Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

ESN?? confused

Aug 18, 2005 4:26AM PDT

I want to buy a phone off ebay for verizon service and asked the seller for the phones ESN. Is there a way to find out if that ESN actually exists and no account locked on it? How long are ESN's generally and do they contain numbers and letters? I'm new at this and a bit confused on how to proceed.
thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
heres
Aug 21, 2005 7:21AM PDT

therez actually three different ESNs. ESN HEX, ESN DEC, and the ESN. u need the third one. its usually 11 numbers and includeds both numbers and letters. but thats for sprint. im not sure if verizons esns are different

- Collapse -
heres
Aug 21, 2005 4:56PM PDT

Verizon's ESN's are the same. The ESN DEC is 11 characters and the ESN Hex is 8 characters.