebay protects the buyers anyway. I don't need the headache of having my clean phone 'hacked/cloned'...

[perkonx]

I am in the market looking for a new iPhone and yes I ask every seller to provide me the IMEI before I place a bid or make an offer. There are many dishonest sellers that would claim something and after you purchase it shows up is not true. For instance, if they claim the phone is unlocked or it works on for example ATT but can be unlocked, you can check on ATT and see if is true or if the phone is eligible for unlock, meaning it was paid off. If the owner still owes money for the phone, you cannot unlock it and use it with for instance Verizon sim card. Also, I check the IMEI on several different websites and get information when the phone was manufactured (I will not buy a device even if sealed new if is produced a year ago), you can also see if the memory they claim the phone has is correct. If you ask for the Serial Number, you can check it on the official Apple store and see if it the phone is fake or not (before you buy it and stuck with the hassle of disputing your purchase). Providing the IMEI says you do not have what to hide, I understand the concern of hackers and similar but every business carries its risks.

[bessowl]

DONT give it out - could be used for an insurance claim or to clone! 

[pdub3]

I know this is an old thread sorry for adding to it but I talked to apple and they said NOT to give out your IMEI.  They said if you HAVE to give out the serial instead.

[lostontheline]

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@nerdslogic wrote:

Personally I wouldn't provide IMEI or MEID until phone was sold. That is me though....once sold I would provide it (they are going to get the phone and see it anyway) so they could "ease" their concerns.

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If you can't verify that the phone is not stolen you should never buy it. Expecting someone to buy a phone, pay you money, & only then give them the information before shipping it won't "ease" anyone's concerns. The problem is that I am not going to buy something secondhand without checking to make sure it is not reported as stolen, is available for activation on my carrier (a few of the smaller carriers use a carrier specific list of IMEIs they allow), & that the phone I was told it is is what it is. Like if it says it's a Moto G4 Plus but what you get is a Moto G4, or it was a verizon phone but it's an AT&T version of the same phone. The IMEI check tells you what phone model it is. Now there are sites where you can get an IMEI report that tells the info without revealing the full IMEI. Every phone sold secondhand online should have 1 of those

[dukenxb1]

For myself buying a low cost 4+ year old smartphone carries a smaller yet similar risk. EBay mobile sellers buying in bulk and not bothering to check MEID/ESN etc to see if they are blacklisted. Didn't read reviews because I figured these sellers had ways of knowing what can be activated and what is a useless brick. Now that my time is absolutely wasted by buying a blacklisted phone that WAS NOT disclosed within the ad. Thank goodness I did not have to pay return shipping but what a waste all around, especially for me. Many sellers are playing the odds by selling bulk while not checking ESN viability, basically " throwing poo at the wall to see what sticks"! You can guarantee I will meticulously read reviews and when my refund is processed; my seller will receive his karma appropriately via my review. EBay is running a chop shop aided and abedded by the cell carriers who intentionally make verifying ESN difficult to promote selling new overpriced **bleep** with features I'll never use or need. There is enough fraud to go around with default contracts, hacking, shady buyers & sellers. Buying 2nd hand is such a hassle

[hoofnexus]

Only an idiot would buy a phone without having an IMEI # to verify that the phone is good, not stolen, not blocked, and what the seller says it is.  

There is no risk to a seller of giving out the IMEI # and the paranoia that is being spread around here is pathetic.  

Let's not use paranoia as a system for ferreting out reality.  "IMEI numbers have one principal purpose: To identify mobile devices. Their secondary purpose, or intention, is to prevent theft. If a mobile device can be universally identified, a thief cannot change the SIM card on a phone and expect to keep the phone. IMEI numbers are hard-coded into device hardware, making it nearly impossible to change them without somehow damaging the device."  Hard coded!  If you're a thief going to use a good IMEI # with a bad phone then you're going to give yourself away.  Not too bright.  Or maybe you're going to get thousands of phones with bad IMEI #'s and steal good IMEI #'s and change them and sell them on Ebay. Right.  Let's advertise your being a thief when people start trying to use phones that won't register cause the IMEI # is already in use.

There is absolutely no reason for a seller to not give the serial # of a phone they are trying to sell.  The time to find out that a phone is stolen or blocked by the carrier is BEFORE it is purchased not after.  This doesn't take an IQ higher than your shoe size to understand.

Think about it.  Suppose you give the buyer the IMEI # and the buyer is a crook who is going to use that # and put it in a phone that has a bad IMEI #.  The crook does it on the same day that you give out the #.  Next week you give it out again and that person goes to their carrier and gives them the IMEI #.  

One would have to assume that the IMEI checks every extant carrier but that isn't true.  It only checks with Verizon if the phone was originally registered by Verizon.