SIM card / PAYG Help

Sorry for the stupid question... I recently bought a spare phone, and would like to buy a pay-as-you-go type of plan for it. I see people selling SIM cards from Rogers/FIDO on the BST forums... can I buy a blank SIM and somehow set it up to use PAYG? Or do I have to go to a retail outlet and get the store to set one up for me? And if I can't setup my own SIM, why are people selling new/blank SIMs? What good are they?

Thanks.

They are much cheaper to purchase here than in the outlets. You simply put it into the phone, go online, add your funds and are ready to go.

I belive a SIM is about $25 retail

(I have one sitting here if you want it $10)

The phone has to be either unlocked, or else locked to the same network as the SIM, e.g. Rogers phone with Rogers SIM, Fido phone with Fido SIM etc.

people are selling unused sim cards because A) THEY DONT NEED THEM
when you buy a phone, it comes with a blank sim card INTENDED for new customers, but existing cx's use their older sim all the time.

Just buy a used/unactivated sim, and call in or go to a store and have it activated on a Rogers/Fido Pay and Talk plan

Last I heard, neither Fido or Rogers will re-activate a used expired SIM. They want you to buy a new one. But it's ok to buy a new, not-yet-activated SIM at a discount - dealers get lots of them and dump them on eBay.

Originally Posted by Aske001

Last I heard, neither Fido or Rogers will re-activate a used expired SIM. They want you to buy a new one. But it's ok to buy a new, not-yet-activated SIM at a discount - dealers get lots of them and dump them on eBay.

of course, thats why i said unused,this means a sim card has never EVER been activated before. These are the only sim cards you can activate. once you activate it, and de-activate it, you can NEVER use it again, kinda like a debit or credit card. For Security perposes

Originally Posted by Paolo

For Security perposes

More like profit purposes.

It's simple. Figure out if it's a Rogers or Fido phone. Walk into the store and buy a SIM card. Cost me $25 at Rogers. I just took it home, called them up and got it activated in minutes with no activations fees. Should be the same for Fido.

Originally Posted by WalnutCrunch

It's simple. Figure out if it's a Rogers or Fido phone. Walk into the store and buy a SIM card. Cost me $25 at Rogers. I just took it home, called them up and got it activated in minutes with no activations fees. Should be the same for Fido.

That's true. But if you shop on eBay instead, you can get the same SIM with $50 airtime credit for $15. Do the math.

Thanks for all the help... I'm going sim card shopping! I'll be using it on a Treo 650 locked to Rogers as a true "spare" phone ( I have another phone with a plan that I use for day-to-day).

Thanks!