How to know an iphone I'm buying online is legitimate and not stolen?

I'm shopping on EBay for an iphone 5. I want to make sure that the phone I'm buying isn't stolen and works properly. How can I go about making sure that the phone is a legit purchase?
I have been told to call Verizon and check the MEID number. Is that a smart thing to do?

The most important thing to do is to buy it from someone with experience selling (has a good amount of feedback). You can ask the seller for the MEID number, but he/she may not give it to you because it could be used maliciously. If the seller does give it to you, then you can check if it is "clean" at http://swappa.com/esn.

Hope that helps!

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