Ebay Phone - No Sim

[Pulsar]

A relative of mine has a bad habit of destroying phones. I'm the defacto 'tech guy' - but I ran into something curious recently. The first two Galaxy S3's I bought him on ebay (used) had sim cards. I carefully went through the descriptions to make sure they didn't say 'sim card removed' or 'no sim card'.

I just bought him another 2 phones. Neither auction stated that there was no sim card, or that it had been removed. Both phones showed up without sims. I contacted the sellers and got essentially the same response - that I shouldn't expect sim cards because they can hold personal information.

However, it's my standpoint that if they're taking a piece of the phone out then they should certainly list it in their auction. So what's up? Anyone want to give me an opinion of how much of a dick I should be about it?

 

[isekii]

Why do you need the sim. It's most likely tied to the other person and its most likely still in use. If I sold you a phone I wouldn't send you my sim. It holds my service and number.
You should be able to go to any store and get a free sim from your carrier. If they charge you in store just contact customer service and they'll be more than happy to credit you the amount.
I've done this with verizon att and T-Mobile. If you're on sprint you may be sol.

 

[sweenish]

What's up is you don't fully understand what you're talking about, OP.

 

[Pulsar]

What's up is you don't fully understand what you're talking about, OP.

Well, that's helpful. Care to elaborate?

 

[Pulsar]

Why do you need the sim. It's most likely tied to the other person and its most likely still in use. If I sold you a phone I wouldn't send you my sim. It holds my service and number.
You should be able to go to any store and get a free sim from your carrier. If they charge you in store just contact customer service and they'll be more than happy to credit you the amount.
I've done this with verizon att and T-Mobile. If you're on sprint you may be sol.

He had no trouble getting a new sim from Verizon.

 

[sweenish]

Well, that's helpful. Care to elaborate?

Reading helps. It was explained very well in the post above mine.

Why you think you should get a SIM is beyond me. NOBODY ever gives their SIM away when they sell a phone, ever.

 

[pm]

SIM cards have personal information on them - they can have a backup list of contacts saved in non-encrypted form, they have the users phone number and can have other location-based information. They are of no use to the buyer - at least none that I can think of... why do you think you want one, Pulsar? - and there is a good privacy-based reason why the seller shouldn't include it.

And on another note, Sweenish, can you try to be a bit nicer please? Pretty please?

 

[Ketchup]

I am surprised that phones in the past included one. The takeaway from your experience is that people are wising up.

And as your relative found out, no issue getting a new card from the carrier.

 

[Pulsar]

SIM cards have personal information on them - they can have a backup list of contacts saved in non-encrypted form, they have the users phone number and can have other location-based information. They are of no use to the buyer - at least none that I can think of... why do you think you want one, Pulsar? - and there is a good privacy-based reason why the seller shouldn't include it.

And on another note, Sweenish, can you try to be a bit nicer please? Pretty please?

Makes sense. Thanks!

 

[sweenish]

SIM cards have personal information on them - they can have a backup list of contacts saved in non-encrypted form, they have the users phone number and can have other location-based information. They are of no use to the buyer - at least none that I can think of... why do you think you want one, Pulsar? - and there is a good privacy-based reason why the seller shouldn't include it.

And on another note, Sweenish, can you try to be a bit nicer please? Pretty please?

I was trying pretty hard, to be honest.

I'll just try harder to steer clear of the facepalm topics.

 

[ElFenix]

The only sims that should be included with a phone are the embedded SIM cards that were in 1st generation sprint and, I think , Verizon, LTE phones. But those cannot be removed.

 

[SAWYER]

You're the techie guy and made this thread?

 

[Pulsar]

You're the techie guy and made this thread?

Sure am. *gasp* Sorry I don't meet whatever criteria you have. While we're at it, can you please come program my cRIO with daq expansion to capture and analyze the traffic on the embedded system in the mustang I'm working with for environmental harshness testing?

Cause... ya know... that's MY criteria.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Sure am. *gasp* Sorry I don't meet whatever criteria you have. While we're at it, can you please come program my cRIO with daq expansion to capture and analyze the traffic on the embedded system in the mustang I'm working with for environmental harshness testing?

Cause... ya know... that's MY criteria.

From the ebay website.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Selling-a-Cell-Phone-Tips-on-what-to-include-/10000000002121942/g.html

Q: I am selling a GSM, Nextel or other SIM card based cell phone, and do not know if I should include the SIM card when I sell my phone. Can you help me?
A: It is normally best that you do not include your SIM card when selling your cell phone. The main purpose for your SIM card is to provide your phone with network data in order for it to operate on the cell phone network that you have. Overtime they added the ability to store phonebook information and other data to them, but they still do their main function of store network data. However, SIM cards are one time use only. In that, I mean if you set up a plan on one card, then cancel that plan, you'll need a new SIM card (happened to my brother). So when you get a new phone, you can simply put your current SIM card in your new phone, and sell the old one, where whoever buys it from you, will then insert his/her card (an advantage of GSM networks over CDMA; or Cingular/T-Mobile vs. Verizon).

But I partly agree with you. Ideally, they should have said if it is or is NOT included, in the listing. For complete information.

Sometimes a phone comes with a free SIM card, which you do NOT use (because you have your own, already).
So if/when you sell it on ebay, you COULD include the old, free SIM card, which came with the phone. So it could have come with one.
Some owners may not realize, and leave the SIM in the phone (possibly by mistake).

 

[SAWYER]

The butthurt is real

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

The butthurt is real

Peoples knowledge and experience of cell phones, varies.
For example, despite my technical knowledge, I have NOT used mobile phones that much.

So I think they were quite reasonable, asking question(s), to better their knowledge.

In my experience, the older a person is, the less and less interested they are in cell/mobile phones.

I often see people walking about (who are probably under 25 years old), talking continuously into their cell/mobile phone.

But that is a VERY rare sight, for anyone over forty years old.

 

[sweenish]

Asking for information is not what OP did. They gave a scenario which included receiving a proper response from the sellers, and then proceeded to come to this forum to ask "how much of a dick" they should be to the sellers, even though what they did is nowhere near out of the ordinary.

OP didn't come for knowledge, they wanted to know how blatant they should be about their ignorance to people who didn't deserve it.