- Related tools and websites
- Residential IP:https://dlj.playfulzone.top/qvn95p
- Forwarding Company:https://www.zdhaitao.com/ (very slow)
- Rakuten official website:https://dlj.playfulzone.top/66vcqf
- Mint official website:http://fbuy.me/u4ZmU
- Pixel 9 phone:https://www.mintmobile.com/devices/google-pixel-9/6810275/
I shared an issue two days ago.Google Pixel 9 Unboxing the phone, I didn’t expect that many friends were interested in: How to buy an unlocked phone for $299. Many experts even began to “popularize” the “common sense” of buying a contract phone in the United States. In fact, the detailed purchase process has been published in detail on my official account. However, few people paid attention to it at that time, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. I didn’t expect that on video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, people were very concerned about the purchase price.
Finally, I will briefly talk about those cheap locked phones on Xianyu.
First of all, I want to make it clear that I am not a mobile phone dealer, nor do I make money by selling mobile phones. This video is just a simple experience sharing. In addition, buying a pixel 9 phone for $299 was a hot topic on Black Friday last year, and many people jumped on the bandwagon. There are many posts online, so instead of questioning, it is better to learn more.
1. Can you still buy pixel 9 for $299 now?
It is basically impossible to do so on February 20, 2025. At present, on the official website of the US operator Mint, the price of the pixel9 contract has risen to $399. If you are a new user of Mint, you need to buy a mobile phone package before you can register an account to buy it.
Here is a note: if you don’t have a Mint account, you won’t see the $399 price. Therefore, you must first buy a package and have a Mint account before you can place an order.
The cost is:
- Phone price: $399
- Cell phone plan: about $51 ($45 + tax)
- Postage to China: about RMB 120
- Tariff: About RMB 270
In other words, it normally costs 3,668 yuan to buy a new pixel 9.
This price is a little cheaper than the brand new price on JD.com, and is basically the same as the 99% new one on Xianyu.
However, with the help of Rakuten rebate, you can get back about $35, which means you can buy it for 3,413 yuan.
As for why it can be purchased for $299, it is naturally because the Black Friday promotion is more powerful.
2. Black Friday: Buy pixel9 for $299
Since the Black Friday promotion started at the end of November 2024, the discount was as follows:
- Pixel 9: $299 on mint.com
- Ratuken Rebate: Spend $40 and get $40 back
- Order rebate: $2.5 per order, totaling $5 (package + mobile phone)
Therefore, through Rakuten Rebate Network, it is equivalent to using the Mint 3-month package for free and directly buying the pixel9 for US$299.
If you are in the United States, that's it. If you are in China, you will probably need to pay an additional 400 RMB for postage and customs duties.
3. Specific purchasing process
First of all, I would like to state that all operation procedures require a US network environment and a US address. Rakuten Rebate Network needs to be bound to a US payment method. If you don’t have one, don’t do it randomly, as it will make the rebate illegal. The tools I used are listed below the video for reference only.
For this kind of overseas payment, it is normal for success or failure to happen under the same tool, and it is also normal for the order to be cancelled. If you want to save money, spend more time researching.
Specific process:
- 1,Register for a Rakuten account
- 2. Download the Rakuen browser plug-in
- 3.Log in to mint official website, activate the $2.5 discount
- 4. Purchase a mint data plan (select eSIM)
- 5. Log in to your account
- 6.Go to the pixel9 purchase page, activate the $2.5 discount
- 7. Place an order (US shipping address required)
- 8. Review in about 48 hours, review successful
- 9. If the order is cancelled, repeat the operation
- 10. Transfer back to China
4. How to change a contract phone to unlocked
A friend told me that if I want to unlock the phone I bought with a contract, I have to pay the difference. In theory, this is true.
But he didn't know that a mint contract only needs to be online for 60 days before it can be automatically unlocked. Some netizens even said that as long as the eSIM is activated in the phone, it can be activated after 60 days even if it is not in the phone. I have not verified this statement, so I will just listen to it for now.
What I did was to contact customer service directly to unlock it.
The order was placed on December 5th and the shipment was shipped back to China on January 17th.
I applied to customer service on January 27, and received an unlock notification on my phone at 23:51 on the same day.
The reason for applying is very simple: you are abroad and need to use a mobile phone card from another country.
Even if you are too lazy to chat with customer service, because the original package also has 3 months, normally, the 60-day online requirement can be easily met.
Therefore, even if it is a contract phone when you buy it, you can easily turn it into an unlocked phone.
5. Types and risks of locked phones on second-hand platforms
Finally, let’s talk about the carrier-locked phones on Xianyu.
This type of locked phone is usually about 1,000 yuan cheaper than an unlocked phone. Most locked phone introductions have similar words: locked OEM closed, expired unlocked, etc. But the real situation may be like this:
Conversation screenshots
See clearly, “there is always a lock” and “it’s just a rhetoric”.
Of course, this cannot be generalized.
Querying the device status through IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) will result in six results in the operator (AT&T, T-Mobile) database:
- Clean: Indicates that the device has not been reported lost, stolen, or associated with any outstanding financial obligations (such as installment payments).
- Financed/Unpaid: Indicates that the device is still under installment payment and has not been fully paid off.
- Lost/Stolen: Indicates that the device has been reported lost or stolen.
- Blacklisted: This is the most serious status and indicates that there is a serious problem with the device (such as fraud, theft, a large amount of debt, etc.) and it is usually not usable on any network.
- Unlocked: Indicates that the device has been unlocked from the carrier's network lock and can use SIM cards from other carriers.
- Locked: Indicates that the device is locked to a specific carrier's network and can only use a SIM card from that carrier.
Rather than what we usually understand as locked and unlocked.
Take Pixel 9 pro Fold as an example. How did so many locked phones come from the second-hand market? In addition to being contract phones, there is a high probability that they are also installment payment, stolen devices, etc. Just like on the website of the US operator Spectrum, after the installment payment of Pixel 9 pro Fold, it only costs $50 per month. After this type of mobile phone enters the market, the operator can still unlock it after 3 years? It's too whimsical.
In addition, the risks of locked phones are not limited to this. Currently, locked phones are either used with card stickers or cracked with software. They rely too much on the bugs of the mobile phone operating system itself. It may only take one update to turn the phone into a brick.
However, a reality that is easily overlooked is that as AI and cloud computing sweep in, software algorithms begin to surpass the impact of hardware on devices. For example, if Google's pixel phone did not have Gemini, its hardware level would really not live up to its name as a flagship phone.
Therefore, friends who purchase more expensive locked phones must understand the risks involved and have more psychological expectations.
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