Buying a used iPhone on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji: the 10-minute check

Why a used iPhone needs more than a quick look

A used iPhone can look perfect and still be worthless to you. The three problems that cost buyers the most are invisible from the outside: an Activation Lock tied to the seller’s account, an IMEI that has been reported lost or stolen, and a carrier plan the seller hasn’t finished paying.

Neither site will fix a bad local deal for you. Meta’s Purchase Protection covers some shipped orders paid through Facebook checkout, not local pickup. Kijiji has no purchase protection at all. Once you hand over cash or send an e-transfer, the money is gone. So the checks happen at the meetup, before you pay, every time. Facebook Marketplace buyer protection explains what is and isn’t covered.

What to ask before you drive over

Most bad phones are filtered out by the seller’s answers. Ask in the chat first:

• The exact model, storage and colour (“iPhone 14 Pro, 256 GB”).
• Is it unlocked, and which carrier was it on?
• What does Battery Health show? (Settings > Battery > Battery Health.)
• Is it paid off, or still on a carrier plan?
• Is it signed out of iCloud, and will they erase it with you there?
• Do they have the box, with the IMEI on the label, or the original receipt?
• Why are they selling?

An honest seller answers all of it in one reply. A seller who dodges the payoff question, won’t meet where you can test the phone, or asks for a deposit “to hold it” has answered too. A deposit for a phone you haven’t seen is money you won’t get back: see the deposit scam.

The 10-minute check at the meetup

Meet somewhere public in daylight, ideally with Wi-Fi or decent signal. Many police stations have a marked exchange zone. Bring your own SIM card and a SIM tool, a charging cable, and earbuds. Do the checks in this order, while the phone is still set up and you can test it, and erase it last.

1. Check the model and storage. Settings > General > About. Model Name and Capacity should match the listing, and the serial number should match the box if there is one.
2. Read the IMEI three ways. Dial *#06#. Compare it with Settings > General > About, the SIM tray on models that have one, and the box label. They should all match. Enter it at devicecheck.ca on your own phone (in the US, the CTIA checker). A dual-SIM iPhone shows two IMEIs; the first is the one to check.
3. Ask about financing, face to face. “Is it fully paid off?” A clean IMEI today doesn’t settle it: in a CBC Go Public story, Bell blacklisted a second-hand phone because the original buyer hadn’t paid for it. Ask to see the final bill or the receipt. Hesitation is an answer.
4. Check battery health. Settings > Battery > Battery Health (Battery Health & Charging on some versions). Maximum Capacity is the share of the original capacity left. On iPhone 15 and later, the same area shows the cycle count and when the battery was made. A capacity in the low 80s, or a service message, means a battery replacement is coming: price it in.
5. Read Parts and Service History. It sits in Settings > General > About when a part has been replaced. “Genuine Apple Part” is fine. “Unknown Part” means a non-genuine part, or one that isn’t working as expected. “Used” means the part came out of another iPhone. On iPhone 12 and later it covers the battery, display and cameras (Apple).
6. Test what you’ll use. Drag an app icon across the whole screen to find dead touch zones, look at a white page and a black one for dead pixels and marks, set up a Face ID or Touch ID enrolment, take a photo with every lens and the front camera, record a voice memo and play it back, press every button, and charge it from your own cable.
7. Test the carrier lock. Put your SIM in and make a call. On iPhones with no SIM tray (US models from the iPhone 14 on are eSIM only), open Settings > General > About > Carrier Lock: it should say “No SIM restrictions”. Phones sold in Canada since December 1, 2017 must be sold unlocked (CRTC), but older phones and imports can still be locked.
8. Check coverage. Enter the serial at checkcoverage.apple.com. It confirms the model, shows whether the purchase date is valid, and lists any AppleCare.
9. Erase it and confirm activation. Now the seller signs out (Settings > their name > Sign Out), then erases it (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings), entering their Apple Account password when asked. When it restarts at Hello, run setup until it gets past activation. “iPhone Locked to Owner”, or a request for the previous owner’s Apple ID, means stop. The full method, and what to do if it goes wrong, is in iPhone Locked to Owner.
10. Pay, then get a receipt. Only now, in person. Cash or an e-transfer sent on the spot both work for a phone (see payment methods compared). Write a short dated receipt with the model, the IMEI, the price and both names, and have the seller sign it. It is your evidence if the phone is ever blocked.

Fake and refurbished iPhones

Outright fakes are uncommon at local meetups, but they exist: Android phones dressed up with an iOS look. They give themselves away fast once you use them.

• The software is wrong. Settings looks almost right but menus are missing, the App Store opens a different store, and there is no Apple activation during setup.
• The serial fails. It doesn’t come up at Check Coverage, or it comes up as a different model or colour.
• The hardware is off. Visible seams, a light or hollow feel, a camera bump that doesn’t match the model, or the wrong port (iPhone 15 and later use USB-C).

The more common problem is the “like new” refurb from an unknown shop: a genuine iPhone with an aftermarket screen and battery. That isn’t a scam on its own, but it changes the price. Third-party screens can have weaker brightness, colour and touch, and with a non-genuine battery the phone may say it can’t verify the battery and show no health figure. Parts and Service History is where this shows up, so read it on every phone, especially ones described as “refurbished”, “new screen” or “new battery”.

Red flags in iPhone listings

Some of these are fine if you know what you’re buying. Most are a stop for anyone who wants a working phone.

What a used iPhone should cost

There is no blue book for phones, so build your own range in five minutes.

• Asking prices on both sites. Search the exact model and storage on Marketplace and Kijiji and look at ten or more listings. The middle of that range is what sellers hope for, not what phones sell for.
• Sold prices. On eBay, search the model and storage and tick “Sold items”. Completed sales are the closest thing to a market price.
• A trade-in quote. Carriers and big-box stores quote trade-in values online. That is roughly the floor: a seller could get it without meeting you.
• Refurbished retail. A refurbished phone with a warranty from a carrier, a big-box store or Apple is the ceiling. A private sale with no warranty should come in under it.

Then adjust: down for a tired battery, unknown parts, cracked glass or a missing box; up a little for AppleCare or a recent battery from Apple. A recent model at half the going rate is not a lucky find until the IMEI and the Activation Lock check say so. How to judge a fair price and how to negotiate cover the rest.

Searches, block words and alerts that work

• Search the model and storage together: “iphone 15 128gb”, then “iphone 15 128” (sellers drop the “gb”). Add “unlocked” to narrow it. In Quebec, try “iphone débloqué” and “cellulaire débloqué”.
• Set a maximum price a little above your target, so slightly overpriced phones whose sellers might negotiate still show up.
• Sort by newest. Good phones at fair prices go within hours. See sort by newest.
• Words to keep out: case, “screen protector”, charger, “for parts”, “icloud locked”, “we buy”, “cash for”, and “ISO” or “WTB” posts from other buyers. Facebook has no way to exclude words from a search, which is why a block list helps (see exclude words).
• One alert per model. A watch on “iphone 15 128gb” beats one on “iphone”, which fires on every case and charger. Kijiji emails saved searches (Kijiji alerts); Facebook’s own notifications are hit and miss (why).

With Sift on a computer

Sift is a free browser extension for Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji. When it recognizes a listing as an iPhone, its phones and devices kit switches on by itself and reads what the seller wrote, in English and French:

• “Check this” flags for Activation locked (iCloud locked, locked to owner, Apple ID locked), Blacklisted or bad IMEI (blacklisted, bad IMEI, reported lost or stolen) and Still financed (financed, on a payment plan, still paying, balance owing, “financé”, “solde restant”). Negations are understood: “not iCloud locked” and “paid it off” don’t trigger a flag.
• Good signs in green for Unlocked, Clean IMEI and AppleCare (an expired AppleCare doesn’t count).
• Check the IMEI (Canada) as the first link under Check elsewhere on Kijiji or for a Canadian home. It opens devicecheck.ca; elsewhere it opens the US checker. Then eBay sold prices, Google Lens on the listing photo and the same search on the other site.
• The usual Sift filters: pay-first and “text me on WhatsApp” flags, price-drop badges, sold and already-seen listings hidden, real distance from your home, and alerts for new listings that pass your filters.

Cases, chargers, screen protectors, repair shops and “We buy iPhones” ads aren’t treated as phones, so the flags stay on real phone listings. Facebook search cards don’t include the description, so many flags appear once you open the listing, in Sift’s panel on the listing page. Sift runs in Chrome, Edge and Brave on a computer, not in the Facebook app. It is independent and not affiliated with Apple, Meta or Kijiji.

What Sift cannot check

Sift doesn’t run the IMEI, can’t see whether a phone is Activation Locked, and can’t know whether it is financed. It reads the seller’s own words and opens the official check for you. A phone with no flags still needs the full 10-minute check, and a “Clean IMEI” good sign means the seller said so, not that it is true. Run it yourself.