Beating the credit crunch isn’t always about saving money. It’s just as much about making money too and one way of doing this easily is to sell your old mobile phone.
There are roughly 50 million mobile phone subscribers in the UK who on average replace their handset every 18 months. It has been estimated that there could be up to 90 million mobiles lurking away in drawers and cupboards across the UK. What a waste!
Use this as your excuse to have a rummage through your drawers and see if you’ve got an unused phone or two hiding away. If you have great - you’re on your way to earning a bit of extra cash.
How to get started:
1. Find any of your old mobile phones you have lying around
2. Find the phone make and model on any of the websites listed below to see how much you can earn
3. Check out the value on 2 or 3 different sites (see ones listed below) as the amounts you can earn will vary
4. Register and post your phone to them (some sites such as Envirofone offer a FREEPOST envelope)
5. Sit back, have a cup of tea (remember not to fill the kettle!) and wait for your cheque to arrive
It’s really worth checking a few sites to see what price you can get as they can vary a bit.
The most popular phones in Oct 2007 were:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia 6300 | Sony Ericsson K810i | Nokia N95 | Nokia N73 | Apple iPhone | Nokia 3110 | Sony Ericsson P1i | Sony Ericsson W850i | Sony Ericsson W880i | Sony Ericsson K530i |
So I’ve compared the cash you could get back on 3 of these popular phones on the 5 listed websites. Prices are in £GBP and for working phones. The prices in brackets are for non-working phones:
| Nokia 6300 | Sony Ericsson K810i | Apple iphone (3G 8gb) | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mopay | 40 (12) | 27.95 (8.38) | 120 (36) | 187.95 (56.38) |
| fonebank | 37 (18) | 32 (16) | 180 (0) | 249 (34) |
| Mobile Phone Xchange | 31 (up to 24.80) | 25 (up to 20) | 189 (up to 151.20) | 245 (up to 196) |
| Love 2 Recycle | 37 (16) | 27 (1.50) | 120 (60) | 184 (89.50) |
| Envirofone | 31.02 (up to 27.91) | 31.02 (up to 27.91) | 150.05 (up to 135.04) | 212.09 (up to 190.86) |
FoneBank definitely seem to pay out more for working phones, whilst for non-working phones you seem to get a very poor deal, unlike with Mobile Phone Xchange. So it’s well worth shopping around.
Selling your old mobile for re-use is also a great way to help the environment and if it can’t be re-used, it’ll get recycled!
Some of the top sites offering this service
Mopay
The search on Mopay.co.uk leaves a lot to be desired. The bar never finds the model of phone if you enter the manufacturer as well (took me ages to work this out), but it does if you just enter the model or select the manufacturer and scroll through the models (time consuming). You can also select the option of donating 0 -100% of the phones value to charity (only 2 choices though), which is a nice touch and none of the other sites seem to do this.
You can also grade it online to find out exactly what it’s worth. The service is by freepost but you supply the jiffy bag. You can also receive vouchers for Marks & Spencers instead of a cheque (worth more in monetary value). It normally takes 3-7 days for your cheque/voucher to arrive.
Fonebank
FoneBank.com is an easy site to use. The search bar works well, and again the service is freepost but you supply the jiffy bag (although they do offer a free collection for 15 phones or more). There is no facility for grading mobiles online - only a working or non-working drop down box, so you have to wait until they receive the phone before they confirm the value. The website gives no indication of turnaround time for receiving payment.
Love 2 Recycle
The Love2Recycle.com site has a reminder option online, so if you’re not ready to exchange your phone at that very moment you can generate a gentle reminder. The search bar works, but is the only way to find your phones make and model (unlike the other sites that have 2 ways). A freepost envelope is provided or the freepost label can be downloaded online saving you the tedious job of writing out the address (!).
No indication of turnaround time but they will email you to keep you updated on the progress. All mobiles are graded on receipt and you’re emailed so you can choose to accept or decline their offer.
Mobile Phone Xchange
mobilephonexchange.co.uk guarantee to pay you within 3 days if you opt for BACS. It’s longer by cheque but they don’t specify how much longer. The site works very much the same as all the others and is generally very good. All the search systems work well and it’s an easy and intuitive site. Print your own Freepost address label, or request a pre-printed envelope.
Envirofone
Envirofone.com is another easy site to use. The search works well, your freepost envelope is provided in a welcome pack or you can use your own if you don’t want to wait. All mobiles are graded upon receipt and they’ll email to inform you of its value where you’ll have the option of accepting or declining the offer. Like love2recycle.com they offer a reminder option if you’re not quite ready to part with your phone. Payment by cheque is within 7 days, but you can also receive vouchers for Argos instead which is worth more in monetary value (if you plan to shop at Argos of course).
(image from Milica Sekulic on Flickr)
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