I usually buy used things from a local “craigslist clone” which offers a refund if You have proof that You got scammed. Once I ordered a used OnePlus 7 Pro, it wasn’t even suspiciously cheap or anything. Seller claimed everything was working and had all the accessories in the box. When it finally arrived, first thing I noticed was the missing charger, after that when I powered on the phone, the screen had a black spot and camera looked like something spilled on the phone and got inside on the sensor itself.

I usually ask for a lot of information and additional pictures before buying anything and none of these things existed in the pictures he sent me. After sending the video etc to the website and returning the phone to the scammer, I asked him how did he remove the black spot or camera damage from the pictures. Turns out he used his friends phone which was an identical model and just sent me pictures of that. And the ones where IMEI and serial number were showing, he just took a screenshot and sent it to the other phone.

But I also had bad experience with normal stores too. Once I ordered a S22 Ultra, brand new from a huge store. They sent me one in a box that was already opened and the phone looked like someone used it for a year and returned it. Ton of scratches and oily finger smudges and even the type c to type c cable was missing.

Then I got a 45 Watt charger, also from a big store and it showed up in a plastic transparent bag without any original box at all. But it looked flawlessly so I kept it since I got it during a pretty nice sale anyway.

And both of these items arrived in a sealed warehouse packaging. So the delivery guy couldn’t have done anything to them.

Even though my country has 14 day return law, they won’t accept the item if it’s damaged. And how can I prove them that it wasn’t me who scratched up the phone? That’s why recording a video is the best thing You can do.