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The great T68i to W800i or iMate Jam experiment! |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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I'm currently trying to put together a summary so far of what I've done, I'll post it here probably after the latest round of sales 
I am going to try a little experiment. I have just bought a secondhand T68i off Ebay with a mic fault. What I am proposing to do it turn that phone into a W800i, or a K750i. How, I hear you ask!
What I am going to try to do is fix the T68i so it's fully working, then resell it on Ebay. I bought the phone for £8.05 including postage (though I actually only paid £5.55 as I had a £2.50 postage discount from Ebay!), and am intending to sell it on for a profit. Say I get £20 for the fixed T68i, I will then try to buy another phone, this time say a T610. Then, get that fixed and sell it on, and if I make enough money buy a T630 or perhaps a K700i, and so on. I've created a new Ebay account and Paypal account, and intend to sell and accept Paypal only, so all the money comes and goes out of the same account, and leaves my main accounts free for other buying and selling.
In theory, if this works, then I will eventually be the proud owner of a W800i or equivalent at the end of it, all for the initial outlay of £5.55! And no going through dodgy sites and going on one of those 'lists'  This is only really a bit of fun, and may not work. In fact I'll be surprised if it does work! I can see problems arising when I need to outlay extra for parts when a phone isn't fixed as easily as I first thought. I'm going to try to do it without paying out any more than the initial £5.55.
Has anyone else tried this? Do you think it will work or will I fall flat on my face?
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"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
My Ebay AuctionsMoto V3, 3410, T610, 3100
[ This Message was edited by: Sammy_boy on 2006-03-04 11:10 ] | |
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WelshTom
Joined: May 20, 2004
Posts: 364
From: Costa del Cardiff Phone: K610i
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 great idea and i wish you luck!!! if you really know your stuff on ebay this should easily be possible (look for items listed with spelling mistakes, stupid finishing times, in the wrong categories etc!). let us know how you get on!
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Vein
Joined: Jun 18, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Wilts, UK
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You might fall flat on your face, people don't want to pay decent money for a T610 nowadays!
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peanut
Joined: Mar 18, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: UK: Oxon and Leics
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Yes a quick look at the completed items and taking into account FVF it doesn't look rosy.
However, I've sold nearly every phone I've had on ebay and with boxes and manuals l've always made enough to pay a good chunk off my next one. In fact I made profit on my 11 month old p900!
One suggestion might be to go for many trendy classics and not just SE models. |
jcwhite_uk
Joined: Feb 18, 2004
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From: Dorset, UK Phone:Xperia Z1
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It can be done. I made £40 profit about a year ago on a faulty T39m and earlier this year repaired a T630 and made £30.
Checkout my photos at My Website"Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together." |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
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From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Yes, I'm planning to go for a few different models too, I'm in two minds whether to sell the fixed/reconditioned phones back on Ebay or here on Esato, but as I'm doing this using Paypal only it might be hard to resell the phones on Esato, as not all members have paypal accounts.
Phones do go for higher prices on Ebay than on forums like Esato, and good point, the FVF fees could well cut into my 'bottom line'. I might try experimenting with the selling, either here or on Ebay and see what works the best. Ditto the Paypal fees, but I can't see another way of doing this and keep the money in one place without doing anything drastic like open up a new, dedicated bank account.
As the new account has zero feedback, I'm going to try to build up a bit of positive feedback by buying a couple of cheap 'fixie-uppie' 3310s basically for the feedback so I've at least got a couple of positives, and create a 'me' page and refer to my main account (with over 420 100% feedback).
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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volvoman
Joined: Dec 15, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Cumbria, England
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Someone has been watching that bloke on the TV who buys cars and ends up with a great car at the end, what I want to know, are you going to put it up as a prize at the end of it though.
C702i x 2, T650i, K850i, W850i, K810i, K800i, tomtom GO 910, Brodit proclips. |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Don't think I've seen that car programme, but I've heard about people doing things like that.
Not sure if I'd give it away as a prize - I rather want one myself I'm afraid!! It could also be a long road to the W800i anyway, and I may well get stuck at the 'T610' or 'K700i' phase!
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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volvoman
Joined: Dec 15, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Cumbria, England
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Just a joke about giving it away, that is what he does.
C702i x 2, T650i, K850i, W850i, K810i, K800i, tomtom GO 910, Brodit proclips. |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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I also suspect that I'll have to put a bit more money into this - for example if I do sell the T68i for £20, and then, say, buy a T610 with a broken LCD for £15, a replacement screen is about £10 at the mo, so I would have to add another £5. Hopefully I won't need to do that, or I will keep these cash 'injections' to a minimum.
@volvoman - thought you were joking!
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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scottt
Joined: Aug 22, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: North Yorkshire
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just too say i would be interested in the t68i when you come to sell
I  my 32GB iPhone 3GS  |
gregface
Joined: Mar 05, 2004
Posts: > 500
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in theory your plan will work, however it may take so long that the w800 is not the phone you want any more, ie a newer smarter faster phone maybe just out of the pipeline.
i have been repairing phones on ebay for well 2 years, sometimes you make money, sometimes you lose money, over the whole process, i would say that i am up yes, however i would not say that there is a big market in faulty phones for you to cash in on.
over the past week i have bought 2 phones, 1 off ebay 1 not, in total i made £110 by selling them both on ebay, nothing was wrong with them, i just found them for cheap and sold them for more.
basically, its easy to make money on ebay, but starting as low as 5.55 it might take you a wee while to get your hands on a w800. |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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As I say, it's just an experiment, and it'll be interesting to see how far I get and how long it takes 
I've been doing some phone repairing using Ebay as well, and also have had mixed success, once I bought a couple of phones for £15 and sold them for £60, and others I've gotten barely over half my money back, but I'd say I'm generally up as well.
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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batesie
Joined: Feb 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: London, UK
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good luck and keep us up to date with your results
[addsig] |
marlonski
Joined: Oct 16, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: UK
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Quote:
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On 2005-11-23 21:25:55, Sammy_boy wrote:
As I say, it's just an experiment, and it'll be interesting to see how far I get and how long it takes
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About 2025 from the sounds of it
Best of luck tho mate
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Posted: 2005-11-23 19:03
my 32GB iPhone 3GS 
