Should I trade in my old phone or sell it myself?

There are four routes and they suit different phones: manufacturer or retailer trade-in against a new purchase, a specialist recycling buyer who pays cash, a private sale, and giving it away or keeping it. The right choice is mostly determined by what the phone is, not by what you would prefer.

Safety

Step by step

1. Get a trade-in quote first, as a baseline.Every manufacturer, network and recycling site quotes online in two minutes from the model, storage and condition. Get two or three. This costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and gives you a floor to judge everything else against.
2. Check what the same model is actually selling for, not asking.Look at completed sales on the marketplaces rather than current listings. Asking prices are aspirational; completed prices are the market. The gap between that figure and your trade-in quote is what selling privately is worth to you.
3. Be honest about condition, because they will be.Trade-in quotes are provisional and revised on inspection. A screen scratch, a cracked back, a low battery health figure or a dent will reduce the offer, and you then either accept the revised figure or pay for return postage. Grading it accurately at the quote stage avoids the whole dance.
4. Check battery health before quoting.Buyers and graders look at it, and it is the single specification that most affects the value of an otherwise good phone. A phone with a poor battery may be worth more with a replacement fitted first — work out the sums, because sometimes it is and sometimes it is not.
5. Prepare the phone properly.Back it up, move the eSIM or take the SIM out, sign out of your account so activation lock is cleared, then use the erase-all-content option. Signing out is the step that gets forgotten and it is the one that makes the phone unsellable if missed.
6. Take the photographs before you erase it.Clear, honest photographs of the front, back, all four edges and the screen when on, in good light. Photograph the flaws deliberately — a listing that shows the scratch attracts a buyer who has accepted the scratch, which is exactly who you want.
7. Understand the risks of a private sale.Payment fraud, chargebacks, and buyers who claim the item arrived damaged are all real. Use a platform with buyer and seller protection rather than a bank transfer, post tracked and insured, keep proof of postage, and note the phone's serial number before it goes.
8. Consider the third option honestly.An old phone is worth very little on any market and is often worth more to you as a spare, a music player, a dashcam, a child's camera, or a phone in the glovebox for emergencies. Where it is genuinely finished, it should be recycled properly rather than left in a drawer — it contains materials worth recovering and a battery that should not go to landfill.

Alternatives

• Manufacturer or retailer trade-in: Deducted from the price of the new phone, fast, no risk. Usually pays the least, and the value may be locked into that purchase rather than paid as cash.
• Specialist recycling buyer: Pays cash, posts you a bag, grades on receipt. More than a retailer trade-in for older phones, less than private sale. Read the grading terms — the offer can drop substantially on inspection.
• Private sale on a marketplace: Highest return, particularly on recent flagships, at the cost of your time, fees, and the risk of a difficult buyer. Best for phones worth enough to justify the trouble.
• Sell to someone you know: No fees, no fraud risk, and honest disclosure protects the relationship. Set the price from completed marketplace sales rather than guessing, and erase it properly regardless.
• Keep it as a second device: A spare phone on wi-fi with no accounts on it is genuinely useful and worth more than the twenty pounds a three-year-old mid-range phone fetches.

Questions people ask