Buying a used iPad, Apple Watch or AirPods locally: what to check

iPad checks

An iPad is checked much like an iPhone. The difference is that far more iPads were bought by schools and companies, and those can carry a lock of a different kind.

1. Confirm the model. Settings > General > About shows the model name, capacity and serial. iPad names are confusing (“iPad Air 5th generation”, “iPad Pro 11-inch 4th generation”), so check the serial at Apple Check Coverage, which names the exact model.
2. Look for management. In Settings, a line near the top saying the iPad is supervised or managed by an organization, or a profile under Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, means a school or company still controls it. Ask who owns it and stop if the answer is vague.
3. Read the IMEI if it is cellular. Settings > General > About lists the IMEI on cellular models. Check it at devicecheck.ca in Canada or the CTIA checker in the US. Wi-Fi iPads have no IMEI, so the lock check matters even more.
4. Check the battery and charging. iPads don’t show a battery health percentage the way iPhones do (newer models running recent iPadOS do; older ones don’t). Charge it from your cable, watch the percentage climb, and ask how long it lasts.
5. Test the screen and accessories. Drag an icon across the whole screen, look for pressure marks and dead pixels on a white page, and test the cameras, speakers, buttons and port. If an Apple Pencil or keyboard comes with it, test them on this iPad: Pencil models only work with certain iPads.
6. Erase it and confirm activation. The seller signs out and erases it (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Erase All Content and Settings). Start setup and get past activation. If it asks for the previous owner’s Apple ID, or shows a Remote Management screen with an organization’s name, don’t buy it.

Why school and company iPads are a trap

Organisations register their iPads with Apple so that, when one is erased and set up again, it joins their device management automatically and shows a Remote Management screen during setup (Apple). Erasing it doesn’t change that, and neither the seller nor Apple can remove it for you: only the organization can release it. A school iPad sold by a parent, or a work iPad sold by an employee who left, may look completely normal until you reset it at home. Cheap iPads in school-friendly sizes and colours, sold in groups, deserve this check first.

Apple Watch checks

A watch’s Activation Lock lives in Find My on the owner’s iPhone. It turns on by itself when the watch is set up, and it stays on until the owner unpairs it and removes the lock with their Apple Account password (Apple).

1. Have the seller unpair it. With the watch and their iPhone together: Watch app > My Watch > All Watches > the info button > Unpair Apple Watch, then their Apple Account password. That erases the watch and removes the lock.
2. Pair it with your iPhone, there and then. A genuine, unlocked watch walks you through pairing in the Watch app. If setup asks for the previous owner’s Apple Account password, the lock is still on (Apple).
3. Match the serial. It is engraved on the back or inside the band slot on many models, and listed on the watch in Settings > General > About and in the Watch app (Apple). All of them should agree, and Check Coverage should name the same model.
4. Check the IMEI on cellular models. The Watch app shows it under General > About. Run it like a phone’s.
5. Look at battery health. On the watch: Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Watches are small and batteries wear faster than you’d think; under about 80% you’ll notice.
6. Test the hardware. The crown and side button, the touch screen at the edges, the heart rate sensor (start a reading), the speaker and microphone (a short Siri request), and charging on the puck.

Fake Apple Watches

Fakes are sold as “Series 9” or “Ultra” at prices that seem lucky. They fall apart on the pairing test: a real watch pairs only through Apple’s Watch app, while a clone usually asks you to install a third-party Android app, or turns on already set up. Then look closer: no serial on the case, a back sensor that is just a printed pattern, a crown that clicks without scrolling, menus with slightly wrong icons and fonts, and a Settings > General > Software Update that can’t find an official watchOS.

AirPods: fakes are the main risk

There is no lock screen on AirPods, and they have no IMEI. What there are, in large numbers, are convincing clones. A boxed, sealed pair of AirPods Pro at half price is the classic listing.

• Pair them with an iPhone. Open the case near an unlocked iPhone. Genuine AirPods show Apple’s animated pop-up card with the battery of each bud and the case. Clones may imitate it badly or not at all.
• Read the settings. In Settings, tap the AirPods (or Bluetooth > the info button). You should see a model number, a serial number and a firmware version. Tap the serial: on recent models it shows a separate serial for each bud and the case. Clones often show one serial everywhere, copied from a real pair.
• Check the serial, but don’t trust it alone. The serial on the case lid or box should match Settings and come up at Check Coverage. That proves the number exists, not that the earbuds are real: cloners reuse real serials (SoundGuys).
• Look at the case. Loose hinges, rough seams, a misaligned port, a button that isn’t flush, and a status light in the wrong colour are tells.
• Use them. Noise cancellation and Transparency (on Pro models) should switch cleanly from the stem, and Find My should list them once they’re yours.
• Ask about Find My. The seller should remove them from their Find My (Find My > Devices > the AirPods > Remove This Device). Otherwise they stay linked to the seller’s Apple Account and you can’t add them to yours.

Buying sealed AirPods from a stranger is the riskiest version: you can’t pair a sealed box. Either open it together at the meetup, or don’t buy it.

Price check

Compare like with like: the same generation and storage for iPads, the same series, case size, material and GPS or cellular for watches, the same generation for AirPods. Look at ten or more listings on both Marketplace and Kijiji, then check eBay sold prices for what actually sells. Apple’s refurbished store and carrier or big-box refurbished stock, with a warranty, are the ceiling for a private sale. Knock money off for a worn battery, scratches on a watch screen, a missing charger or Pencil, or a cracked iPad corner. How to judge a fair price has the method.

Red flags

• “Locked”, “iCloud locked”, “activation lock”, “for parts”. Fine if you want parts. A stop for anyone else.
• “Managed”, “school iPad”, “work iPad”, “supervised”. The organization still owns it in practice.
• “No charger, can’t test”. Bring a charger and test it, or walk away.
• Sealed AirPods or watches far under retail. Fakes and stolen stock.
• Shipping only, or a deposit first. You can’t pair or test anything. See shipping scams.
• A pile of identical devices from one seller. Liquidated school or company stock is sometimes legitimate, but ask for proof that each one is released from management.

Searches and alerts

Search the exact generation: “ipad air 5”, “ipad pro 11 m2”, “apple watch series 9 45mm”, “airpods pro 2”. Add “cellular” or “lte” if you want one. In Quebec, “montre apple” and “écouteurs airpods”. Keep out case, “screen protector”, band, strap, charger and “for parts”, plus “ISO” and “WTB” posts. One alert per model works better than a broad “ipad” search; see new listing alerts.

With Sift

On a computer, Sift recognizes iPad, Galaxy Tab and Pixel Tablet listings, Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch listings, and AirPods listings, and switches on its phones and devices kit, with a “Device” header on the listing’s details card. It reads the seller’s own words, in English and French:

• “Check this” flags for Activation locked, Blacklisted or bad IMEI and Still financed, with negations understood (“not iCloud locked” isn’t flagged).
• Good signs for Unlocked, Clean IMEI and AppleCare.
• Check the IMEI as the first Check elsewhere link on tablet and watch listings: devicecheck.ca on Kijiji or for a Canadian home, otherwise the US checker. AirPods have no IMEI, so they get the flags without that link.
• Google Lens on the listing photo, which helps when a “brand new” pair of AirPods turns out to be a stock photo, plus eBay sold prices and the same search on the other site.

Start a hunt > Phone in Options > Presets saves a preset with the parts block words already on. Sift reads listings, not devices: it doesn’t detect fake AirPods or watches, and it can’t see Activation Lock or school management. It runs in Chrome, Edge and Brave on a computer and isn’t affiliated with Apple, Meta or Kijiji.