how do you authenticate an iphone please?

As is the case with all businesses, there is risk but nothing ventured nothing gained.

If you move forward with this…good luck!

- Nick

Thanks, appreciate the help and advice guys!

If you start making millions with this business…I'm going to have to start charging a "consulting fee"!

- Nick

If this venture should ever materialize, trust me I will throw some deals here for you guys here if interested as I never forget the things that people do for me.

One issue we will be facing for sure is keeping track of all imei's, say for example we receive 100 phones and wholesale those to a buyer then that buyer should tell us they received fake phones and send back switched phones, we need to keep track of all 100 phones imei's, any ideas on the easiest way we could do this please? If this topic does not belong on this forum then please remove with my apologies.

Probably the best way to keep track of all the imei numbers is to use a data base program. The program does not necessarily have to be a Mac program as there are more and better data base programs available for Windows. (Assuming you have access to a Win machine or use VM software.)

BTW, the serial and imei numbers are burned to the iPhone firmware and can not easily be changed by a thief. Most thieves are interested only in quickly selling the phone.

Yes, I remember you saying so before so that issues is settled. I had done some research this morning and there are scanning softwares which can scan the imei's to file so I am thinking that may be the best option?

That would be the best way if the scanning software works as designed. It would be a tedious job hand entering the imei and serial numbers of a large number of phones into a data base. I'm assuming the scanner attaches to the phone and can extract the imei number?

Yes, it's simply "barcode" scanning softwares. I'll more into it tomorrow.

I opened one of the samples I received, I typed both imei and serial number on apple warranty's site and it then showed that it is awaiting activation to give warranty info, does this mean it is legit? Also I am noticing that there is an extra digit on the box's imei number than on the phone itself, any ideas why please? I will take it to an apple store hopefully later today to confirm but just asking here first.

Guy in a local apple store ran the serial number and said it's good and that's the only way to tell "as far as apple is concerned" so validation doesn't seem to have anything to do with the imei number. Far as the extra digit on the phone itself, he says typo's are a common thing. I have to rely on the fact that the distributor has other longstanding customers so all should be ok. Guess Nick is right, I am being "paranoid", just trying to cover every angle.

mikehende said:

Guy in a local apple store ran the serial number and said it's good and that's the only way to tell "as far as apple is concerned" …

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If this truly is the only or best way to verify that a device is "good" (not stolen). And you want to include this step in the process of every device you will be selling with this new business venture. The Apple folks at this Apple Store are going to get VERY tired of seeing you!!!

Plus. You would want (or need) to do this step BEFORE actually purchasing a used device from someone (both of you at the Apple Store)…buyer & seller. Which may not always be convenient or possible.

Also. There are probably 3-4 leading companies on the internet who buy & sell used Apple devices (and many smaller operations). I seriously doubt they go to the Apple store every time they buy a used Apple device (to verify it's legitimacy)…not stolen. And these companies probably sell 100's or 1000's of devices/year.

mikehende said:

Guess Nick is right, I am being "paranoid", just trying to cover every angle.

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I would never want to give the impression that someone shouldn't be as careful as possible when doing things like this (buying used electronic devices). Everyone has a different "comfort level" when it comes to doing this.

But this comfort level I think is different when it's a personal purchase vs. a business oriented purchase. With a business…to be efficient…you kind of have to operate with a higher level of risk. If (for example) you spend hours & hours verifying that every used device is "good" before buying…then your business loses money (not efficient).

Especially if the risk level of purchasing a stolen used electronic device (in the BIG picture) is very low. This is why probably all companies that do proper accounting of their business have an "accounts uncollectible"…or a similarly named account for this:

Accounts Uncollectible Definition | Investopedia

Or it's like what "brick & mortar" stores have to deal with when it comes to shop-lifters. Merchandise that is lost or stolen…and those losses need to be written off…and possibly recovered via raising prices on the items that are sold normally.

There is always some risk running a business. But if the risk of purchasing a stolen device is 1:100, 1:250, 1:1000, etc. Then the risk isn't that high to institute an inefficient procedure (like going to the Apple Store to verify an items stolen/not stolen status).

What it really comes down to is…knowing how to FULLY test a used item that is being purchased (verify that a device is 100% working properly). And being able to evaluate an individual seller's "demeanor" (that they seem like a legitimate user/owner of the device). If they seem shifty, shady, or in someway not trustworthy…walk away from the deal.

I've been buying & selling Apple devices (strictly for my own use & families use)...for the better part of 10 years on Craig's List…and the better part of 15 years on eBay. Traditionally with Apple devices…possession of a device was 9 tenths of the law (no real way to track stolen devices).

In recent years Apple (and other companies) has (especially with "idevices") instituted or included better ways of either:

- tracking stolen devices
- locking down stolen devices
- making idevices non-useable to a thief

If…an individual user has setup their device to take advantage of these features…or special apps. Then that device won't be good/useable to anyone but the current owner.

This is why a used Apple device needs to be throughly inspected & operated BEFORE purchasing it. If it works 100%…and the seller seems honest. Then it's probably a used device worth purchasing. If it's stolen (or not)…but works 100%…it's pretty difficult to determine this at the time and place of sale.

But again. In my experience. The frequency of stolen devices is probably very very low. And even if you unknowingly purchase (and eventually sell) a stolen device. You may never even know that it was stolen since it's so difficult to even determine if it is stolen.

Sorry for the long post. This is simply a topic I have a fair amount of experience with.

- Nick

p.s. And of course if the price seems "way too low" on a device…this can be an indication that it could be stolen…or more likely...that the device could have hidden problems.

Oh, I appreciate the total amount of info! Since we are dealing with brand new sealed products from a first time distributor, I needed to try to cover every angle so no problems later on but since this distributor also carries all the other Apple products guess I can rest easy now, appreciate the help guys!

mikehende said:

Since we are dealing with brand new sealed products from a first time distributor...

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I didn't realize this was a way you were obtaining Apple devices (brand new sealed devices). I was assuming you were getting only used devices…either one by one…or in bulk from seller's.

Are these brand new sealed devices current versions…or older versions? Such as older iPhone 4's or iPhone 5's for example…rather than iPhone 6's.

- Nick

Oh sorry if I did not make that clear, we have been having many offers for used, refurbs, untested and damaged but the pricing on none of those were right. Yes, brand new sealed new version of 6's. We may also try the ipads and macbooks but not ipods as I have no idea why people would still use them.

mikehende said:

Yes, brand new sealed new version of 6's.

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I'm not trying to "pry" too deeply into how this business runs. But I find it interesting that you're able to get brand new (current version) iPhone 6's in bulk…AND…able to make a profit on them. Unless you can purchase these at a price that Apple still gets their profit…and there's still enough room left for this business to make a profit.

Also I didn't realize that there was enough excess supply of these devices (current products)…after places like the Apple Store, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, all the internet stores, etc. receive the deliveries. That there's still enough supply left for owner's in this sort of business (non-Apple authorized business).

mikehende said:

We may also try the ipads and macbooks but not ipods as I have no idea why people would still use them.

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Makes sense. Especially if you can get brand new sealed current version products….and still make a profit.

Just an observation. Whenever I see someone selling a brand new current model Apple product in a sealed box on a place like Craig's List or eBay…the first thoughts that come to my mind are:

- What delivery truck did this fall off of?
- What delivery truck was high-jacked & the contents stolen?
- What Apple Store, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. was broken into?
- What Apple Store, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. was this product shop lifted from?

My point is. It's pretty "weird" for brand new sealed current version Apple products to be sold like this via places like Craig's List or eBay (if these are some ways these items are being sold).

Just some random thoughts.

- Nick

You are very accurate, when we started looking into this business we had thought that a distributor's price would be 1/3 or 1/2 the retail price. Everything depends on who you purchase from, an Apple reseller who gets only 3% off or a distributor who purchases in very large bulk and gets it much cheaper. Eevn from a distributor the pricing is not much cheaper than ebay but remember that the profit selling outside of ebay comes from retail stores where the pricing is high so you can make $40 plus on a phone or especially if you can hook a foreign buyer, that's where the best profit margin is.

Yes that was one point I meant to mention in my last post.

This "business model" can work…as long as you have suppliers who are willing to sell to you at a price that they still get the profit that they need to stay operational. AND…there's still enough profit left for your business to make a profit…and make the effort worthwhile.

Obviously if you were only making $5-$10 bucks on a brand new iPhone…this probably wouldn't be worth the effort (especially on a individual basis). Unless you were able to sell them in bulk to someone else…or sell lots & lots of them…and basically make enough money via selling volume.

I'm sure you're very aware. The more folks that "step" on a product throughout the process (lots of "middlemen")…the less & less profit there is.

- Nick

I know that this thread was started mostly to figure out how to insure that individual devices are not stolen. But from the last few posts…it seems like this part of the business is a very very small proportion of the total volume being sold.

So I'm sort of scratching my head a bit about so much concern over such a small part of the business.

If purchasing used devices is a very small part of the business…and if the possibility of purchasing a used stolen device is pretty low. This is a very small percent multiplied by a very small percent. Which ends up being a very very small number.

If we assume 1% for each of these parameters. Then 1% x 1% (0.01 x 0.01) equals 0.0001. And 0.0001 x 100 = 0.01% of total sales. That's a pretty small number!

- Nick