Can You Sell A Broken Cell Phone? What You Need To Know…

Richard Goodwin

03/30/21 •  4 min read

Pin

If you have a broken cell phone that isn’t usable, the good news is you can still sell it – although you’ll be limited to phone buyback companies. Here’s the lowdown on what you need to know…

It can happen to the best of us. You’re careful, you look after your phone but life has other ideas. All it takes is a slip or a trip and, boom, your cell phone is broken, smashed beyond repair.

The bad news is your phone is busted. But the good news is you can still sell the phone and make a bit of money in the process. And it doesn’t matter if your phone is locked either.

You cannot sell it via Facebook Marketplace or eBay, though; no one will buy a broken phone.

But this is where cell phone buyback companies, sometimes referred to as phone recycling firms, come into play. A cellphone buyback company will buy your phone whatever condition it is in – it could be in mint condition or have a smashed screen, they’ll still give you a quote.

Even if your phone won’t switch on, you can still sell it to a buyback company; all they care about is getting the phone for a good price, so they can fix it and sell it on for profit.

How Much Is A Broken Cell Phone Worth?

As with most things in life, it depends on how old the phone is, how good its specs are, and what brand of phone you have.

Let’s say you have an iPhone XR and it won’t switch on or the screen is busted beyond repair, and you’re at the end of your plan and you want to switch anyway.

You could pay to get it fixed; Apple has in-store repair services. But it isn’t cheap. If you don’t want to go this route and just get rid of the phone, my advice would be to get a quote for the phone’s value from a cell phone recycling company – you can do that here.

Once you know how much your phone is potentially worth, you can then make a call about whether or not you want to sell it. If you have a newer phone, like the iPhone 11 or iPhone XS max, you will get quite a bit for the phone – even if it is broken.

Case in point, a faulty iPhone XR will still net you around $165, while a faulty or broken iPhone 11 will score you around $341 which is pretty darn good for a broken phone, right?

How Much Are Old iPhones Worth Anyway?

Apple’s iPhones tend to hold their value pretty well, as evidenced by the price you’d get for a broken iPhone 11 above. But iPhones are not immune from depreciation – nothing can escape this universal rule, sadly.

If you have an old iPhone or two laying around your home doing nothing, and they work fine, you could sell these phones as well. And if they’re relatively new, say the iPhone 7 or iPhone 8, you’ll probably get a pretty decent cheque through in the post for them.

iPhone Resale Value (Approx. Estimate For 2021)

As you can see, the newer and the higher the storage, the more you’ll get for your iPhone. Basically, the better your iPhone is, the more you will get for it from a cellphone recycler.

But you can still get good money for a faulty or broken phone, providing you know where to look.

My advice? Use this comparison tool – it pulls in quotes from all the biggest cell phone recycling companies, so you can quickly compare prices and see who offers the most.

It’s what I use and it is great – you always get the most bang for your buck!

Richard Goodwin

Richard Goodwin is a leading UK technology journalist with a focus on consumer tech trends and data security. Renowned for his insightful analysis, Richard has contributed to Sky News, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2, and CNBC, making complex tech issues accessible to a broad audience.