where to get cheap sprint phone?

[airforcerules]

I don't know alot about cell phone companies and stuff so I was wondering what the best way is to go about replacing a broken phone. I'm in college so I'm still on my parents Sprint Family plan. We've only ever gotten phones straight from Sprint whenever we had an upgrade after 2yrs.

I just need something that can make calls and texts. Can I buy something on Ebay? What is the activation process like?

 

[deduce]

If you aren't eligible to upgrade, I'd check Ebay. Usually you can find older Sprint phones for cheap. Just make should you buy one that works with Sprint (Sprint doesn't allow any phones that aren't Sprint branded).

Also be sure to request the ESN of the phone from the buyer, then call Sprint to verify that it's a phone with a good ESN. Some Sprint phones on Ebay have a bad ESN and Sprint won't activate them (for example: if the phones was reported stolen, Sprint will block the phone so it can't be used again).

Besides that, you can check local phone shops or other places like Fry's and RadioShack to see if they have any refurbished phones available.

 

[mpichescs]

All good advice above me however I would choose craigslist over ebay. That way you can call sprint when your actually holding the phone in front of the seller to see if it has a clean ESN. That way you dont risk sending away your money for a blacklisted phone.

 

[Nitelite]

I agree with the Craigslist option. All the other advice given from deduce is accurate, the ESN is on the back lable of the phone under the battery. It's the identifying serial number. You can call to check the ESN with Sprint and then they can activate it on your account or you can change it online once you've signed into your account. Very easy/painless.