negrielectronics has a brand new sealed n900 for 260.

Those that sell on Ebay gets their things from here:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/N900-...572687594.html

You cab verify that this seller has sold one recently, that the pone was received and customer happy. You pay to the site, and if the goods turn up damaged and not as described, they will hold on to the funds or even revoke your payment - just like Paypal. These are usually phones that failed first round in QA/QC that has been fixed and sold in "white boxes". They have never been used, should have a valid IMEI (Nokia range) - and this particular seller represesnts a production consortium known to me. They ship quickly, so they can get paid.

My bet is that this is a Chinese "new" N900.
These are not new in any sense except that the outer plastic has been replaced. You get a nasty old repaired Nokia Board that has been junked and repaired. I bought one on eBay and it had old contacts and apps still installed. Reflashing to fix non functioning apps took every trick on TMO to even start and at 45% bricked the phone, it wont enter flash mode. Some Chinese repaired "new" N900s may work fine as they only had to fix the USB but they are still worn out and abused to the point of breakage old electronics inside fresh new plastic.

My advice, don't buy phones from someone you dont know in China.

bike? that is so true. I can confirm negris units are manufacturer sealed. Not sure where they get their stock from but they are nokia sealed.

Yes. As it has been mentioned many times, these new units are simply refurbished phones. Many times, they even have some of the personal data of the person who previously used the phone, which I find to be hilarious.

The condition of the main board inside the apparently new chassis is a mystery when you buy phones like those. Lots of uneducated (not unintelligent) people fall for these, and that's why these companies thrive. I'd say if you are going to buy an N900 buy from a US seller, even better a local seller. But even some US sellers source their N900 from China and sell them as "new".

As a rule of thumb, any auction listed as "New" that claims something like "Box needs to be opened to customize phone and replace AC adapter with unit with appropriate voltage" is not to be trusted.