Where Can I Sell My Phone for Money? Ask These First

Where can I sell my phone for money? Five kinds of places buy phones: your carrier, an online marketplace, a kiosk, a buyback site and a local store. Carriers often pay in bill credit. A marketplace puts you in front of buyers, and every message and meeting is yours to handle. Kiosks and buyback sites quote a set figure by model and condition. Stores check the phone at the counter. Pick by what you want most: speed, a buyer who wants your exact model, or a person across the counter. Then ask any buyer the questions below before the phone leaves your hand.

Where can I sell my phone for money? The five places side by side

Your carrier is the one place you already have an account with. A marketplace is the only one where the buyer wants your specific phone. A kiosk is a machine that scans the phone and quotes a number on the spot. A buyback site gives you an offer online, and you send the phone in. A local store looks at it across the counter, so you watch the grade being decided.

We run a buyback site, so weigh our view with that in mind. The questions that follow work on us as well as on everyone else.

Questions that pin down the number

Ask for the number in writing, and ask what would change it. A quote given before anyone has seen the phone is a guess, and guesses can shrink at the counter. These four questions show how firm yours is.

• Is this number final or an estimate? A good answer names what gets checked: model, storage, screen, battery, accessories and any lock on the phone. A bad one is we will see when it gets here.
• What lowers it? A good buyer gives a short list you can check yourself, like screen damage or battery health. A vague promise to look it over is a bad sign.
• What comes out before I'm paid? Marketplaces and payment apps can take a fee. Ask for the amount you'll receive, not the amount listed.
• Is it money, credit or a gift card? Bill credit and store credit stay inside the company that issued them. Get the form of payment in writing.

Carrier locks and account locks move the number at almost every buyer. Say yours up front and ask how it changes the offer. A cracked screen lowers the grade everywhere too. Ask each buyer by how much, then check whether a repair through Wireless Kinect, our sister site, would cost less than the drop.

Questions about steps and timing

A phone sale looks like one step until you count them. On a marketplace you take photos, answer messages, pick a meeting spot and confirm the payment yourself. We cover a buyback in order in our post on how to sell a cellular phone, so this section sticks to what to ask.

• What happens after I say yes? A good answer lists the steps in order and says who does each one. A promise with nothing behind it is a bad sign.
• Do I ship it, drop it off or meet someone? A stranger at a meet-up carries the most risk. If you go that way, pick a public spot.
• When do I get paid, and what starts the clock? A good answer ties payment to an event, such as delivery or a finished inspection. Soon is not an answer.
• What do I have to do to the phone first? Expect to back it up, sign out of your accounts and erase it. Our hand-off timeline for clearing an iPhone lays out the order.

If you'd rather hand the phone over across a counter, the four store pages show where we take drop-offs.

What a buyer should be able to show you

A real buyer leaves a paper trail.

• Do I get written confirmation? A good one is an email or receipt showing the model, the grade and the amount. A text that just says deal is not enough.
• Can I see why it was graded that way? A good buyer says what they found, in plain words. A changed number with no reason attached is the warning sign.
• What happens to the data on the phone? You erase it first and sign out of your accounts. A buyer who never mentions this hasn't thought about it.
• Who do I contact if something goes wrong? Look for a named store, an email or a phone line that gets answered. A web form with no business behind it doesn't count.

If you're mailing the phone, keep the tracking number and take photos of the screen and back before you seal the box.

Red flags worth walking away from

Most bad sales start with a number that looks too good. Here is what to watch for.

• An offer far above every other quote, with no word about condition.
• Pressure to decide today.
• A new number after you ship, with no reason given.
• A payment that arrives as too much money, followed by a request to send the difference back.
• Anyone asking for your passcode, your Apple ID password or a verification code.
• No business name, no contact page and no store anywhere.

One of these is enough to stop.

Scoring buyers against each other

Count one point for every yes. Six is the most a buyer can score.

• The number came in writing before you committed.
• The buyer named what lowers it.
• You know the form of payment.
• You know the event that triggers payment.
• You know who to contact afterward.
• Nothing they asked for was a passcode, a code or a login.

Five or six, go ahead. Three or fewer, keep looking. If two buyers tie, take the one who ties payment to a clear event.

For iPhone owners, the iPhone models on our price list are on one page.

Our own answers, from the buyback counter

Device buyback and trade-in is the whole job at Sell Your Phone Here, and it's nationwide: anyone in the US can ship a phone in.

On the number: you get an offer online, from the site's own price list, by model and condition. We make offers on iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones. Choose your model on the smartphone page and the offer follows the condition you pick.

On the steps: ship the phone in, or bring it to one of our four stores in Pennsylvania and Florida. If you can't decide, our post on shipping in versus dropping off compares the two.

On payment: you're paid within 2 to 4 hours of delivery, once the final condition is confirmed.

We won't tell you we beat every other place on every phone. Get our number, get one or two others, and score them all the same way.

FAQ: Selling a Phone for Money

Where can I sell a phone to get the most money?

No one place wins on every phone. Get a written number from two or three buyers for the same condition, then compare what you'd actually receive.

Should I trade in my phone with my carrier or sell it?

Ask the carrier whether you get bill credit or money in your hands. Credit is fine if you're staying put. If you want money you can spend anywhere, sell to a buyer who pays that way.

Is it safe to sell a phone on an online marketplace?

It can be, with care. Meet in a public spot, confirm the payment is in your account before the phone leaves your hand, and never share a passcode or verification code.

Can I sell a phone with a cracked screen?

Many buyers take one, at a lower condition grade. Tell the buyer about the crack up front and ask how much it changes the number.

Do I need the box and charger to sell a phone?

Not always. Some buyers count accessories in the grade and others don't, so ask before you hunt for them.

How do I compare offers from different buyers?

Compare the same condition, the form of payment and the event that triggers it, not only the headline number. A smaller number paid in a way you can see beats a bigger one with strings attached.

How can I tell if a phone buyback site is legitimate?

Look for a business name, a contact page and a real store or address behind it. Check that the offer comes in writing and that the payment terms are stated before you ship.

Get a number to compare against

Use the six points above on every buyer, including us. You can get an instant offer by model and condition and set it next to whatever else you're weighing.