Hi love*hiddentreasures,
The reason why a person may ask for the IMEI number is to check whether it's real or not. If it's not real, then none of the US cell phone carriers will activate the phone in the USA. Unfortunately, the buyer has no way to check whether the seller is selling a legit, unused IMEI cell phone so asking for the IMEI number is the only legitimate way to do it.
Even if the person has the IMEI number on hand, it won't do them any good since it is typically tied to the cell phone's hardware itself. However, there is a gray area here that you, as the seller, may want to watch out for. And it is the cloning of IMEI numbers. It's possible to clone an IMEI number and digitally transfer it to another device by flashing and reprogramming another unit and inputting that IMEI into said unit. If they successfully activate a phone using your phone's IMEI#, then any time you try to activate your phone, the phone carrier will detect a duplicity in their system and block your device from being activated on their network.
Effectively then, you'll have a brick in your hands and if sold to anyone, they'll protest that the phone won't activate, which is basically saying that it's defective and they can file an eBay case against you, keep the phone and you lose out on your money plus the physical phone itself.
So yes, your initial instincts is correct. Don't give out the IMEI number. You can never really know if the person on the other end is a hacker with malicious intentions. But this sucks for the buyers because now they have to be especially vigilant with the return policy, if any, and paying attention to eBay's Money Back Guarantee policy. Admittedly, not a perfect system but for what it is, people should know not to buy expensive electronics on eBay and that buying used electronics off of eBay comes with the same risks as though buying any used item off of a classifieds ad that got posted on a newspaper.
We hope this information will help you make a more informed decision on your home needs.
