Having recently become more aware of the sheer number of scams and
scammers who inhabit eBay I'd personally never purchase anything through
their site. But that's just me.

From research I've done on this, yes, it really is that simple.
The telephone number comes with the SIM card. There should
be some instructions with the SIM card that explain how to
activate it.
One wrinkle to this process: what if I don't want a random
phone number but want to port an existing phone number
to the new ToGo account?

It does work that way but since this is your first phone and you may
need a little more support at first, your best bet is to probably buy
locally. Check out the deal at the store and other local retailers to
see what's best.  My elderly parents went with TMo Prepaid and followed
my advice to buy from the TMo store. It worked out well for them because
they needed a little help with operating the phone at first and they got
excellent help when they returned to the store.

Doug <douglashh@comcast.net> wrote in news:douglashh-D79DFB.09460522022007
@comcast.dca.giganews.com:

Yes, it's that simple. While I'm a postpaid customer, I've done exactly that on a number of occasions
for relatives traveling from abroad, so that they could avoid monsterous roaming charges from their
providers. Most recently I've bought a two pre-paid SIMs for about $10 a piece (shipped) around last
August/September timeframe. The rules do change time to time. First time I've done this was a few
years back, and I was able to change the area code on the SIM twice within a month time. Last time I
was explicitly warned that they allow one change of area code per 6 months (which was fine, because
I only needed one change). How it works today? I don't know.

One thing I can tell is that buying a $10 SIM from e-bay is a risk of $10 that you take in a bid to save
$40 buying from store (plus eBay cards come charged with 150 minutes, one in store will probably
have something like 30 minutes on it).

Inserting a SIM into the phone is quite simple. It's similar to inserting a memory flash card to some
devices (a bit different geomety, but it's at about the same level of complexity). And that's that. The
cards I bought came activated with a phone numbers already, so I could start making calls as soon as
they were popped into the phones. Changing the area code - 5 minute call to customer service. The
cards I bought all came with instructions as to the number I should call and with necessary info such
as PIN numbers on the card if any  (two most recent had no pins at all).

Of course your milage may vary, as people mentioned up in this thread - eBay is a wild water with little
or no regulation as to exactly how the particular seller will "package" their goods. Check the feedbacks.
Buy from those who specialize on the SIM cards and have good comments on past similar sales.

Hope this helps,

LEM
(remove all digits from e-mail for real address)

Doug,
Yes, it is that easy.  I've done it several times.  And if anything ever
went wrong, it was my fault and it was fixable.  I bought both activated and
un-activated SIM's, and the ones already activated are the least trouble.
The SIM fits in a slot under the battery and once it's in, you can make/take
calls.

If you are the least bit uneasy about buying one of these cards on eBay,
there is a cheap solution for a new SIM.  Buy a new T-Mobile 6030 from
Wal-Mart for $29 and activate that SIM, then sell, give away or keep that
phone as a spare.  There other sales that are even better.  I've seen a
Nokia 6010 go for $80 but included $100 in calling time, so the phone was
more than free.  All the activation instructions come in the box, you never
need to go to T-Mobile.

The $50 fee T-Mobile charges is a real ripoff when a new phone, with a SIM,
is available for so much less elsewhere.  I've purchased several activated
SIM's for $5-6 and if one of them didn't work, another $5 isn't a big deal,
but it's never happened.  The guys who usually sell these want these
accounts activated, they get a credit, so they want it to work for you.

Bill Radio
Click for Wireless Reviews at:
http://www.mountainwireless.com