Two questions prevent nearly every bad outcome in this category, and most buyers only ask the first.
"Can you turn it on?"
Boot it on camera. For a phone or tablet, ask for the settings screen showing the model and storage. For a laptop, ask to see it reach the desktop. For anything with a speaker, ask to hear it.
A seller who will not power a device on is selling an untested device, whatever the listing says.
"Have you signed out of your accounts?"
This is the question that saves the sale. A device still linked to its previous owner's account can be impossible for you to set up — not difficult, impossible — and no amount of resetting at your end fixes it.
Ask it plainly. A seller who knows what you mean will answer in one sentence. A seller who does not know what you mean is a seller who probably has not done it, and that is worth knowing before the clock runs out.
Then the ordinary ones
- What is included — charger, cable, box, case
- Battery — age, reported health, real-world life
- Any faults — a dead pixel, a port that is temperamental, a fan that runs loud
- Repairs — screen replacements, battery replacements, who did them
Untested means untested
"Untested" and "for parts" are honest listings at honest prices. Bid at those prices. A buyer who pays working prices for an untested device has made the whole decision themselves.
What protection covers
A device sold as working that does not work, a device that arrives locked to somebody else's account, missing items that were listed, or a different model than shown: all not-as-described, and buyer protection covers it for seven days from delivery.
It does not cover a battery that was honestly described as old.
Questions people ask
What if it arrives locked?
That is not as described. Raise it straight away — the store has a window to put it right before Metzee steps in. How returns work.
Is a replaced screen a problem?
Not if declared. Ask who replaced it and whether anything else was touched.
Should I buy a device with no charger?
At the right price. Just remember the charger is a cost you are adding to your own bid.