I am thinking of getting an iPhone, but I cannot afford a new one. I am, therefore, thinking seriously of getting a second hand one. I have found some seemingly legitimate websites, but the one thing that worries me is that if it is second hand, the Apple ID will already be taken by the first original owner. Because the phone has been given to the company and they have a customer privacy policy, basically, if there's a problem that requires info from the owner, there won't be much I can do but return the phone. Say I couldn't get hold of the first owner, what would I do then? I heard something about 'Content Lock' that means you CAN'T do anything without the ID. So basically, I'd be screwed. Help!

If you are purchasing a second hand Apple product, simply run a factory reset and start over.

Factory reset will only work on IOS6 and lower.

With IOS 7 with phone is literally linked to that AppleID. To unlink it just disable the "Find My Iphone" setting.


I will be honoust, you are taking a huge risk. But popular sites with pay services like paypal have satisfaction / return policies with its users.

Hope this helps
Grant