What Should I Be Watching out for When Buying a Second Hand iPad Pro?

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  Randxyz123 on 13/04/2021 - 16:19

  +6

  I would suggest resetting the iPad yourself at the time of the sale. The seller will need to put in their password. If it is already done you’ll want to sign in before final handover of the dollarydoos.

  Make a Apple ID at http://id.apple.com/ so you are ready to login yourself.

  Apple has their suggestions on what to check at https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201365 as well.

  Remember when buying from FB marketplace/gumtree, if the price is too good to be true or their story sounds like bullshit then it probably is.

  However, I've seen a few scams where the previous owner keeps the Apple ID logged in and then remotely locks the device after the sale in order to claim insurance from Apple.

  Apple doesn’t sell insurance. Some carriers do and you can do a lost/stolen claim where your IMEI will then be blocked and you’ll get a new device or a payout. The best way to do avoid this is to take note of the IMEI and get the seller to sign a “I have sold device with IMEI # xxxxx to <your name> on <date> signed <seller name>”. That way should this happen you can get your IMEI unblocked.

  The above might be excessive if you are buying a device that is more than 2 years old because the insurance is usually only valid for the contract length.

  • 

    mbck on 13/04/2021 - 18:24

    Sometimes even that note with the signed letter may not work. In theory it should, but I remember in the past someone posted and they went around and around and around…

  • 

    penguinswillrise on 13/04/2021 - 18:52

    That's great info, thanks for that. Yes I now remember the term being "Find My", if that is still on then it's bad news.

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  MagicMushroom on 13/04/2021 - 19:56

  Keep the Facebook chat as proof of purchase in addition to what's mentioned above.

  Buy one that has original cable, box etc and invoice to avoid someone selling you stolen goods.

  Check if their Facebook account is pretty active and it's not newly created.

  Understand that seller can scam you pretty easily even if you take all precautions.

• 

  thatonethere on 13/04/2021 - 20:15

  Pretty much if the seller has the invoice with the serial number they can lock the device IMEI/remove your apple id anytime they like by contacting Apple.

  We do this all the time at work people who leave in a huff and leave work supplied apple devices locked. We contact Apple and after a couple weeks we can unlock them.

  What you can do is make sure you get some receipt. The ipad is fully factory reset. The vibe feels right. If it is "too new" then too good to be too - ie stolen credit card, identity etc. Noone buys expensive ipad pro then just flips it for cash.

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  WookieMonster on 13/04/2021 - 20:18

  +2

  There’s already some advice in this thread on what you should do in regards to actually executing the sale, so I thought I’d chime in with a bit more background on what has been discussed already in the comments.

  ——-

  The three main issues to watch out are:

  • Activation Lock
  • IMEI blocks
  • Items reported as lost/stolen to police

  Activation Lock is the most common issue. If you reset an iPad that is still attached (i.e. signed in) to an Apple ID, you cannot activate the iPad and set it up as a new device unless:

  • You ask the person who owns the Apple ID currently signed in on the iPad to sign out of the iPad (and this can be done in-person or remotely),
  • Take the iPad with its original proof of purchase (i.e. tax invoice from the retailer that originally sold the iPad) to an Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider, and politely ask them to remove the Apple ID.

  There are ways to bypass Activation Lock, but it is a lot of hassle and (as far as I am aware) requires you to pay a third party to get them to help you (if you are lucky enough to find a third party to help you). Honestly, it is so much easier to just avoid iPads with Activation Lock.

  IMEI blocks is where an item with an assigned IMEI number is reported as lost/stolen to a telco, and then the telco requests the IMEI number to be prevented from connecting to any mobile network in Australia. In your case, an IMEI-blocked iPad will mean you cannot use mobile data via a SIM card in Australia, but the iPad’s other functions will be unaffected (assuming it does not have an Activation Lock). IMEI blocks are separate from Apple’s systems, so you can still use mobile data via a SIM card if you take the iPad out of Australia.

  Items reported as lost/stolen to police is really difficult to check, since (as far as I am aware) there is no register or website where you can quickly check whether an item you are about to purchase has been reported to police as lost/stolen.

  ——

  Wi-Fi iPads

  If you have the iPad’s serial number, you can search a number of third-party websites to see whether Find My is switched OFF or ON, which will given you an indication of whether Activation Lock is likely to be tripped if the iPad is reset.

  An iPad’s serial number is always etched on the back near the bottom of the device, and can also be found in the Settings menu. Keep in mind there is nothing stopping the seller swapping shells, so that the serial number on the back of the device would differ from the serial number reported by the iPad’s logic board. However, considering how difficult it is to tear down an iPad (let alone replace the shell), this would be an extremely unlikely occurrence, so it is mostly safe to assume the serial number on the back of the iPad is the same as the device serial number reported by the iPad’s logic board. I would personally always verify the serial number by seeing the serial number reported in the iPad’s Settings.

  In regards to Find My, there are three different results (assuming the serial number exists):

  • OFF: Find My is switched off, which usually means the iPad is not tied to an Apple ID account. However, there is a chance that an iPad is signed into an Apple ID account, but Find My is switched OFF. This is not a common occurrence (as I think Find My is switched on by default when you set up a new device and sign in with your Apple ID), but is still something to keep in mind.
  • ON / Clean: There is an Apple ID account associated (i.e. signed in) on this device, which means that you need to know the credentials of that Apple ID account before you can sign in with your own Apple ID. However, the device has not been reported to Apple as lost or stolen.
  • ON / Lost/Stolen: This is the same as the point above, except that the device has also been reported to Apple through Find My as lost or stolen.

  Basically, if you reset an iPad with Find My switched ON, it will trigger Activation Lock. If you reset an iPad with Find My switched OFF, it probably won’t trigger Activation Lock.

  ——-

  Wi-Fi/Cellular iPads

  In addition to the information in the Wi-Fi iPads section above, you can check whether an iPad has been IMEI blocked using the AMTA website. However, just because the iPad is shown as unblocked on the AMTA website does not mean it is definitely not blocked at the time. As stated on the website:

  Please note – this check will only provide the current status of your phone and is not always conclusive as there can be a delay of 3-5 days in a phone being reported lost and stolen and showing up as blocked on this website.

  In addition, the seller could potentially report to their telco after the sale that their iPad has been stolen, even though a seemingly legitimate sale took place. I’m not sure what could happen in that situation, but it is a bit of a dick move on the seller’s part if they did that.

  You can also search information on an iPad using its IMEI number in the third-party website I linked above as well, but it usually won’t give you as much information when compared to searching with a serial number.

  ——-

  I realise this is a bit of an essay, so I’m happy to clarify any points I’ve raised.

  • 

    Quantumcat on 14/04/2021 - 10:11

    Great informative comment