I’d like to recount some things that happened two weekends ago (24-26 June 2022), which I really thank God for, on how I got a new phone even though I had less than RM400 or US$100. That’s how I have been easily taking photos, posting to my stories, and replying y’all.
Basically, I had been using a $50 burner phone (OPPO R7) for the past 2 months, because the screen of my Huawei P20 Pro (that I have been using since 2018) was broken due to me chasing the bus in pants with shallow pockets. (The phone dropped.) In Brazil, Huawei parts are not easily found & ordering from AliExpress took too long, so I just used my burner phone. Pleasantly, I learned that I can live quite comfortably with a $50 phone + laptop.
However, day by day, the power button on this $50 phone (a spare phone since 2020!) was getting harder & harder to press, which meant the phone always had to be charged otherwise it might die forever. And on 24 June the phone died. Now, pressing the power button with my nails didn’t work. So I made a vow that when I turn it back on, no matter what, I will get a phone that doesn’t take a lot of struggle to turn on; it’s a sign! And so after 2 hours & my nails hurting so much, I managed to turn it on with a big key. The next time I guess it would have needed a hammer or else it would die forever without hope of being salvaged. Then I asked to go to the refurbished phone store (that was recommended to me by my fiancée’s father) the next day. Even though I had only $75, I thought I would just pay in installments.
That night, after 2 months of deliberation, I put up my used videography equipment for sale (Lumix G7 camera & Sennheiser G3 microphones), in case I got lucky. It was scary to put it up for sale because the equipment was still back in Malaysia with a close friend of a decade who blocked me because I went to Brazil & “abandoned” her. So, I had asked my mom & brother to collect it before I listed it for sale on Carousell (a used items online market), but due to some miscommunication, they didn’t manage to collect the items. So out of frustration, I just listed them anyway, and then I slept while praying my anxiety away…
In less than 12 hours, when I woke up the next day on 25 June 2022, I was pleasantly surprised with 2 interested buyers of my Sennheiser G3, which was worth $250, and a well-rated buyer wanted to come immediately to buy it, and so the first thing I did… was to complain to my mom & brother about why they didn’t manage to collect the items. Fortunately, we had a good talk & I contacted my friend-who-blocked-me’s mom who agreed to help pass the items to my brother the next day, around noon. The buyer also said he would confirm the time in the morning. I asked my brother to help me with this task because I vowed to get a new phone and had only $100, and immediately he lent me $250, which meant a lot because he earned it earlier this year working in a restaurant, in an abusive workplace environment. I gratefully accepted his help.
When we went to the phone shop, I shortlisted a $150 Samsung phone & also a $200 Motorola phone, and decided to do a coin toss on which one & committed it to God. My love, Monize, suggested that if it landed on heads then it would be Motorola, and that’s what happened. So apparently I needed a more expensive phone. Anyway, because I don’t have a credit card, paying in installments didn’t work, so I just paid the full amount, thanks to my brother, and got the phone. (picture below)
So in the morning of 26 June 2022 (Malaysia time) the buyer wanted to meet at 2:00 p.m., which I agreed because my friend’s mom said to contact her to collect the items at 12:00 p.m., but when 12:00 p.m. came, she wasn’t answering any messages or picking up any calls, and I thought it was okay & that I would only worry at 1:00 p.m. & when 1:00 p.m. came I started to get anxious and it was 2:00 a.m. in Brazil.
Despite not being able to contact them, I asked my brother to just take a taxi to the house & ring the doorbell & see what happens. In the taxi he also tried to call & message my friend-who-blocked-me but she didn’t respond. He even conveyed the reminder that she was going to get some commission for the sale, as agreed 3 months ago. At this point it was already 1:35 p.m. & I didn’t know what to say to the buyer because the appointment was at 2:00 p.m. & the location was 15 minutes away. I was so worried & felt so helpless that I was not only going to miss the opportunity to sell my used microphones, but also my 5-star Carousell rating being tarnished, affecting my ability to sell the remaining items. As I was planning what to say to the buyer, the buyer suddenly messaged me & said he would be arriving at 2:30 p.m. & conveyed his apologies, which was a huge relief. When my brother arrived at my friend’s house, it was already 1:55 p.m., so at this point I was really thankful that the buyer was late. When my brother rang the doorbell, their maid who helped transfer all my belongings. Every single item, which included my Canon 70D, Lumix G7, and my Sennheiser G3 for the buyer, was handed over to my brother, which was a huge relief because I hadn’t gotten this anxious in weeks, and this was only for missing an appointment. I believe my friend-who-blocked-me’s mom gave the green light to do that so I really have to thank her for that. So when the items were collected with time to spare, I had a better feeling that things were going to go well now.
So now it’s past 2:00 p.m. in Malaysia & 3:00 a.m. in Brazil on 26 June 2022, and my brother was on the way to the rendezvous point with the buyer to complete the deal for one microphone. When the buyer found out that we had two microphones instead of one, he bought both of them! I was worried because the second one’s antenna covering was worn, and the lavalier needed an extra clip, but I just gave him a $25 discount & he didn’t mind it. So because he bought two Sennheiser G3’s, he transferred $475 to my brother. I told him to keep the money because that was the total amount I owed him, inclusive of the amount he lent me for the new phone. He also helped to transfer the commission to my friend. He was surprised because he didn’t know I would return it this soon & didn’t mind letting me borrow it longer. And so there goes all of my money again (mostly), but I was happy to return it to him.
And then a few days later, as I was handing over that $50 burner phone (which I used for 2 years) to Monize’s sister who needed a phone (picture attached)
And as I was preparing to warn her not to let the phone battery go flat… I found out that it had a scheduled power-on feature! So even if it went flat, it would power on by itself the next morning. If I had realized this feature earlier, I might not have gotten a new phone & been posting all the stories that you have been seeing. Looking back, this weekend had really miraculous timings:
(1) my old phone’s power button failing in time &
(2) needing a new phone,
(3) the good timing of my equipment listing,
(4) an interested buyer in less than 12 hours,
(5) getting the equipment from the friend who blocked me in time,
(6) my brother’s available schedule,
(7) the buyer being late but on time for us,
(8) the buyer needing two (instead of just one) microphones,
(9) my brother lending me money to buy a new phone, and
(10) me being able to pay him back after the sale.
So I am really grateful for everything & I hope this encourages you. All glory to God!