# Buying s3 on Craigslist - what should I look for?



## aklee987 (Oct 3, 2011)

I am buying an s3 from Craigslist later today. I am meeting at a Verizon store to check ESN/unpaid bills, etc. It is already rooted with Jellybean on it.

Is there anything I should check out in terms of the physical condition of the phone prior to purchasing other than the obvious scratches?

Also, I am no stranger to rooting/ROMing (with the Droid X and Galaxy Nexus), but is there anything I need to be sure to backup once I buy the phone?

I am planning on backing up the IMEI via this thread: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32397-tutorial-imei-backup-nv-with-qpst-us-variants/

Is there a way to check if the phone has already "lost" the IMEI? Or will it just not activate?

Any other info would be appreciated.


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## twisted_58 (Feb 27, 2012)

the IMEI can be checked in settings>about phone>status then scroll to IMEI, if it is blank or 0 then its missing. it can be recovered but the phone will be stuck in roaming.


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## aklee987 (Oct 3, 2011)

Thanks so much. I'll definitely check that out when I check the phone out.


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## invisiblek (Aug 19, 2011)

twisted_58 said:


> the IMEI can be checked in settings>about phone>status then scroll to IMEI, if it is blank or 0 then its missing. it can be recovered but the phone will be stuck in roaming.


this isn't entirely true
imei loss is 100% recoverable, even if its stuck in roaming its fixable

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1867442


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## aklee987 (Oct 3, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I bought it tonight and am very happy so far. Got the IMEI backed up, working on ROMs.


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