I've never bought a phone second hand but I'm in the market for an iPhone 8 Plus 256. One has come up on gumtree in the next suburb for a decent price. The phone is described as brand new, never used (protective plastic is still on etc) and the pic shows the phone sitting in an open box with plastic wrapped accessories.
The seller has sent through a screenshot of the box with the EMEI and serial numbers: using the serial number, the Apple Warranty site states 'We’re sorry, but this is a serial number for a product that has been replaced'. Am I correct in assuming that neither the serial number or the EMEI number on the box is attached/designated to this replacement phone, so it's not even worth checking the EMEI against any of the EMEI sites online?
Do I throw in the towel with this purchase or are there other places on the replacement phone itself that have the correct serial and EMEI numbers? What questions should I be asking of the seller before proceeding with this any further. I would greatly appreciate some gentle hand-holding :)
Usually with replacement phones Apple will not provide a full retail box. The seller is probably just selling with the original phone's box which will have that phone's serial number and IMEI.