Extra Cash: Sell Your Old Mobile Phone

The other week, when I posted about My Favourite Money-Saving Phone Apps, a couple of readers in the comments section set out the pros and cons of selling your old mobile phones to raise some extra cash. But how much money can you expect to get?

One of the popular mobile phone recycling websites, Top Dollar Mobile, got in touch and asked to partner up with Miss Thrifty on a post. So this seemed like the ideal opportunity to take a closer look.

I think my household is quite unusual, in that we rarely have any old, unused mobile phones lying around. This is because they all get recycled by us: whenever I upgrade, I hand my old phone down to my husband. It’s his until it breaks into pieces. (By the by, I have never quite understood how this happens. I hand him a mobile phone that, after years of use, is still all shiny and lovely. A few months later, he sadly brandishes a lump of disintegrated plastic with a scratched-up screen, faulty display and missing keys. HOW?)

However if you have collected a small pile of defunct mobile phones, and you are new to these mobile phone recycling sites, do take a look because they are easy to use. You find your mobile phone model, check the price and then it’s like cash for gold: they’ll send you a freepost envelope, and pay the money straight into your bank account.

How much can I get?

For a brief overview, here is a rundown of the 10 bestselling mobile phones of all time, along with the prices they are currently fetching on three of the best-known mobile phone recycling websites. These prices are for phones in working condition; you can still sell a non-working or damaged handset, but you will get less for it.

A few points to note: yes, it’s a Nokia-heavy list. If you have ever owned a standard Nokia over the past 10 years – you know, one of those identikit one-piece handsets –it’s probably here.

As you can see, not all phones are wanted. For example, none of these sites is currently buying Nokia 6010s. But this is another reason to shop around – I had a look around and you can get £3.10 for it elsewhere.

The prices offered by the different websites vary wildly!

Also, it seems to be that the older the phone, the less it is worth. Right now, if you have a brick-sized handset of yore in your possession, you’ll be lucky to get 10p for it. I’d hang on to it, as a longer-term investment…

To sell or not to sell?

If you dispatch your phone to a mobile phone recycling website, it’s a quick and hassle-free process. However it is worth noting that one reader on my previous post said she could get more money for her old mobile phones on eBay. I haven’t sold phones on eBay so can’t comment on that, but if you are a would-be seller, do your research! I suspect that for a lot of people, the decision will ultimately come down to time and convenience.

Selling tips

1. If you do decide to sell your phone to a mobile phone recycling website, please shop around and choose wisely. The sites listed above are three of the reputable ones, but there are some scammers out there.

2. Still on shopping around, here’s a shortcut: www.sellmymobile.com. This is a price comparison website for mobile phone recyclers. It’s free and easy to use, although it isn’t perfect: when I was looking up the prices for the bestselling phones, for example, the Nokia 2600 was missing.

3. As splendid as freepost is, it isn’t the best option for a valuable phone. If you send your phone by freepost and it goes missing anywhere along the way, you’ll have no comeback. So if you can’t afford to lose that old phone, do consider dispatching it by special delivery or, at the very least, recorded delivery.

 Any other tips, from those who have sold their old mobile phones? I’m all ears…

Miss Thrifty partnered with Top Dollar Mobile to bring you this post.

Image credit: The Library of Congress.