How to get a good deal on Craigslist

Gone are the days when you had to go through your carrier to replace you phone. Roughly 100 million ads go up every month and with a shelf life of less than a day it’s important to know how to spot a good deal on craigslist to avoid getting scammed.
Read on for a few tips on getting a phone on craigslist.

When to look
Sometime’s its unavoidable – you lost your phone and had no insurance – and you need a replacement phone ASAP. But if you can afford the wait time you can plan out when you start looking for a phone to buy. Two of the best times to look for a phone

• End of the month, when people are off loading their things
• The day before or day of a new phone becomes available

Spotting a good ad

• As a general rule, I filter out any ads with no pics straight away
• Craigslist ads have a shelf life of less than a day so watch for re-posters to get a feel for price flexibility
• If the same listing has been posted several times on a single day asking for the same price but listing various locations and contact info this should be a red flag.
• Are the images on the ad real or stock images pulled from another site. Stock images are not a good sign.
• Know the specs of what you’re looking for so you don’t buy a fake phone
• If you’re looking to pick up an iPhone, request the serial number you can check if this phone has been reported lost or stolen
• Always ask for the ESN number of the phone before arranging for pick up this way you can verify if the phone will work with your carrier
• Check competing sites (ebay, gazelle, apples refurbished products page) to see what the going rate is elsewhere

At the exchange
First things first, don’t make eye contact it’ll get weird…j/k here’s a few things to do when you are making the exchange

• Try and arrange your meeting at a Starbucks (or somewhere with wifi) so you can quickly test out the internet connection
• Most phones no longer take sim cards if you’re on Verizon or Sprint. You can request that the seller keep the phone active until you purchase it but this is unlikely. You can try making a call to 611 the default customer service number to test call quality
• If it does have a sim, make a test call and send a text to yourself
• Try out some basic phone features such as locking/unlocking, camera, check that the charger works.

What's been your experience with buying phones on craigslist? Do you have any additional tips for anyone looking for a good deal?