Where Can I Sell My Phone? | Guide To Selling Your Used Phone in 2019

by Ricardo Gonzalez July 26, 2019

If you are thinking about making some extra money by selling your old phone that is collecting dust in your drawer then you've come to the right place.

These are the three options you have in selling your phone.

• The first option: Sell it to a business or ECOATMs. 
• Pros: you'll receive money almost instantly, very minimal human interaction 
• Cons: you'll receive significantly less money. They can deny your phone or offer you less money than what you'll be willing to take. *Remember they are taking a risk every time they purchase a phone. So don't be upset if they deny your device. I will go through some examples on why they can deny or offer you less money for your phone later in this article. 
• Second option: Sell it yourself on a third party app.
• Pros: You'll get more money and price can be negotiated. 
• Cons: May take longer to sale. Responsible for taking pictures and posting them on OfferUp, Letgo, Craigslist, and Facebook Market Place. You'll have to answer people's questions. People will try to offer you less than what your asking for. Will require you to meet up with the person *We suggest meeting up at a local Starbucks, police station, or local mall*
• Third Option: Selling it to an online
• Pros: You'll have full control of the whole selling process, very minimal human interaction is required, once sold you'll receive the money almost instantly, and you'll reach a much larger audience.    
• Cons: The phone needs to be safely packaged and shipped. In some occasions the customer may request a return. 

How much would You Receive for selling a phone

To help you decide what selling option is best for you, lets begin with going to Gazelle.com. Gazelle is online business that purchases and resales certifies pre-owned phones. Gazelle is essentially a company in the first option listed above.

At our store we use Gazelle as a tool to help us determine how much we should offer for a device. Gazelle has a simple interface that allows anyone to get a quote within minutes. 

As an example I'll use a unlocked iPhone 7 with 32GB of memory capacity. Feel free to follow along with your own device. Please note that you'll probably get more if your phone is carrier unlocked.

• Step One: Go to Gazelle.com

• Step Two: Click on "Sell Smart Trade-In for Cash" located on the right.

• Step Three: Click on the type of device that suits you

• Step Four: Click on the model of your device

• Step Five: Select Carrier

• Step Six: Select the phone's memory capacity

• Step Seven: Answer the questions

• Step Eight: You get a quote

As of July 30, 2019 you'll receive roughly $158 for selling a 32gb unlocked iPhone 7 in almost perfect condition to a business for quick cash. You can be offered significantly less or more depending on what that business thinks the value is to them.

If you are satisfied with the amount then go ahead and proceed with options one. But before you go this route go we suggest you check how much more you can receive by selling it yourself. From my experience people usually receive on average 30-50% more by selling the phone themselves. 

Begin by going to the OfferUp website and type in the search bar the description of your phone. We'll reuse the iPhone 7 example on the top as an example. "iPhone 7 Unlocked 32GB" 

As you can see from the image above, people in my area are selling unlocked iPhone 7 for roughly $300-250. For this example I would post the iPhone 7 for $300-280 and take no less than $250. 

Based on my experiences with third party applications, I'm pretty confident that most of these iPhone's end up selling for $250. It's the power of negotiation. Your selling something for $20. Buyer makes you an offer of $10 and as a result you counter-offer of $15. Both parties win.

Next, figure out how much more you'll receive by selling phone yourself. Yes you will be required to do so math. Just follow along with the calculator on your phone.  

Target sale price - Price of selling phone to business = Price Difference

Then

Price Difference / Target Sale Price = Percentage on how much more you will receive

Minimum Gains                  Maximum Gains 

$250 - $160 = $90                $300 - $160 = $140
$90 / $250 = .36 or 36%       $140 / $300 = .46 or 47%

By following this example scenario, most people receive roughly 36-47% more by selling it themselves. Obviously $300 looks more appealing than receive $160 from a local business. Then again people value their time differently so let me give you the options one more time to see which option makes more sense for you.

Choosing between the three options

Personally I think that extra money is worth putting the time to sell the phone yourself. But I also understand why someone would take a different route.

Option 1: Selling Your Phone to a business locally or online

To find the nearest business or ecoATM we suggest you begin with a Google search. On the Google search bar type-in "sell my phone". Scroll down until the Google Map is in display.

As shown in the image above, our two stores currently rank on the top two spots in my area. The reason why we rank high on this search is due to the proximity of my search and high review count. You can expect similar results in your area when you run this Google search in your area. Google may also refer you to phone repair stores, so we suggest you call the business to confirm they purchase used phones. 

If your aren't satisfied with the search results or you live in an area where businesses are too far away then an ecoATM is a viable option. Most ecoATM are located at malls and Walmart's so visit there website to confirm the location nearest you. Click on the link. https://www.ecoatm.com/  I will warn you that ecoATM's in some occasions offer much less than other business. 

In addition, we'll include links down below to business that purchase phones online.

• Gazelle
• We used Gazelle as our example so if you proceed where you left off they will next ask you to pick one of three payment features. 
• Amazon Gift Card - They will give you an additional 3%
• PayPal - Payment will go directly to your PayPal account
• Check - delivered 10 days after receiving the phone
• They will pay you once they inspect and approve the phone. 
• Amazon Trade-In
• You'll receive an Amazon Gift Card for your trade-in.
• Once the phone is delivered to them it takes roughly two days to receive gift card.
• The only drawback is that you'll only be able to use that gift card with Amazon.

Requirements to selling your phone

• First, you will be asked to log off all accounts and then reset the phone to factory settings. 
• Android phones: Sign our from all Google Accounts to avoid FRP Google Activation Lock and then do a factory reset from the settings.
• Apple Devices: Sign out your iCloud account and then do a factory reset through the settings
• Bring your ID: Most State laws require business to ask for a State ID when purchasing a used item. This is even the case for pawn stores so don't be alarmed if they ask for your ID. 

Option 2: Sell it yourself 

Before we begin, I want to make sure you're aware of potential scammers that exist in these platforms. Scammers are a big issue but can be easily avoided. Avoid people that ask you to ship the phone to a relative in another state or country. These scammers usually offer you more money as compensation and ask if they can pay you through PayPal. In some instances these scammers may ask you to text them. Simply say no and that you're only accepting cash. I usually report them as potential scammers.

Scammers are the biggest reason I stopped using LetGo and is the main reason I didn't include them in my platform recommendations down below. It seemed like three out five people messaging me in LetGo were scammers.

To make it simple for you, only accept cash and meet a local Starbucks or Mall.  

The following bullet points are platforms we recommend you use to sell your phone:

• OfferUp 
• Platform: iPhone and Android APP
• Audience: The item being sold gets promoted to anyone using the app within your area 
• Points of contact: Platform messages
• Craigslist
• Platform: Website
• Audience: Item gets exposed to people using Craigslist in your area.
• Points of Contact: You decide between Craigslist e-Mail, Text or Call  
• Facebook Market Place
• Platform: Personal account Website application Application
• Audience: Anyone with a Facebook account around searching through the Facebook Market Place in your area.
• Points of Contact: Facebook Messenger or comments on post

Next, make an appealing post by adding the following:

• Pictures
• Taking good pictures is important. Make sure you have enough lighting I'll add some examples down below
• Title:
• Phone Model
• Memory
• Carrier
• Example: Rose Gold iPhone 7 32GB Unlocked
• Description 
• Condition
• Memory Capacity
• companies the phone will work with (these are important for keywords)
• Accessories that it will come with
• Chargers
• Boxes
• Headphones
• Cases and Screen Protections
• Example: This iPhone 7 is in Good condition. Has always been in a case so it doesn't have scratches. (space) 32GB of Memory Capacity.(Space) This phone is Unlocked therefore it will work for most companies including: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro, Cricket, Sprint, Boost Mobile, international, and more.

Side note: Unlocked phone's don't always work with every company. In some instances an unlocked AT&T or T-Mobile phone are unlikely to work with Verizon, Sprint and Boost. Feel free to contact us or leave a comment down below if want to know. Simply tell us what phone you have and its originally carrier.

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Option 3: Sell Your Phone Online 

Option 3 is simply an alternative to option 2 and meant for those who want to minimize human interaction. Yes!! I'm aware that I have used the phrase  "human interaction" a few times during this article. But let's face it dealing with some people can be a bit stressing and quite literally waste your time. This isn't the case with majority of people but I know some individuals try to avoid this.   

These two are possible the best two marketplaces to sell your phone:  

• Swappa
• eBay

For both of these options you will need to make an account and connect a bank or PayPal account. You will be required to do this to receive the payment once the phone is sold.

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Next, make an appealing post by adding the following: (If your read through option 2 then we will follow the same format for posting it online) 

• Pictures
• Taking good pictures is important. Make sure you have enough lighting I'll add some examples down below
• Title:
• Phone Model
• Memory
• Carrier
• Example: Rose Gold iPhone 7 32GB Unlocked
• Description 
• Condition
• Memory Capacity
• companies the phone will work with (these are important for keywords)
• Accessories that it will come with
• Chargers
• Boxes
• Headphones
• Cases and Screen Protections
• Example: This iPhone 7 is in Good condition. Has always been in a case so it doesn't have scratches. (space) 32GB of Memory Capacity.(Space) This phone is Unlocked therefore it will work for most companies including: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro, Cricket, Sprint, Boost Mobile, international, and more.

Thank you for reading until the end and hopefully you found this phone selling guide helpful. If you have any question feel free to leave a comment down below with your e-mail. We are happy to answer any questions.

Also, feel free to share your idea to us if you have any recommendations about making this guide better. Have an awesome day and I hop you make some extra money. 

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