BlackBerrys have become extremely popular amongst those who need to be able to access email from anywhere. So much so that a new word, "CrackBerry" was coined to mean the addiction to one's BlackBerry, in particular, sending and recieving realtime email from anywhere. Use of the term CrackBerry became so widespread that in November 2006 Webster's New World College Dictionary named "crackberry" the "New Word of the Year".

With all this increased BlackBerry usage, a need for a secondary market has arisen. Leave it to ebay to fill the gap. Being able to buy a used BlackBerry from ebay has many advantages.

First of all, it's a great way to try out a BlackBerry without paying the big prices at the cell phone shop.

Second, it enables you to get a replacement BlackBerry should yours be lost or damaged. Insurance on BlackBerrys can be a bit steep, and there is generally a hefty deductable that you may not be aware of until you need to use it. Why pay that if you can go to ebay and buy a really nice replacement BlackBerry, often for less than the fees plus the deductible on your insurance policy!

Buying through ebay is very safe these days - check the seller's feedback ratings, experience, etc. before you buy, and you'll have virtually no risk.

BlackBerry is referred to as a "smartphone", which means it supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information. This service was introduced in 2002 .

Developed by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), BlackBerry delivers information over the wireless data networks of mobile phone service companies.

The current generation of BlackBerrys do not include a touchscreen, a la the iPhone, however, next generation models will have this feature.

And by the way, the plural form of BlackBerry is BlackBerrys.