Trade-in: how to get the best price for your old phone

Our valuations are based on model, storage, cosmetic condition and battery health. You control three of those four on the day.

Clean it properly A soft cloth and a little isopropyl alcohol on the frame and rear glass. A phone that arrives clean grades better than the same phone that arrives smudged, because assessors grade what they can see.

Fix the cheap things first A cracked rear glass or a worn charging port often costs less to repair than the value it removes from the trade-in. Ask us for a repair quote before you trade — we will tell you honestly if it is not worth it.

Find the accessories The original box, cable and any bundled accessories add to the valuation. So does a receipt.

Check the battery figure If your battery is below 80%, replacing it may raise the valuation by more than the replacement costs. Again, we will tell you which way the maths falls.

Sign out of everything Sign out of your Apple Account or Samsung and Google accounts and disable Find My before pickup. A locked device cannot be valued and gets returned to you, which wastes a week.

Back up first Once we receive a device we wipe it to a certified data-destruction standard. There is no way to recover anything after that, so back up to iCloud, Google or a computer before the courier arrives.

What happens next The courier collects free of charge. We inspect within 24 hours of arrival and either confirm the estimate or explain exactly what differs. If you reject the revised offer, we ship the phone back to you at our cost — no argument, no fee.