How to get the best deal when selling your old iPhone

If you buy a new smartphone every now and then, you’ve probably run into the problem of what to do with your old device. We may have a solution.

You could, of course, use a recycling or trade-in program. But if you own your previous smartphone, you might be surprised at just how much money you can get for it (even if it’s a slightly older device).

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That’s where a service like SellCell comes in. The platform makes it easy to get the absolute best price possible for your aging tech. Here’s what you should know about it.

What is SellCell?

SellCell, essentially, is a phone and tablet price comparison site. In fact, it’s the largest such platform available in the U.S.

The platform is like an aggregator for various electronics buyback sites across the country. Basically, you look up your device model and the site will give you a list of results from various buyback services.

Think of it as Kayak for selling your old iPhone in order to get the best deal for your used iPhone.

In other words, the site itself doesn’t purchase your old smartphone (and SellCell is not actually affiliated with any of the buyers that it lists on its site). But the platform does quickly let you know which platform will give you the best price for it.

That means you can avoid having to each site individually, saving you time and effort. With just a few clicks and keystrokes, you can find the best possible price you’ll be able to get for your old iPhone or iPad.

Why Sell an Old Device?

There are plenty of reasons why you’d want to sell your smartphone — and most of them go without saying.

The average U.S. family has 3 devices for each member, with many of them being older or redundant phones sitting around in a cupboard somewhere.

Instead of letting your device gather dust in a drawer somewhere, selling it on the secondary market is a great way to make some spare cash.

It’s also a green solution. Think of it essentially as recycling your old device — but with getting some money back for it at the same time.

This is the case even if your device is broken or liquid-damaged. In fact, you may be surprised just how much money you can get for a not-quite-functional device.

While you probably won’t be able to sell such a device yourself on a local marketplace platform, SellCell will let you see which buyer will pay you the most for it.

Lastly, this solution is likely a lot better than trading in your smartphone or sending it off to a recycling program. The device itself will find a new life or owner, while you’ll likely get quite a bit more money back than either of those other options.

In fact, SellCell can offer users as much as 25 percent more for a device by letting you compare the leading buyback companies.

Why Use SellCell?

As you may know, there are plenty of options for selling or recycling a device. But we can recommend SellCell for several reasons.

Buyback Guarantee

For one, the company offers a Best Price Guarantee — essentially, it promises that you’ll be able to find the best buyback price on your device. It trawls the entire market in just seconds, saving you the trouble of extensive research.

If you happen to find another buyback platform that will offer you a higher price than you see on SellCell, the firm will pay you back double the price difference.

Accuracy

The actual price comparison engine is also one of the best. It not only gives you a snapshot of the money you can get from various buyback sites, but it also lets you know the individual user ratings for each site.

In a nutshell, the platform takes all of the pain out of finding a buyer for your smartphone. You can quickly get the best price for the device without spending a bunch of time researching buyback programs.

Avoid Local Marketplaces

Another reason to opt for SellCell, rather than a local marketplace platform, is the fact that you won’t have to actually meet someone in person. That comes with its own set of benefits.

There are, of course, some safety considerations when meeting a buyer you find through a local buying and selling app. That’s not to mention that you actually have to drive or take public transpiration to get to a location to meet that person.

SellCell’s Happy Customers

All you need to know is that SellCell has helped people sell more than 2 million devices worth a total of $250 million over the past 10 years or so.

If you need any additional convincing, all you need to do is read up reviews of the platform or peruse some of the company’s user testimonials. From third-party reviews on social media to testimonials on the company’s own website, there are plenty of happy people who have used SellCell to get some extra cash from their old tech.

How to use SellCell to get the best deal

As we mentioned, SellCell is an extremely easy and simple platform to navigate and use. To show you just how easy it is, here’s how you’d find pricing information about selling an iPhone.

• Open up your favorite web browser and navigate to the SellCell website.
• You’ll see a fairly prominent search bar on the main webpage. In this search bar, just type in the model of your smartphone or tablet. If you aren’t sure, you can type in the device’s make and choose from a list in the next step.
• On this next page, just select the specific device. This page will also give you a snapshot of the best available buyback price and how many site offers it is comparing.
• At this point, you’ll need to input a few additional details about your device — including its memory capacity, network and its current condition. Condition could mean anything from “like new” to “faulty.” (Just make sure to be honest about the device’s condition or your transaction could be canceled.)
• Now, SellCell will give you a list of potential buyers and the exact price that they’re willing to offer you for your device.

This next pane is how you’ll actually go about selling your device. The site will list the various buyers, as well as additional information about them.

You can arrange the results by best price or by best match. The first will organize based purely on the highest price, while the latter option will add in user ratings as a metric.

Additionally, you can also click on the “more details” icon underneath each listing. This will give you additional information about the buyers and their specific policies.

When you find the buyer you’d like to sell to, all you need to do is click the prominent Sell Now button to start a transaction. Once you do, you’ll be redirected to the buyer website where you’ll wrap up selling the device.

Just keep in mind that you’ll want to do a bit of research about the buyers themselves and keep in mind that the price listed is just an estimate. You’ll want to check out the user rating, read up reviews about the buyback site, and check the actual price that they’ll offer you before proceeding.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.