Data SIM Card
 

Hi. Just found this SIM Card at ebay.com. Can somebody tell me if this is a new package, because I haven't found it in the past.
Is it necessary to activate this package to the first day of the next month, like china mobile or is it automatically activated? How long will the card be valid after purchase? Is it valid for gprs or edge, too?
And I asked the seller about this, too. But maybe you can give me a answer a little bit faster than him:)

Edit: Answer of the seller is "The SIM will be activated when you use it.
6 month valid date."

If the balance is less than ¥180, it doesn't worth the $20.

You can get such a data SIM card anywhere in e-market (like Zhongguancun in Beijing) with a discount of 20% to 30%. A ¥600-worth SIM card may sell for only ¥480. Once you used up this balance, just throw it away and buy a new card at discount rate. I always do it like this.

Official rate (monthly):
• 1 GB – ¥80
• 3 GB – ¥150
• 5 GB – can't remember, maybe ¥200 or ¥250?
• 10 GB - ¥300
• maximum 15 GB - ¥800

But a normal tourist will not stay for month, so why should they buy a sim card for ¥480? I think 1GB will be enough for most persons who want to use their smartphones in holiday.
And is the ¥480 SIM Card automatically activated from the first day of use?
I know that you have to activate a gprs package for china mobile before the first day of month to use it. This unicom package seems to be activated immediately.

Your ebay link appears to be a good deal. You just need to ask the seller relevant questions and be patient. His answers will be far more pertinent than any speculation we can offer.

I already copy the answer from him in my first posting.
Sim is valid for 6 month after first use and the 1GB is valid until you used, so this can be up to 6 month if you use only 100mb a month.
I still dont know if its for EDGE or only for WCDMA.

I cant try the card because I will not be in china for the next months. But I think its a very good deal for travelers.

Why not ask him follow up questions? Based on my reading of his ad (not the Unicom site), it appears that there might not be a monthly fee at all (simply draw down on 1G until it's gone or six months pass). While I realize that most of us pay monthly fees, telecom products are always being packaged in new/different ways, so anything is possible.

Frankly, in light of the seller's incredible ebay rating, I'd be inclined to just grab it and sort out the details once I arrived in China. If it turns out there is no monthly fee and you don't use 800M+, you'll probably be able to unload it for the same $20 before you return home. If there is a monthly fee and you use it for one month, your total out of pocket would be $35 and you could presumably fetch y100 for the partially used card. A great deal in either case.

Maybe another one can asked him, I send him three emails and think it should be enough for one buyer ;)
If its really like he told me (1gb valid for 6 month, without any additional fees and activated from the first day of use) its a very good deal and a lot better than the other offers i found before.
Would be nice to know if this package is also available at a shop in china and whats the price for it. Maybe someone from china can check this.

Like some of the others here, I'm in China, but I don't fancy visiting a Unicom shop on your behalf (simply not pleasant), even in exchange for a big beer at Paulaner.

Since you're in direct contact with the seller, I suggest you continue to pursue that avenue. In the event he gets tired of your questions, you should simply take the plunge; I'm 90% sure that he's offering you a good deal.

You dont have to go there if its not pleasant enough for you. But than we cant be sure that this offer really exist. I can ask the seller everything, but I am not able to verify his answers.
Maybe its pleasant enough for you to check the website of china unicom, is the package listed there? I can only go there with google translate, but didn't found the package.

How is this package different to any other package?

If you sign up in the store Unicom will ask for a large deposit. They know you will not use that much credit and they consider it pure profit.

The data should be good for 1 month and the sim for 6 months. If your lucky this guy has a special deal with Unicom and the data is valid for 6 months. Definitely no such deal for tourist who walk in to a Unicom store.

The guy told me its really valid for 6 month after activating the card. But even if its valid only for 1 month, it will still be a good offer because you can use it direct after arriving in china. You don't have to wait for the first day in the next month.

Question: How long will the 1gb data transfer be valid, the whole 6 month, too? or it it only for use in the first month? if i use only 0,25gb a month it will be valid for 4 month?

Answer: 6 months

;)

If you don't recharge a sim card they expire. He probably means the card will expire in 6 months unless you recharge it.

Maybe but this was a question I asked seperatly.

Next answer of him "You could add more value in the Card,but it's cheaper to buy another SIM.Thanks." Question was "still need to know what is the
price to buy more data traffic for this sim card after the first 1GB are
used."

Ok I asked the seller now about 20 times, and he still tell me that the 1GB will be valid for 6 month. Its a promotion SIM Card. It makes no sense to recharge the card because they will bill 286RMB/month then.

A chinese Friend called Unicom Callcenter and they didnt know anything about this Sim Card.