How much does a nice mobile number cost today. How they are sold and where they come from

Remember how popular the fashion was for beautiful numbers? I remember it very well, because I first worked in a mobile phone store, and then in federal support for one operator.

Now, according to my observations, most subscribers pay a little less attention to the individualization of numbers.

Let’s figure out where you can buy a nice number now, how to do it safely and at the same time see how much such numbers can cost.

Where to get a nice number in 2024

The easiest and safest way to buy a number in 2024 is to contact mobile operators. You can do this without coming to the office. Go to the website, select the number you like from those available for purchase and fill out an application for connection. If it is absolutely not necessary to order a SIM card for this, an employee of the OSS (mobile operator) can replace your number with a new one.

An important nuance – the number is booked for a limited time. It is advisable to hurry to the mobile phone store.

If you do not want to give your passport details to the courier to fill out, you can book a number on the website and then go to the nearest mobile phone store. Without registration, you cannot officially buy a number.

But there is also a grey market for beautiful numbers. I have seen beautiful “federal” numbers with miracle tariffs for very little money on marketplaces more than once. As a rule, they will send you to register a SIM card in advance and it is not a fact that the organization usually acts for an official person. The main disadvantage of such offers is that the number does not actually belong to you. You cannot dispose of it in good faith (change the tariff, order call details, connect some services), i.e. you do not have the data to identify the operator. The call center line will simply ask you for the name of the organization for the number and will tell it to the seller in advance – a very debatable issue.

And also, if your SIM card breaks/gets lost, you won’t be able to restore it, the number doesn’t belong to you, and you’ll most likely find it in a mobile phone store. Well, actually, where’s the guarantee that the number will simply stop working for reasons unknown to you or will appear in the spam call database? There’s no guarantee.

Before we move on to discussing prices, I will tell you a story from my experience. In 2015, it was still possible to get a number without registration, the so-called “dummy SIM card”. Such a SIM card worked for two weeks, and then was blocked until its owner contacted a mobile phone store with a passport and a SIM card registration kit (now this is also possible, but selling such a SIM card is not entirely legal).

One day I got a call from someone who bought such an impersonal SIM card with a beautiful number, clearly more expensive than in an official mobile phone store. He started threatening to kill me and the CEO and using foul language. The reason for his anger was simple: he threw away the SIM card kit along with the desire to register it in his name and caught the communication block. Today he managed to make about ten more calls, after which he was blacklisted for spam.

How much does a nice number cost and where do they come from in different services

As I already said, you can buy nice numbers in two ways: officially and on the “gray” market. Officials (cellular operators) rarely charge 20 thousand rubles for numbers for individuals. And for this money you can buy a number where, at best, there will be 4 identical digits at the end.

But what if the range of numbers available for sale from Operators is not organized? The interested party is faced with the choice of various third-party services, where the numbers are significantly higher, but the prices are also appropriate.

The prices are of course popular, I can’t say anything

When supporting international services, you should remember the risks that I described above, and, most importantly, the disclaimer of liability on the part of the site where such numbers are sold. This service (I will not write what it is called) acts as nothing more than an intermediary between the seller and the buyer, simply posts information about the product. In fact, on the site, the owner of the number grants the right to use a beautiful number (use, not ownership) to another person. Although, judging by the information on the site, all agreements are concluded in a personal format, accordingly, the number can be re-registered for you.

And judging by the reviews from a trusted and reliable seller, I might rip you off

Is it safe to buy numbers on such resources? My opinion is no. I have already given several arguments above why, but if they are not enough, you can read the offer and rules for using the service. It is written there in black and white: no one bears any responsibility for the activities of sellers. Yes, you may come across a reliable person who will go with you to the mobile phone store personally and re-register the contract for using the number on. But no one gives any guarantees.

And there are enough nuances in local offers. In short, if you get screwed, it’s no one’s fault, don’t complain. If the number drops off, it’s also

How are numbers accepted by such intermediaries? The question is debatable. Considering that most numbers are sold by individuals and individual entrepreneurs, there is a place for circulation of lots on the market. You probably know that the number capacity is not infinite, and, oddly enough, the number of number options is limited. The “better” the number, the more unique it is within the number capacity. And, as a rule, the owners of such numbers change over a long period of time.

For example, there is a number 9339000009, perhaps it was organized by an organization that closed, and the employees provided the opportunity to register the numbers in their name. And, naturally, the owner of such a beautiful number sooner or later wants to make money. Or someone bought a beautiful number 9168000888 20 years ago and in 2024 discovered that it could be sold very profitably, because there is no other similar number. However, this is just my assumption.

But it is important to understand: no service discloses their sources for obvious reasons. Some numbers may well have a rather dubious history. The fact is that cases of theft from the number capacity by the hands of employees of mobile operators are not a secret. Over the past 14 years, several large schemes for “withdrawal” of such numbers from the operator’s reserves have been uncovered. Not all such cases become public knowledge. But at the same time, when I still worked in tech support, we handed out phones at the beginning of the working day for about a month – this was an investigation, when thefts occurred in the country.

What kind of beautiful number is needed in 2024

My personal opinion is that in 2024, there is no point in using a fancy number for individuals. Do we often use mobile communications? Personally, I don’t. Even my mother, daughter and grandmother already use only messengers and calls within them.

The other side is the b2b segment. Here the relevance remains. For how long? The question is as debatable as the liquidity of such an offer as “a nice number for 450 thousand rubles”. And I will be happy to read your thoughts on this matter in the comments. Have a nice day!