I want to sell my old phone on ebay but noticed people ask if the ESN is clear. What does that mean? And how can i tell if my ESN is clear? Tanks

 

you can prob call cust care to check, i know with att, they could enter the esn in the esn field and it would tell you if it was lost/stolen or it would say it if when they try to save it after entering the esn,

 

if its your old phone the ESN is probably clear, unless you claimed it was lost or stolen.

 

I just sold my Sprint phone on Ebay, I just listed the ESN on the auction and if they wanted to check they could do it themselves.

Clear ESN means that it is not reported stolen or you owe money on you bill, if you do, they won't activate the phone.

 

Ok so if i put the ESN number on an ebay auction then it cant bite me in the ass? Its not like a SS number right?

 

I think it stands for Electronioc Serial Number. They can't do anything with it without the phone.

 

I wouldn't openly list the whole ESN on eBay for all to see. You never know what people might try to do with the number...even if it doesn't hurt you. It's not that big of a deal, the buyer can ask for the number and you can freely give it to them to check up on. People want to know if the ESN is free and clear of any holds because carriers will lock down a problem ESN. Since the ESN is supposed to be permanent affixed to that phone, the phone is useless with that particular carrier until the ESN is released.