I'm not eligible for a new phone; where can I buy a Verizon iphone?

[paige]

I'm not eligible until February but my phone barely works. I don't want to buy another one for just a couple months so I'm looking into getting the iPhone 4 (not 4s). Where can I buy one? I know craigslist or ebay, but those seem really overpriced. I saw that Target is selling them, do I have to be eligible in order to buy one of those? Or from Best Buy? I'd rather not buy off ebay or craigslist if possible.

 

[DianaB]

It might have mattered if you mentioned what your plan is. If your plan is simple, ask your local Verizon rep if they will still activate a v120. You can find those on eBay extra cheap. That's the phone I used to replace a lost phone - but that was about 5 years ago.

" know craigslist or ebay, but those seem really overpriced"

It might have mattered for you to state a budget in your question. In any event, the bad news is that those are probably accurate reflections of what you'd pay anywhere since the demand for replacement phones is high.

"I saw that Target is selling them, do I have to be eligible in order to buy one of those? Or from Best Buy?"

You have to be eligible for an upgrade (or a new activation) to buy at the discount price. That's why it's so low.

Have you tried going to Verizon and asking for an exchange? (they might give you a free refurb which should be good enough until Feb.) They might repair it.

which phone is this?

If you do buy 2nd hand, you must remember to get the seller ahead of time to give you the phone;s ESN. The ESN is like the VIN of a car. The carrier will ask for the ESN when you try and activate it - if it comes back to a phone that was reported lost or stolen, they won't activate the phone.