Is it safe to buy U.S. Imported HTC One m8 from ebay?

1. I would like to ask; Is it ok to buy “U.S imported” phones to use for at least 2 – 3 years?

Ans: No

2. Why are they giving it for ridiculously cheaper prices? Are they original?

Ans: These are not actually new, seller claims that seal was broken by customs (which happens in only 5 out of 100 cases). These are refurbished/replacement sets which just look like new

3. If you guys recommend me to buy it

Ans: I would not recommend you to buy it. Indian eBay sellers (most of them) are chindi chors, they say/list anything to get their products sold and once its done they wont take any responsibility
And also looks like this is verizon/sprint model which lacks 4G bands here in India

When so many outstanding phones available with 4G support and high end features, why you are running after to buy the HTC One.

@getready wrote:

1. I would like to ask; Is it ok to buy “U.S imported” phones to use for at least 2 – 3 years?

Ans: No

2. Why are they giving it for ridiculously cheaper prices? Are they original?

Ans: These are not actually new, seller claims that seal was broken by customs (which happens in only 5 out of 100 cases). These are refurbished/replacement sets which just look like new

3. If you guys recommend me to buy it

Ans: I would not recommend you to buy it. Indian eBay sellers (most of them) are chindi chors, they say/list anything to get their products sold and once its done they wont take any responsibility
And also looks like this is verizon/sprint model which lacks 4G bands here in India

+1

@getready wrote:

1. I would like to ask; Is it ok to buy “U.S imported” phones to use for at least 2 – 3 years?

Ans: No

2. Why are they giving it for ridiculously cheaper prices? Are they original?

Ans: These are not actually new, seller claims that seal was broken by customs (which happens in only 5 out of 100 cases). These are refurbished/replacement sets which just look like new

3. If you guys recommend me to buy it

Ans: I would not recommend you to buy it. Indian eBay sellers (most of them) are chindi chors, they say/list anything to get their products sold and once its done they wont take any responsibility
And also looks like this is verizon/sprint model which lacks 4G bands here in India

lol Chindi chors

anyway Plz specify 1 year seller warranty

what if phone get dead after 1 month
who will pay shipping charges how they will repair and what if they dont repair any action we can take cuz ebay release money within 30 days of delivery right

have you ever bought seller warranty phone ?

@blue wine
1 year Seller warranty is a scam
Most will offer 1 month seller warranty and the 1 year seller warranty is for software issues not hardware

@getready
Since I’m getting it for ~11K, I could sacrifice on couple of things like 4G and broken seal. But the real deal is “Does this thing actually work?” I don’t mind broken seal as long as the product is “unused” and not “refurbished”. But is it possible for a seller with 98% positive feedback to lie to their customers? How about ebay return policy, can I return it in case if I find it to be defective?

@cody ,
Haha. I always wanted to buy this phone ever since it was released. I’m a fan of HTC’s build and audio quality. Besides, all the “latest” phones with FHD display under 13K comes with Mediatek processor, which I hate.
3G is more than enough for my requirements. I use wifi 90% of the time.

@koushik_50 wrote:

@getready
Since I’m getting it for ~11K, I could sacrifice on couple of things like 4G and broken seal. But the real deal is “Does this thing actually work?” I don’t mind broken seal as long as the product is “unused” and not “refurbished”. But is it possible for a seller with 98% positive feedback to lie to their customers? How about ebay return policy, can I return it in case if I find it to be defective?

@cody ,
Haha. I always wanted to buy this phone ever since it was released. I’m a fan of HTC’s build and audio quality. Besides, all the “latest” phones with FHD display under 13K comes with Mediatek processor, which I hate.
3G is more than enough for my requirements. I use wifi 90% of the time.

who says under 13k u get mediatek phone?? Open you eyes and see current market. Whats about Redmi Note 3, Redmi 3s, Redmi 3S Prime, Lenovo, etc…

@cody
I just checked those phones you mentioned and surprisingly, they does have snapdragon and even better specs than m8. I’m happy good phones are getting cheaper. But my heart’s still with htc. These chinese brand’s built quality can’t be trusted. What say?

@koushik_50 wrote:

@cody
I just checked those phones you mentioned and surprisingly, they does have snapdragon and even better specs than m8. I’m happy good phones are getting cheaper. But my heart’s still with htc. These chinese brand’s built quality can’t be trusted. What say?

No you are wrong.

I am 100% sure that these phones are refurbished phones.

First clue : Accessories are Not Original
Customs open only 1-2 units per incoming parcel to check for drugs/gold smuggling or general inspection. If a seller imports 100 units, then only 1 or 2 pieces should be opened.

There are many extremely professional factories in China which change display, battery and outer body of phones to make them look like now. They can make the outer condition look absolutely new, but internal problems (if any) will still remain like bad battery health etc. These phones are definitely from that lot.

I will not recommend you to purchase this phone. And I also agree with comments made by getready. Being a seller at eBay, i have more background knowledge.

I will an day purchase Oneplus or Redmi Prime phones over these. China is the new Japan of the world and their home brands are improving in quality gradually.

I had bought lg g2 unlocked phone from global ebay last year. I got it at price 15k when price in was around 23k then. The catch here is that, you won’t get any warranty. I thought it’s OK to not have warranty as I was getting the phone at 8k less. I made calculations in mind that Incase of any repairs I will use this 8k. But later I realised that I made a very big mistake when my phone became dead because of motherboard problem. Mother board replacement costs 13k.. I bought a new phone with tht 13k instead of repairing it. So, finally I would like to suggest you to buy a phone which has warranty.

@BlueWater wrote:

I had bought lg g2 unlocked phone from global ebay last year. I got it at price 15k when price in was around 23k then. The catch here is that, you won’t get any warranty. I thought it’s OK to not have warranty as I was getting the phone at 8k less. I made calculations in mind that Incase of any repairs I will use this 8k. But later I realised that I made a very big mistake when my phone became dead because of motherboard problem. Mother board replacement costs 13k.. I bought a new phone with tht 13k instead of repairing it. So, finally I would like to suggest you to buy a phone which has warranty.

my g2 is still going good and strong [but a small portion of the touch has stopped working and the phone mysteriously hangs all of a sudden twice in a day ]
local service centers as well as the repair guys refused to repair it
flashed tu stock software multiple times but the phone starts giving problem again and again
thinking of dumping this to someone

I would like to add my experience here to give you an insight on some very important things one should take care while buying mobile phones:-

My sibling,who is living in the US for the last 3.5 years, bought an unlocked HTC Desire 816 for just 15K over EBAY in April,2015 when its price was 23-24K here in indian market and it was working fine when it got delivered. It was a seller registered from Hong Kong with good ratings and reviews(always crap ). The phone got shipped from HongKong to US. The phone was gifted to me in April and I didn’t used it once for 2 months as my exams were going on and don’t want to get distracted. From June 2015, I started using and it worked flawlessly (no performance issues, nothing), everything was working fine for the next 8 months. In January 2016, when I was travelling, its display suddenly got crashed. Since I never dropped it anytime as I take very good care of my gadgets nor I am mobile dropper (as many people are ), don’t know how it’s display got broken/crashed just being in the pocket. Since, the phone was bought from a foreign country, I couldn’t have claimed it’s warranty in India as stated by HTC India. I couldn’t even contact to HTC China(HongKong) as their support is in chinese language and surely I don’t understand it.Moreover as the phone was unlocked, I can’t claim the warranty as it stands void or cancelled.The official HTC India service centers cited broken screen/digitiser and asked for 8.5K for changing the whole display/screen. I was like what the hell man…..8.5K for a phone repair that I bought for 15K . My friend suggested to go for a duplicate screen repair(shouldn’t have taken his suggestion ) which took 3.1K for that. After repair, it worked exactly for one month and then its touch didn’t work after ever. Add to note: The beats earphones that came as an accessory stopped working after six months of usage.

So my final suggestions are:-
1. Never buy any electronic items (atleast) over EBAY even if the ratings and reviews are great for seller.Those are all fake numbers shown to increase sales. Once sold, they don’t even entertain your complaint/return request/refund.
2. Mobile phones sold over EBAY comes cheap because they are definitely refurbished and seal broken. They always carry some defects which you will discover only after long usage. Don’t go for cheap pricing.Ever.
3. The most important to keep in mind is the warranty (only software warranty is offered by any company, no hardware warranty). Always buy phone from somewhere where you can claim and avail warranty easily without any hassle. As you are thinking of buying it from US, make sure that you have somebody there to claim warranty whenever required on your behalf. You can’t claim its warranty in India for sure.

.

@dgreatgambler007 wrote:

I would like to add my experience here to give you an insight on some very important things one should take care while buying mobile phones:-

My sibling,who is living in the US for the last 3.5 years, bought an unlocked HTC Desire 816 for just 15K over EBAY in April,2015 when its price was 23-24K here in indian market and it was working fine when it got delivered. It was a seller registered from Hong Kong with good ratings and reviews(always crap ). The phone got shipped from HongKong to US. The phone was gifted to me in April and I didn’t used it once for 2 months as my exams were going on and don’t want to get distracted. From June 2015, I started using and it worked flawlessly (no performance issues, nothing), everything was working fine for the next 8 months. In January 2016, when I was travelling, its display suddenly got crashed. Since I never dropped it anytime as I take very good care of my gadgets nor I am mobile dropper (as many people are ), don’t know how it’s display got broken/crashed just being in the pocket. Since, the phone was bought from a foreign country, I couldn’t have claimed it’s warranty in India as stated by HTC India. I couldn’t even contact to HTC China(HongKong) as their support is in chinese language and surely I don’t understand it.Moreover as the phone was unlocked, I can’t claim the warranty as it stands void or cancelled.The official HTC India service centers cited broken screen/digitiser and asked for 8.5K for changing the whole display/screen. I was like what the hell man…..8.5K for a phone repair that I bought for 15K . My friend suggested to go for a duplicate screen repair(shouldn’t have taken his suggestion ) which took 3.1K for that. After repair, it worked exactly for one month and then its touch didn’t work after ever. Add to note: The beats earphones that came as an accessory stopped working after six months of usage.

So my final suggestions are:-
1. Never buy any electronic items (atleast) over EBAY even if the ratings and reviews are great for seller.Those are all fake numbers shown to increase sales. Once sold, they don’t even entertain your complaint/return request/refund.
2. Mobile phones sold over EBAY comes cheap because they are definitely refurbished and seal broken. They always carry some defects which you will discover only after long usage. Don’t go for cheap pricing.Ever.
3. The most important to keep in mind is the warranty (only software warranty is offered by any company, no hardware warranty). Always buy phone from somewhere where you can claim and avail warranty easily without any hassle. As you are thinking of buying it from US, make sure that you have somebody there to claim warranty whenever required on your behalf. You can’t claim its warranty in India for sure.

How would your situation be different if you had bought India HTC phone?
Broken screen is not under warranty. If you are saying that you got a refurb phone in the first place, then Fake vs Original screen can be easily noticed via color tint, quality, contrast etc. Sellers operating from China on eBay US always sell products via non-authorized channels.

I have also been burned by duplicate screens. They don’t last long.

eBay.com and eBay India are vastly different in how they operate. US eBay sellers have too much power in their hands. Indian eBay site is almost same like other marketplaces. There will be good and bad sellers and reading the feedback of a seller is very helpful. There are authorized proper sellers on eBay US like Microsoft, Bestbuy, Buydig etc. Similarly, there can be reputed sellers on eBay India as well. The problem with eBay is that it is abused by new & fraudulent sellers, And they don’t ban them proactively.

Sorry to bump Old Thread Just Wanted To Share My Experience. I Bought LG G3 D855 Imported From Local Store Even Though It Looked Like Absolutely New It Even Had That Sticker on Display with Specs But Without Original Accessories and Was Pre Rooted. So I Had Doubt It Was Refurbished. Its Been 11 Months Since than not a single issue except Battery Performance. Phone Got Even more Snappier With 6.0 Update. I Got It For 14K When It Was Priced at 28K.this was pretty good Experience as My Brand New Lenovo 6000+ Died within 13 months. Now Just Bought HTC one E8 Quikr Refurbished For 8200. Let’s See How Things Goes.

I purchased lg g2 imported in 12k when market rate is 22k,but still working good after 1.5 years

TAKE IT FROM ME – IT WILL BE A JACKPOT OR A CRACKPOT.