SIMlock (Carrier lock)
Buyback & Trade-inPricing Models
SIMlock is a software restriction applied by a carrier that limits a device to that carrier's network, reducing the addressable buyer pool and therefore resale value.
Unlocked devices can be sold to any buyer on any network, while SIMlocked devices are constrained to compatible buyers and regions. On secondary markets, locked vs unlocked variants of the same model commonly differ by 10-30%, depending on carrier, geography, and model demand. SIMlock is not always disclosed, which creates pricing distortions and avoidable returns; pricing intelligence that tracks SIMlock explicitly produces more accurate like-for-like comparisons than model-only comparisons.