How to Activate a Used Sprint Cell Phone

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By eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (11 Ratings)

Although you may want to save money on your cell phone, you have to practice caution when buying used Sprint phones. Although you may get a deal on the phone, you can run into problems during the activation process. Practice the following to successfully activate a used Spring cell phone.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Buy a used Sprint cell phone from a legitimate source. If you don't know the origins of the cell phone, you may end up with a stolen phone or a phone that's connected to a bill with an outstanding balance. People who have purchased from Replace Your Cell online have experienced few problems with their pre-owned Sprint phones (see Resources below).
Step 2

Find out the ESN of the used phone. Before you buy and attempt to activate a used Sprint phone, you'll want to run a check on the electronic serial number (ESN). You can typically find the ESN in the battery compartment of the phone.
Step 3

Call Sprint's customer service line. Ask them to run a check on the ESN to see if it's clear for activation. If it's a phony ESN or stolen phone, you'll won't be able to activate the phone.
Step 4

Activate the phone through the customer service line of Sprint. If the phone's clear, ask the rep to start the activation process or transfer you to someone who can.

Tips & Warnings

You can also choose to activate your used phone through a Sprint store. However, many stores charge a nominal fee for this service.
You may have to wait as long as 4 hours for activation to go through.

Resources

Find used Sprint phones with clean ESNs on Replace Your Cell.

Comments

hollyhood314 said

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on 7/17/2009 Hi I rated this article 5 stars, because this is an answer to a question I wanted to know... I have a Sprint cell phone I wanted to sell and i was planning on transferring my Sprint service to another company. I don't have an outstanding balance, but I will not be able to pay the fee for breaking my cotract. Will another person have a hard time activatig my phone? Thank please send me a note if you know the answer.