Great news, been too long since this was a thing
::: spoiler spoiler
(even though I'd never buy an Apple device myself)
:::

I want to buy a used one just play and learn iOS but I fear getting scammed and the device being locked.

If you buy from a reputable seller with a good free return policy, at worst you'll have to send the device back. If you have access to a credit card or PayPal, it's a good idea to use them, in case the seller becomes unresponsive.

I've used Swappa before and it worked out fine. I sought a private seller instead of the cellphone shops that sell there.

Pro Tip for PayPal: in the (hopefully unlikely) event that PayPal sides with the seller, contact the BBB and complain.

I had an issue with a seller on eBay claiming they shipped me an iPad, but it was not to my address. It was considered delivered so both eBay and PayPal decided they wanted to wash their hands of my complaint and not honor their guarantees. This was in spite of the postmaster sending them a letter acknowledging that the package was not delivered to me. Once I filed a complaint with the BBB, PayPal was quick to resolve my issue with a refund.

contact the BBB and complain.

BBB is not a sanctioning body; they are just Yelp for boomers. Entirely voluntary participation. Gotta make that clear.

Fantastic!

Yes, it is voluntary. But, in the case of PayPal, they care about their BBB rating. And, that’s a Good Thing(TM).

Nice, the number of adblocking apps on iOS is rare. Most demand subscriptions and don't do device wide adblocking, only in Safari.
Only the old version of AdGuard Pro still does it, so I haven't updated the app in years.

Fuck, wish they released that while I was on iPhone during HS. All the other ad blockers were paid and/or Safari only, and I DESPISE Safari, It's so bad. I just used Firefox + NextDNS and prayed.

Yeah unfortunately this is only a safari extension

What's wrong with Safari on iOS? I prefer Firefox on my computer but on my phone all I want is better adblocking.

Orion browser is a bit better than Safari for adblocking but doesn't solve the issue of other apps

Finally, took them long enough. AdGuard has been good to me but I’ll switch to UBlock in 0.02 nanoseconds once it is available.

I just hated using it, and I already had a FF account that I use everyday and made syncing things better. Safari's UI feels gross and ancient to me, and even my iPhone/MacOS loving mom says the way bookmarks/saved pages works is dumb. Plus, I used FF to have a balance of convenience and privacy, since most other options on iOS aren't privacy friendly.

Firefox Focus too!

So I’ma bit confused, would this block ads while I’m using the YouTube app? Or just ads while I’m using safari? Aren’t browsers on iOS just reskins of safari under the hood as well? Meaning this would work with chrome / Firefox?

The only way this will work as of now (at least in the US, I’m unsure how extensions may work on a third party App Store with the newer EU regulations) is if you use safari only. iOS allows for safari extensions from the App Store which already have things like ad blockers, but they definitely do not run within any third party apps. The code is certainly likely to be open source, but I definitely don’t see chrome/brave integrating it as part of their app bundle. Perhaps Firefox? In any case it’s up to each browser vendor to provide their own ad blocking system. For complete system wide adblocking on iOS you pretty much need a VPN.