With many of us upgrading our phones on a regular basis, there are plenty of unloved mobiles knocking around. Mobile recycling sites claim to be the best place to sell them, but are they really?
It’s been over a year since our last post on mobile recycling sites, but the stream of complaints about them hasn’t stopped.
A lot of you still aren’t happy with the service you receive from these sites, especially when it comes to getting the price you were promised for your mobile.
Mobile phone recycling websites
The most common complaint is that the initially high offer for your second-hand phone is revised once it’s in the hands of these companies, who then make a much lower offer based on ‘cosmetic wear and tear’. A lot of you dispute that this damage was never there, yet are faced with the choice to sell the phone at the lower price, or pay to have it returned.
Which? Convo commenter Rebeccles told us about trying to sell their iPhone:
‘At first Cash4phones offered £150 for an iPhone in perfect condition. They are now telling me it’s worth £32. I either take the £32 or pay them to return my phone.’
Wahidazzlar had a similar experience:
‘Mobilephonerecycling2day offered £42.14 initially. As ‘it’s in poor condition’ they’ll give me £14.14 or send it back for £9.95. It’s ridiculous, I’m more out of pocket than I was before.’
Damage to your mobile phone
While researching these services for our latest issue of Which? magazine, we came across similar issues.
We were offered a lower quote than originally given for one of our handsets, due to ‘damage’. As far as we were concerned it had been in pretty good nick, so we dutifully asked for it to be returned. On doing so, we were told that there had been a mistake during the initial assessment, and the price was suddenly raised by £5. Would this ‘mistake’ have been spotted had we not disagreed with the price and asked for the phone back?
In contrast to the Which? Convo commenters above, Tpoots had a positive experience:
‘I’ve used Envirofone and Mazuma Mobile a couple of times in the last few years and have yet to have a problem.’
Sell your mobile on Ebay
During our research, we found that if you want the absolute best price for your old phone, you’d be better off selling it on eBay. This might require a little more effort than just popping it in the post to a recycling site, and there are some fees attached, but overall you’ll make a much better profit
Do you have any experiences of selling your mobile to a specialist recycling site? Do you think they’re still a good choice for a quick and convenient sale, or have you been let down?
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