First off, the price for these phones is honestly hard to beat. Add in the fact that you get Amazon buyer protection, plus the comfort of knowing the phone has already been checked and tested, and it felt like a pretty solid deal. I needed a replacement phone ASAP because my cat decided my phone belonged in the sink ☹️ I tried the whole rice rescue mission and it actually worked for a little bit, but that was very much a short-term miracle. Eventually, it gave up completely. I absolutely hate shopping for phones. I avoid it for as long as humanly possible. Almost every phone I’ve owned has been a hand-me-down from someone in my family, and I’ve always been totally fine with that. Unfortunately, my cat did not coordinate her destructive little choices with anyone in my family’s upgrade schedule. So this time, I was on my own. Well… technically not completely on my own. My grandma had an old iPhone 7 lying around, so I used that for a couple weeks while I figured things out. But going from an iPhone 11 Pro Max to an iPhone 7 was painful. Like truly painful. It felt tiny in every way. The screen, the storage, the whole experience. 32 gigs?? In this economy?? I needed something better, and fast. My 11-year-old was roasting me nonstop, which honestly I deserved because they were using my old XR, which had originally been my dad’s. So I started checking all the usual places. OfferUp, Mercari, eBay, Swappa, even Craigslist for a minute before I remembered why I do not have the emotional stamina for Craigslist. I figured if I had to replace my phone, maybe I could at least upgrade a little and make myself feel better about the whole disaster. I didn’t want this to feel like I was being forced into a downgrade because my cat had no respect for electronics. I wanted a newer model and, ideally, a cute color. There were definitely options. Too many options, honestly. But every listing made me second-guess myself. I was scrolling on this tiny iPhone 7, comparing phones and sending messages like, “Why is this seller replying so fast?” “Why has this phone been listed for three weeks?” “I really want purple, but that one only has 64GB.” “The green one is cute, but the corner is cracked.” “This one says excellent condition, but the pictures look like they were taken during an earthquake.” “This one is unlocked… allegedly.” “Why is the price so low?” “Why is the shipping so high?” “No returns?” “Final sale?” “Battery health? Uhhh last time I checked it was maybe 74%… no, I can’t send a screenshot because it’s already reset.” Comforting stuff. OfferUp had some tempting ones, but I kept worrying about meeting a stranger and then having to inspect a phone in a parking lot like I’m suddenly a tech detective. Mercari had a few decent listings, but then I’d see “sold as is” or “no cancellations” and immediately get nervous. eBay had tons, but there were so many sellers and conditions and little details that I felt like I needed a spreadsheet and a nap. Swappa seemed better organized, but the color and storage combinations I wanted were either gone, more expensive, or just not quite right. It was way too much pressure. What if I spent $300 or more and the phone ended up being a mess? I knew a brand-new phone wasn’t happening, but I also hated the idea of buying from some random listing and just hoping everything worked out. I didn’t want to get scammed, and I didn’t want to settle for something I didn’t even like. Then I stumbled onto Gynormos. I figured I’d just look, mostly out of curiosity. I assumed everything would be too expensive, but it couldn’t hurt to check. To my surprise, there were refurbished phones listed as “like new” for about the same price or even less than what I was seeing on the other sites. I immediately thought, okay, what’s the catch? So I read through everything. Tested, unlocked, specs clearly listed, choice of color, storage, condition, all of it. And it could arrive the next day?? With buyer protection and a warranty?? Excuse me?? I had to recover emotionally for a second when I realized the iPhone 12 doesn’t come in yellow. Once I accepted that tragedy, I went back and forth between mint and lavender. Lavender would take an extra day, and I was impatient. So mint green it was. Just like promised, it showed up the next day. And honestly, it looked beautiful. 128GB, mint green, no scratches that I could see, and 86% battery health. All for less than I probably would have paid somewhere else for a 64GB phone with “just a few tiny marks.” Once my case and screen protector came in, I was so excited to set it up and transfer everything over. And then… Oh no. FACE ID DID NOT WORK 😭 After being used to Face ID, then being thrown back into iPhone 7 life for more than two weeks, I was beyond ready to have that convenience again. I had been unlocking my phone with my finger. Like some kind of prehistoric cave person. So overall an excellent purchase!
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