The benefit would be in knowing the seller actually has the ability to turn off the activation lock. If they stole the device they wouldn't be able to turn off the lock at all.
you assume it is always on. I have seen a lot of folks that are tin foil hat wearers over being tracked who refuse to use find my iPhone
and there is the issue that you can't guarantee that the serial you are being sent to verify is the device you will be sent. There is nada stopping me from telling you one serial that I know is clean and sending you another that is not. Just as there is nothing stopping me from getting a stolen phone without FMi on, waiting until the last minute and putting a burner account on it to screw you over.
How is this sale going to go down? Sure, they can give you a fake serial number but that serial number will need to match the unit you want to buy and, assuming you buy it from a place like eBay and not some underground marketplace (which should already send up red flags) you can check out their sale history and leave your own bad feedback if you get screwed. You could also get screwed by receiving a lump of coal instead of the phone. Either way you're not getting what you want.
From what I've seen it's the local sales where someone might check out a great looking but stolen device and not realize until it's too late that it's stolen. As always it's education that needs to be done. People buying a used iDevice need to be educated more than anything else. Apple can only do so much.
Only buy in person and go through the wipe and setup process BEFORE handing over the cash.
and there is the issue that you can't guarantee that the serial you are being sent to verify is the device you will be sent. There is nada stopping me from telling you one serial that I know is clean and sending you another that is not. Just as there is nothing stopping me from getting a stolen phone without FMi on, waiting until the last minute and putting a burner account on it to screw you over.
If you're buying from a site such as eBay, you can request that the seller disclose the serial number to you before purchase. If they ship you a unit with a different serial number, you can then easily report it as fraud and get your funds back.
As a seller, you should ALWAYS include the serial number with the sale, as fraudsters are known to buy phones then send back a different broken unit claiming you sold them a defective unit. If the serial number doesn't match, you can prove what they did.
Comments
The benefit would be in knowing the seller actually has the ability to turn off the activation lock. If they stole the device they wouldn't be able to turn off the lock at all.
you assume it is always on. I have seen a lot of folks that are tin foil hat wearers over being tracked who refuse to use find my iPhone
and there is the issue that you can't guarantee that the serial you are being sent to verify is the device you will be sent. There is nada stopping me from telling you one serial that I know is clean and sending you another that is not. Just as there is nothing stopping me from getting a stolen phone without FMi on, waiting until the last minute and putting a burner account on it to screw you over.
How is this sale going to go down? Sure, they can give you a fake serial number but that serial number will need to match the unit you want to buy and, assuming you buy it from a place like eBay and not some underground marketplace (which should already send up red flags) you can check out their sale history and leave your own bad feedback if you get screwed. You could also get screwed by receiving a lump of coal instead of the phone. Either way you're not getting what you want.
From what I've seen it's the local sales where someone might check out a great looking but stolen device and not realize until it's too late that it's stolen. As always it's education that needs to be done. People buying a used iDevice need to be educated more than anything else. Apple can only do so much.
Only buy in person and go through the wipe and setup process BEFORE handing over the cash.
and there is the issue that you can't guarantee that the serial you are being sent to verify is the device you will be sent. There is nada stopping me from telling you one serial that I know is clean and sending you another that is not. Just as there is nothing stopping me from getting a stolen phone without FMi on, waiting until the last minute and putting a burner account on it to screw you over.
If you're buying from a site such as eBay, you can request that the seller disclose the serial number to you before purchase. If they ship you a unit with a different serial number, you can then easily report it as fraud and get your funds back.
As a seller, you should ALWAYS include the serial number with the sale, as fraudsters are known to buy phones then send back a different broken unit claiming you sold them a defective unit. If the serial number doesn't match, you can prove what they did.
The third party MDMs let us do that as well, right? Like http://www.bushel.com