Hello everybody,
Cell phones are costly necessity items for all of us. A replacement phone without a contract or insurance is pricey or you settle for a cheaper model. To avoid this surprise expense we have some good info today on how to find your lost cell phone or how to get the best deal on a replacement.
Ebay is an option for replacement phones, but a tip is to shop later at night when you may have less competition. Another way to get a better deal on a used cellphone at ebay is to do a ‘proxy bid’. Now to describe that a bit, basically, for best results with a proxy bid, wait til the auction is about to end 30 seconds or so. Have an extra browser up on the same bidding page. But if you time this right and it may take practice you will only have to bid once and know you will only pay what your top dollar is without the frenzy of wanting to win at any cost.
So to do the proxy bid what you are doing is placing you high bid, what you are willing to pay, at the last possible moment so no one can outbid you. If let’s say the phone (or any item) you are bidding on is at a $20 bid currently and the auction is ending soon, you wait til the last seconds to place your bid. Put in the bid box you top price you are willing to pay. What this does is gives you a better chance at paying less for your new cell phone. Due to the fact that it is the last minute, no one can outbid you unless they also put in a proxy bid that is higher than your. So you do have a better chance at saving money here. Think about it. Back to the $20 current bid, if you are willing to pay $50 20 seconds to ending, place your bid. no one sees your bid and cannot out bid. If your bid was $50 and no one else bid higher than $30 then you don’t pay $50 you only pay the next increment up from $30 and WIN!
We also have ‘replacement phones’ available, brand new with no contract changes for any of the 5 major carriers like AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Nextel and Tmobile. The replacement phone prices for new cell phones start at $120 and up and at our store here online at www.freephonewithplan.com Sprint seems to have high prices for their replacement phones but check it out, at least you know they are new and have a warranty.
On our hompage click on your carrier or select any phone displayed there for your carrier. Next page on the right you will see a link for ‘replacement phones, no contract changes, click there. A model will come up but you will see a link that says ‘change phone’ click and all your choices will come up. Select to view details, features and see video demo of how to use the phones. Add to cart if satisfied with the offer or bookmark and keep researching. Phones generally ship within 24 hours.
Now for info on finding a lost cell phone:
PC Magazine article says: “Fortunately, there are numerous ways you can locate a lost cell phone. Almost all require that you sign up for something beforehand, so start preparing now. Let’s step through all the options.
First, write down your phone’s IMEI, MEID or ESN number (it’s on a sticker under the battery, and which one you have varies by phone) somewhere safe. That’s a unique identifier you can give to the police or your wireless carrier if your phone gets lost.
“Cell phone insurance is an option, but not a particularly good one. It does nothing to retrieve your lost data.Cell phone insurance is an option, but not a particularly good one. It does nothing to retrieve your lost data.”
NOTE: our Top of the line cell phone insurance is offered for the best price i have ever found, $50 for a full year coverage for lost, stolen (you may want to make a police report) or damaged cell phones. The kicker is NO fee for replacement so you will save at least $50 in replacement fees by signing up with NCOA (National Cellular Owners Association). Another advantage is they give you up to 3 claims in that year and also an option to continue with the insurance after the 1st year is up. In over 5 years of doing business with this company, i have not ever received a complaint with this insurance company. FYI
ATT, Sprint/Nextel and Verizon all offer children or family locator service and charge a fee for this lost & found service. Sprint seems to have the best price of $5 a month for 4 phones to add this phone locator service.
All the carrier-based services need to be activated before you lose the phone, because you either need to reply to a text message or change some settings on your phone to accept tracking.”
This awesome PC mag article covers specifics of how to protect your phone and data for Android phone owners, Apple iphone owners, Blackberry users or windows ‘my phone’ owners.
They go on to tell you how to wipe out the data on your phone if its lost and you have your personal information you want to delete before someone takes it over.
Finally, if you’ve tried everything and are one step away from giving up, try registering the phone’s IMEI number with missingphones.org
a commenter on that article says this: Or you could try some preventative measures so you keep from ever losing your phone in the first place. I just read on Bluetooth SIG’s site this morning about the new ZOMM gadget. They’re billing it as a leash for your mobile phone that sounds an alarm everytime you walk too far away from your phone (uses bluetooth technology). It looks pretty cool. I read about it at bluetooth.com – or just search for ZOMM.
Found another great lost cell phone article on eHow.com and among other terrific basic info regarding ‘lost cell phones’ adds, Most major service providers have the capability for triangulating a phone’s location based on the strength of the signal to various different cell phone towers. This is usually a service that one needs to subscribe to. For instance, AT&T has a FamilyMap service, while Verizon Wireless has a service called Family Locator.
A lost phone tip they gave was to call the carrier and see where your last all was made. That could be the answer you were looking for to help zero in on where you had your phone last.
Even if you don’t subscribe to these locator features, they can often be turned on after your phone is lost (for a fee!). Check with your wireless provider about enabling this capability to locate a lost phone.
I know i learned something here today that is helpful, hope you can use this info too. Good to know.
Check out our store at www.freephonewithplan.com for New cell phones and plans, upgrade renewals and for replacement phones and awesome insurance. call with questions, to order by phone or for assistance 800.551.8394