Check Serial Number for Ebay Item

There is nowhere you can even check that it has, in fact, never been activated. All you can do is see if it is still in warranty with Apple, but that’s it. Otherwise, when buying from eBay or any other private party seller web site, you take your chances that whatever info the seller provided was true and accurate. Beware that, as many, many posts here attest to, it often is not.

There is no legitimate blacklist lookup site, no reliable stolen device database, no record of activations with either Apple, or for cellular devices, with a carrier. Your are buying a used device from a private party and are 100% in “caveat emptor” territory.

While you may be able to find out if it has warranty date, which would let you know if it has been activated, there is no way to check to see if it has been stolen, is Activation Locked, or blacklisted. However, blacklisting is reserved for cellular devices, and that information is not shared across carriers, so you may never see that either.

Here is the link for the warranty info. Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

In the past, at least with Apple products purchased directly from an Apple Store or ordered online, I could check my warranty status as soon as I had the serial number, without even turning the device on. Activation has nothing at all to do with the warranty. Warranty starts on the date of sale, whether activated, used or even taken out of the box, or not.

The only time the self serve web site asked me for purchase confirmation was when an Apple store in CT was having internet issues the day I bought an iMac, so the sales record had been fubar’d or something.