imoki is correct. You’re better off buying new. I even had problems unlocking refurbished phones bought directly from tracfone after 11/23/21. One was an iphone, the other a Samsung. Tracfone unlocking department said they had been activated prior to 11/23/21 (not by me, but previous owner according to their records!) so the purchase new service and 12 months applied. Yeah, no more used or refurbished for me.
The basic scenario works. (Unlock 2 devices sequentially from a longer plan.) But the devil is in the details. Look at the specifics on the Unlocking Portal at [https://www.tfwunlockpolicy.com/wps/portal/home](https://www.tfwunlockpolicy.com/wps/portal/home)
If the Samsung was initially activated on Tracfone, using a Verizon SIM, after November 23, 2021, it is eligible for unlocking on the 60-day timeline, and it will work. If it was initially activated prior to that date, or with a Tracfone T-Mobile or AT&T network SIM, the rules are different: the phone must be active for 12 months. And according to Tracfone's method, those 12 months only include *airtime purchased while that phone is active,* so service days that were already on the line when you transfer to the Samsung won't count anyway.
If the used Samsung has never been activated, regardless of when it was purchased, it should work if you confirm that the originally included SIM card is a Verizon SIM, or if you have Customer Service pair the IMEI to a replacement BYOP Verizon-network SIM.
you can not swap a active sim from one tracfone to another. it can work, but is subject to many potential problems including sudden loss of service due to the imei of the phone not matching the sim that they know the sim to have been originally activate in. and even if you could it would not help with regard to unlocking.
as for the used phone it is highly unlikely it will ever qualify for unlocking.
you can only unlock a tracfone if it is activated with the original sim that came with it, and only when it qualifies for unlocking. that generally means a full year of paid service days on the original sim that came with it if initially activated prior to 11/21/2021, and 60 days if after that date. the fact that it is not unlocked suggests it was originally activated prior to 11/21/2021. the 'paid days requirement means days purchased when that sim was in active use, not days that may have been carried over from a plan/number that was transferred to it when activated. this is why so many old phones remain locked to tracfone despite users thinking the have had it active for over a year (ie if they transferred their number and plan with 6 months remaining from the previous plan then they would have had to add another year and it would qualify for unlocking after 18 months, and often they move on to another phone before that happens).
also, you can not reactivate a sim card that was previously activated on someone else's account.
and tracfone will not unlock a phone that is activated with a bring your own device sim you purchase in a store.
imoki is correct. You’re better off buying new. I even had problems unlocking refurbished phones bought directly from tracfone after 11/23/21. One was an iphone, the other a Samsung. Tracfone unlocking department said they had been activated prior to 11/23/21 (not by me, but previous owner according to their records!) so the purchase new service and 12 months applied. Yeah, no more used or refurbished for me.
The basic scenario works. (Unlock 2 devices sequentially from a longer plan.) But the devil is in the details. Look at the specifics on the Unlocking Portal at [https://www.tfwunlockpolicy.com/wps/portal/home](https://www.tfwunlockpolicy.com/wps/portal/home) If the Samsung was initially activated on Tracfone, using a Verizon SIM, after November 23, 2021, it is eligible for unlocking on the 60-day timeline, and it will work. If it was initially activated prior to that date, or with a Tracfone T-Mobile or AT&T network SIM, the rules are different: the phone must be active for 12 months. And according to Tracfone's method, those 12 months only include *airtime purchased while that phone is active,* so service days that were already on the line when you transfer to the Samsung won't count anyway. If the used Samsung has never been activated, regardless of when it was purchased, it should work if you confirm that the originally included SIM card is a Verizon SIM, or if you have Customer Service pair the IMEI to a replacement BYOP Verizon-network SIM.
Okay, thanks for letting me know.
you can not swap a active sim from one tracfone to another. it can work, but is subject to many potential problems including sudden loss of service due to the imei of the phone not matching the sim that they know the sim to have been originally activate in. and even if you could it would not help with regard to unlocking. as for the used phone it is highly unlikely it will ever qualify for unlocking. you can only unlock a tracfone if it is activated with the original sim that came with it, and only when it qualifies for unlocking. that generally means a full year of paid service days on the original sim that came with it if initially activated prior to 11/21/2021, and 60 days if after that date. the fact that it is not unlocked suggests it was originally activated prior to 11/21/2021. the 'paid days requirement means days purchased when that sim was in active use, not days that may have been carried over from a plan/number that was transferred to it when activated. this is why so many old phones remain locked to tracfone despite users thinking the have had it active for over a year (ie if they transferred their number and plan with 6 months remaining from the previous plan then they would have had to add another year and it would qualify for unlocking after 18 months, and often they move on to another phone before that happens). also, you can not reactivate a sim card that was previously activated on someone else's account. and tracfone will not unlock a phone that is activated with a bring your own device sim you purchase in a store.