finding a new case for an old phone can be annoying

This was (and still is) an adventure, and not one I wanted to take.

My phone is old. It's a 2016 model that I acquired in 2019, but it still works and I don't want to give it up. It takes fantastic photos, records fairly good videos (including 2K 30fps and 1080p 60fps resolutions) and gets the job done. The only thing it can't do is run certain apps because the Android version is old, but I can live without those for the time being.

I've only had one case for the phone this whole time, which as of recent ended up being a disgusting mess due to age and wear, so it had to be replaced.

Off to eBay I went to find a replacement phone case, of which there are many. Amazon also has many, but eBay is where I decided to go.

I find a case that looks okay, and make the order. A few days pass and it arrives.

Stupid thing doesn't fit.

Ugh..

Start an eBay return, go to eBay again, buy another case. Another few days pass, it arrives, and this one actually fits. Okay, good.

Technically, this new case is "better", but I prefer the design of the old one. The corner bumpers were done right. Not-so much on this one, but I literally have no other choice because nobody makes that style of case anymore...

...or so I thought.

For my original case, I had to fight to find that one back in '19. A fair amount of hunting around was required, but I found one on eBay, and it was only $3.29. Digging through some old emails, I was able to find the eBay seller who originally sold it. But of course, that seller no sells them.

Drat.

What I did have however was the title of the product the seller originally used.

I did an eBay search for that and... oh my God, I found it. The exact same case, proper corner bumpers and all.

One problem. It's in China and it'll cost $8.50 to get it.

The price is obviously cheap, so that's not the issue.

Being it will come from mainland China, it may take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to get here. And that's a risk, because sometimes buying stuff from there never makes it to the USA.

This is a risk I'm willing to take, because I really want my old phone case back.

I may end up $8.50 poorer with nothing to show for it, but only one eBay seller in China has my favorite phone case (believe me, I looked thoroughly), so... yep, gotta do it, take the risk and hopefully get my case back.

Published 2025 Sep 3

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