Comparing Phone Selling Platforms: What Sets Them Apart?

You have a lot of options for selling your old phones. Many websites, phone comparison sites, and companies competing to buy your old phones and devices online. How can you find the best price and service without spending hours reading terms and comparing prices? This article aims to give you an overview of the 4 main types of platforms you could use.

With their pros and cons so you can compare and sell your phone to the one that best suits you. We’ll also give you some quick win recommendations to hopefully help you find the right platform without wasting too much time.

Online Marketplaces: Sell It Yourself

The online marketplace route is simply the riskiest for sellers and buyers alike, but not without cause. The top two marketplaces for selling mobile phones are Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Both vastly different to each other.

eBay listings are bought via an auction process. But also offer ‘Buy It Now’ options. Whereas Facebook marketplace listings are listed for asking price. Then typically involves some form of price negotiation between the buyer and seller.

Postage is another clear disparity. With eBay you will need to package and send your phone to its new owner, this responsibility lies with you. A consideration you’ll have to factor in for here is whether to insure the package. As a lot of the networks and mobile phone buying companies will include some form of this in within their offering.

With Facebook Marketplace you have 2 options. You can ship the package yourself. You can sell locally and arrange for pick-up or drop-off to reduce risk. However, you will need to deliver the item yourself or be available for the buyer to pick it up.

While the Facebook Marketplace postage method may sound great, low cost, low effort and low risk its not always smooth sailing. If you have experience with the platform you’ll know it’s a bit like the wild west. You can regularly find yourself with a no-show for collections or drop-offs and there isn’t much you can do about it.

The last difference is platform costs. eBay will take a small operating fee, as a % from your total sale amount. Facebook Marketplace is entirely free.

Here’s the important points to note with Online Marketplaces.

• Will take longer to sell, other platforms can pay out within a couple days.

• You can get yourself a better price. Cutting out the middle man allows this.

• No guarantees on price, you may cut out the middle man but your phone could still sell lower.

• No governing terms in place for the sale so lingering issues with buyers may occur if they’re not happy with the phone.

• Post sale, postage and insurance are your responsibility.

• Un-reliable buyers could leave you back at square one.

• Minimal costs to you to sell.

Trade-Ins With Your Network or Manufacturer

The network or manufacturer trade-in method is debatably the path of least resistance. Its easy for you the seller and you will get some value for your old device. Either against your new phone or as some form of account credit. But, chances are you’ll get a lot less than if you choose any other option.

These companies know exactly the right time to market to you with clever offers because you’re in contract with them. You might think it's a good deal, but you could actually earn a lot more cash through a different channel.

We aim to pay our customers the highest possible prices. We recently compared phone buy back prices from 3 of the biggest UK networks with our own to understand the difference. These are the amounts WeBuyAnyPhone.com pays on average more than the networks as an example.

• Vodafone - £131.21+

• EE - £132.82+

• O2 - £130.38+

Here’s the important points to note with carrier networks and manufacturers.

• Easiest way to physically sell your phone. But, the carrier networks and manufacturers count on this to get your business.

• Avoid being fooled by conveniently timed marketing offers.

• You could sell your phone for £130+ via other channels.

• You'll receive the value as credit against your next deal.

Sell My Phone Price Comparison Sites

The sell my phone compare sites are an effective way of getting yourself a high price for your phone. While retaining a lot of the benefits you get from selling directly to a mobile phone buying company. We think it’s a sensible choice to go with as a seller. But, there are a few chinks in their armor worth being aware of.

They’re a great way to compare prices across buying companies at speed. But, no one comparison websites have all relevant buyers. So you will probably get a good deal but it may not be the best.

This option has a main downside. It combines offers from different companies. Each company has its own terms and categories for mobile phone conditions. These effect the devices value to them drastically.

The comparison sites simplify these. This increases the risk that the first offered value will be reduced after the device is tested, if there are any differences in condition.

Here’s the important points to note with sell my phone compare sites.

• You can check a lot of prices at speed. Although no one comparison site includes all relevant buying companies.

• Higher chance for reductions on original quotes.

• Shows other helpful comparisons like customer reviews, payment timeframes, payment methods and postage options.

Mobile Phone Buying Companies

The mobile phone buying companies are the jack of all trades and for most sellers the sweet spot. These companies have built themselves to provide the best proposition to mobile phone sellers. Most do a great job of bringing together the best in terms of convenience, reliability and value.

They will offer the best price for your old phone. At WeBuyAnyPhone.com we know you making the most cash from your device is priority 1.

That’s why it leads our proposition. We review the market for every device we buy daily. Then update our pricing accordingly, which typically results in us having the highest offers across all platforms.

They will all try to offer as much as possible to the potential customers to make the process convenient.

Here's some things our customers love.

• Our speed to pay.

• Our options for free & insured postage.

• Our 14 day price lock-in.

• Our super easy-to-use website where you can sell your phone in less than 60 seconds.

Here’s the important points to note with mobile phone buying companies.

• The all rounder for value, reliability and convenience.

• Highest offers with price lock-ins.

• A guaranteed, reliable buyer.

• Fast sales process and payments.

• Various free & insured postage options.

Now we’ve covered each type of platform you should be able to make much more informed decision on how you want to sell your phones. Here’s a final summary on each one.

Online marketplaces are good if you're willing to work harder and take on more risk for a larger reward.

If you want convenience and aren't concerned about the trade-in price, your network or a manufacturer is the best choice.

For a great price and the ability to choose company benefits that matter to you, despite some risk of your offer being changed, use "sell my phone" comparison sites.

Or, if you want a mix of benefits from each option, mobile phone buying companies are the choice for you.

And if you shop around a few the odds are you’ll end up with the best possible deal anyway.

Start with WeBuyAnyPhone.com below.

Sell My Phone