Man buys the cheapest worst condition iPhone on eBay to see what arrives and he's left surprised

A man bought the cheapest and ‘worst condition’ iPhone 12 he could find on eBay, and was left surprised by what arrived.

You can buy just about anything on eBay, from a Concorde engine to used phones with low asking prices. 

And so you know what to expect before you buy, the listing details the condition of the item, with the seller able to choose from a range of options, including Excellent and Fair.

Naturally, phones that are in tip-top condition tend to come with a higher price, while those that aren’t looking so good are priced lower – but what exactly are those super cheap phones in the ‘worst condition’ like? One YouTuber found out.

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The iPhone 13 was listed on eBay for cheap, but there was a catch

To show how big the price difference can be, YouTuber ZixTech searched eBay for an iPhone 13 Pro 128GB. 

He found one in ‘Excellent’ condition that looked brand-new and was listed for $415.99, but he was also able to find one in ‘Used – Fair’ condition for just $299.99. 

The big difference in price is reflective of the big difference in condition, with the YouTuber branding the ‘Used – Fair’ option as the ‘worst condition’ on eBay. 

So, he did what any curious soul would do, and ordered one, but rather than the 13, he opted for an iPhone 12 Pro 128GB that cost just $168.99. 

The used iPhone arrived in a nondescript box, with the original packaging presumably long gone. 

But after taking it out of the box, he was left pleasantly surprised by what he found. 

The iPhone appeared to be in good condition, and the cameras looked clean. 

After peeling back the screen protector, he spotted one small scratch, but nothing too shocking, and the casing was in good shape, too. 

As the initial signs all looked good, he powered up the iPhone and began the setup process to see how it had held up.

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The phone looked OK, but how did it run?

He explained that to assess how the phone was working, he’d take a look at which version of iOS it was running, the battery health, and if the camera and motherboard were genuine. 

The iPhone was running on iOS 17, but he was able to update it to iOS 26 without any issues. 

He was also able to confirm that both the camera and the motherboard were the real deal, and most likely original to boot. 

In fact, the only negative he discovered was the battery health, which was sitting at 82 percent and probably went some way to explaining why it was listed as in the ‘worst condition’. 

However, overall, the iPhone 12 appeared to be a good buy. 

The YouTuber said sometimes these cheap models do turn out to be better than expected, but before you rush out to buy one, he then went on to add that on other occasions, what you end up with is exactly what you’d expect.

So basically it’s a bit of a gamble, and this time it paid off.

Timeline of the Apple iPhone

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