Going to Sell your Phone? Here are things to do before it!

Learn what you must do before listing your old phone for sale.

Gather all the old phones and electronic devices you can find

If you’re like me, you don’t have any old electronics stored in a box in your basement or hall closet, because you trade in your phone every two years like clockwork. Everyone else, take note: selling all of your old equipment at once is preferable to selling them piecemeal over months or years.

Spend a few hours going through your closets, attic, basement, garage, storage shed, and automobile — anyplace there’s a remote chance of discovering old equipment. Of course, older, badly maintained electronics won’t fetch top dollar in a trade-in, but they’re still valuable, and you owe it to the environment not to throw them out.

Figure out what your phone is worth

Next, conduct some basic market research to determine the value of each of your phones. It’s as simple as going to one of the buyback markets listed below and correctly entering your phone’s information, including its make, model, storage, condition, and maybe colour.

Remember to verify with your cell phone provider as well. Your phone may be worth more in account credits than in cash in some situations.

You’ll have a general idea of what bulk purchasers are ready to pay for your phone soon enough. Look for comparable gadgets on eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, and lesser-known peer-to-peer markets like Swappa to see what your fellow mobile phone users are willing to pay. All of them are detailed in the sections below.

Research Your Payout Options

Consider what you want to gain out of the deal now that you know how much your equipment is worth. Are you wanting to receive cash as soon as possible? Are you willing to wait for a postal check or a PayPal transfer for a week or two? Would you want a credit against future purchases on your phone carrier’s account to make things simple?

Each platform has its own set of pay guidelines. Direct-buyer platforms often deliver payment within a few days after confirming that your gadget is exactly as you described it, although exact timescales vary. If the buyer disagrees with your assessment of your phone’s features and condition, it may reduce its payout offer or refuse the device altogether.

Most buyers return phones for free when the seller refuses the revised offer, but you’ll want to confirm that this is the case before you send off your phone. Generally, sellers must affirmatively respond to revised offers within a week or two. Otherwise, the buyer assumes they’ve accepted the offer and issues payment at the reduced rate.

Understand what’s involved in listing and selling

Next, consider how much effort you’re willing to put in to obtain money for your phone.

Are you prepared to go through the hassle of setting up an auction page or classified advertising for your phone, as well as maybe meeting purchasers in person if you’re selling on Craigslist or Nextdoor? Or would you rather just answer a few questions about your phone and move on?

You stand to benefit more if you put up more effort. E-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon routinely pay out more money than direct-buyer marketplaces like Gazelle, but they also require more work.

This, like so many other things, boils down to the worth of your time. You already know what you need to accomplish if you’re prepared to put in the time required to achieve a high payment.

Wipe or Reset your Phone

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to reset your phone to factory settings if you do nothing else before discarding your old mobile phone. Every phone maker allows users to accomplish this; simply look up thorough instructions on the company’s website.

Even older gadgets that haven’t been cleaned according to the manufacturer’s recommendations will be rejected by certain customers. Others offer reduced compensation for items that have left traces of the previous owner.

The rare buyer may promise to erase gadgets so that sellers don’t have to, but don’t believe them. It just takes one rogue employee to tamper with your personal information — and anything else is saved on your phone. Don’t settle for anything less than a factory reset.

Of course, before you reset your phone, back up all of your data, including contacts, to a safe cloud storage account or external storage device, and then migrate those files to your new smartphone as soon as it arrives. If you have an Android phone, you may save time by using the free Android File Transfer app.

“Want to sell your phone and get top dollar? We Buy Phones! Drop by EK Wireless or book an appointment on call to get the best quote for your old phones.”