In the past few months we have had many customers come to us to unlock their iPhones. We do offer unlocking services and the prices vary depending on your carrier and whether its out of contract and financed. One of the more common network, Verizon Wireless have a little known benefit in that most of their iPhones come factory unlocked for those wanting to use a Verizon iPhone on a GSM network.

We have seem many shops and online companies advertising “unlocking” of Verizon iPhones. Please before buying on of these unlocks, test your T-Mobile SIM or any other GSM sim card in the phone. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn the phone is unlocked.

It is important to check that the ESN/IMEI is clean though. There are plenty of ways to do this. You can walk into any Verizon store and they should be able to tell you whether the phone is out of contract, and free of any financing. The last thing you want is to buy a phone that has not been paid for fully by the seller because if they stop making payments, Verizon can still block your phone from working on any network.

Swappa offers a free IMEI/ESN check service which you can utilize to check if a phone is clear of financing or insurance claims.

Its always a good idea to investigate a handset’s history before buying an expensive phone that might be worthless or blocked in the future, and please do check your Verizon iPhones before paying for an unlock.

Best of luck out there!