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i buy every single phone second hand from swappa, never had an issue.
My concern is about the battery life of these second-hand devices than anything else, some secondhand phones nowadays are basically unusable if the battery has so much wear and tear that it only lasts 2-3 hours of use.
can get it replaced for $50, totally worth a few hundred dollar discount.
Gotta check the battery info from a respectable seller.
Mine had a guarantee of 90% of the battery function…was it compared to a new, unused phone of itself (can’t remember). I don’t remember how good my previous phone’s battery was in the beginning, or any before that, but this current phone had an awesome battery life! (I try to keep the battery between 20-80% to give the battery more life)
Only used phone I ever bought was for my son, via Swappa and the transaction went smooth. No issues. (Pixel 4a)
Swappa’s the way to go, as they come with a layer of protection if somebody tries to screw you.
Can confirm, Swappa is awesome. I’ve bought and sold dozens of devices over the years, and was one of the first sellers, selling an HTC EVO when they were still the rage.
Double check that the owner properly disconnected the device from their Google account/Samsung account (activation lock/factory reset protection). Many phones will be locked to the first Google account they get signed into as theft protection. If you buy an activation locked phone, it’s possible the owner simply forgot, but it’s also possible that you’ve bought a stolen phone and will never be able to do much with it.
How hard it is to recover a locked phone depends: on some phones the owner can remotely disconnect the phone from their accounts, on others they need to enter the password and 2fa key into the phone to log in and then disconnect after. To prevent this, disconnect all Google accounts before factory resetting and make sure any manufacturer-specific lock settings are disabled. If you’re buying the phone in person, try to log into your Google account on the spot so they can’t just take your money for a useless brick.
Check the software support lifecycle. Some second hand phones will get you another three or four years of updates, some are already two years behind when you buy them despite the hardware functioning just fine. With custom ROMs you can still use them without risk of getting hacked most of the time, but if you’re looking for a new phone you may want to search for one that the manufacturer still supports.
Also get a replacement battery just in case. Make sure to factory reset the phone (from recovery, if possible) so no weird malware gets left behind by the original owner.
Bought (almost) every one that way, never had an issue.
My current phone was second from Ebay and I got it for a pretty affordable price. If you have that option, I would recommend it as it reputable sellers there are more trustworthy than a local sale in my opinion and you can always dispute if something goes wrong.
Bought my first second-hand phone about a year ago! A Samsung one.
Bought it from a finnish phone store. My guess would be - someone ditched their phone after the screen broke and they fixed it and put it to sell. It was 100-150€ (before I bought new phones for 600+€) Its tech was much better than my previous phone’s, including the battery life 😂
The only problem I have been experiencing is some touch screen problems - it’s almost as if a ghost starts to use my phone once in a while when I activate the screen. Usually closing and reopening the screen makes it go away. New updates might also affect positively/negatively on this challenge. But I’m still happy with my phone!
Modern phones aren’t designed to be repairable. So repairs going wrong is not rare (is not frequent either). I’ve read that refurbished offerings are actually viable, since they’re usually phones with nothing wrong, just got returned and aren’t new anymore. Samsung sometimes offers this when able.
If you want a real repairable and made to last phone, the fairphone exists. Recycled materials and all that.
Other than that, second hand depends a lot on where you live. If you can search a high income wealthy market space, then the chances of finding super cheap, recent and perfectly functioning phones is higher.
I’ve been buying refurbished phones on ebay for years and never had any issues. So long as you use common sense and buy from reputable sellers, you’ll have no problems.
I’ve only bought one phone new retail, the rest have been used from eBay for my partner and I. I’ll typically go with a reseller (they typically have better prices and Buy It Now, instead of individuals who still like the auctions).
I like to support reusing items as a matter of course and am willing to skip out on the unboxing fun, like peeling the stickers off, etc. I don’t recall any issue I’ve had that wasn’t resolved quickly by the seller.
I have also gone greener in these past months (not phones only) and I also want to support greener choices!
I have bought all my round 90ish phones in my collection second hand otherwise I would have no shot at affording it. I have bought a couple of lemons yes, but overall I got mostly quality stuff
In my opinion if you set a limit on how much you want to spend and keep looking around that price point you can get some amazing deals. My top 3 are a Galaxy Note 9 in almost mint condition for 70€, a LG G8S for 60€ in excellent condition and a Galaxy S10E for 50€ with a cracked back (easy fix btw).
Also the most important things to look out for are screen damages. OLED burn-in still is a very common issue and many LCD screens also have problems with very uneven backlights. I always demand a totally black and totally white image of the screen beforehand for that reason.
Also with battery life its less of an issue than one might think. I only got a handful of phones where the battery life was really unusable (less than 3h of SOT). I remember the HTC One M8, 10 and U12 Plus as well as a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, Honor V8 and Nexus 6P really being in an unusable state when getting them in terms of battery. Not bad i.m.o. for a sample size of 90.
I buy all of my phones second hand on eBay. I used to use Swappa but now that they’re almost entirely populated by reseller listings there’s no longer a reason to use them, you’ll get better prices on eBay from the same people.
I usually just pick a price target (say, $350-390) and buy whatever OEM I feel like using that generation. Most of the time that’s OnePlus, I’ve owned about 5 of their phones and they tend to have very good community LineageOS support.
eBay buyer protection is your friend here, if there’s anything wrong with the phone that’s not disclosed in the listing you’re entitled to a return at the seller’s expense, or you can let them cut you a partial refund to cover the issue - it’s your choice.
If you’re selective about which phone you buy and check the photos carefully you’ll get exactly what you paid for, if there’s anything wrong just send the phone right back.
The only caveat here is battery wear. With modern fast charging pushing 60W+ into a phone you’re looking at 15-20% battery capacity degradation over 18-24mo so expect the phone to hold less of a charge than a new one would and you won’t be disappointed. Battery replacement is a pain, but not terribly expensive. I’ve had several OnePlus phones repaired by their warranty and service center in the US, it’s fairly priced if you’re just replacing a battery.
I’ve purchased maybe a dozen and a half phones and tablets this way over the last decade and never had any issues. Just know what you’re entitled to by buyer protection and have reasonable expectations re: batteries and there’s no real risk to buying used.
Edit: I’ve found that most “open box” and many “refurbished” phones or tablets are just devices someone had buyer’s remorse over, almost all of my tablets were essentially unused and just missing a stylus or something. Phones tend to have some battery wear but if you’re careful about listing photos they shouldn’t actually be damaged.
I buy ever phone on backmarket.com
Back in college I got my phones this way. Pretty much dependent on in person swaps where I could try to test things but I guess there are probably sites that streamline this these days.
And… I had no choice at the time. Couldn’t afford even the “cheap” phones. But… I would never do it again and I think I spent more money in the long run.
Because, with very few exceptions, people aren’t buying androids because they need the latest flagship phone. This isn’t an iphone where people think their human value is dependent on how old their iphone 95 is or whatever. People either (effectively) rent their phone from tmobile or they drive those into the ground until the battery is dead, the antenna is damaged, etc.
So I get a “good price” on something with a fairly short shelf life and just get frustrated when I actually use the phone. Which results in more frequent updates that I “could afford” because they were “so cheap”.
At the end of the day: If it is all you can afford and you need a phone now, it is a decent solution. But I will generally say it is better to try to save up for another few months/a year and get one of the cheaper phones that exist these days.
Because, checking the google fi site (which is usually a worse deal than having a “real” provider): you can get a last gen refresh 7a for 300 bucks, new, that will last you 2-4 years. Or you can get a moto g 5g for 30 USD (what the flying hell?).
Well, my 100-150€ phone has survived fine for over a year now.
When you consider the rule (I’ve heard) that a phone is supposedly old and should be updated to a new one after two years of purchase, I consider my phone being on a long run already!
A quick google says that the flagship androids have 7 years of guaranteed updated. Motorola says 3 years. Samsung is in the middle at 5.
And obviously anecdotal, but I tend to update my (usually pixel or samsung) phone on a three year life cycle. That is around the time that the battery needs some maintenance, I’ve left it under the seat of my car in 100 degree weather on a few outdoor trips, etc. And I’ve started to notice degraded performance whether it is reception or some bullshit app “updates” that mean I am reminded of watching a picture load on 56k and hoping the model isn’t wearing a top.
Which just makes sense. If my phone works, I am not going to replace it.
Which gets to it. If you “get lucky”, you are paying 100 bucks for a used phone that will last you two years. If you get unlucky, you have a piece of crap that might last you one before you “justify” a phone that can hold a charge.
Whereas, if you just shop the sales (and real mobile providers have some great discount incentives to keep you as a customer), you are paying 300 for three years. So 100/2 versus 300/3. Except you are more or less “guaranteed” the phone works (… which is why I would probably not recommend buying that 30 buck motorola phone).
Like, I am sure there are people who think they are Marques and buy a new flagship samsung every single year. But android is very much marketed toward the “I am gonna run this into the ground” crowd and that has generally been my experience over the years. You are more or less hoping you get lucky and the local tmobile store is running a side hustle to gouge people.
Again, if you need a phone now: 100 bucks is a much easier thing to budget than 300. And that 30 dollar doorstop… try and save up the 100 bucks.
True. I must say this is my first and only second-hand phone, so I’m very new on this stuff 😂
I was told about the update problems as well. In my case, I still receive updates on my Samsung.
I’d guess that putting some time on researching your options in second-hand phones reduces risks somewhat and adds to chances to end up with a decent find 😄
Cellphone is something too much personal so I prefer a new device, cause I’ll be having it for its whole lifespan. I went for S23 8/256 on 6 of February and no regrets cause I’ll be having it for whole 5y. But I got it for 600$, I wouldn’t pay the full price.
I had only one phone from second hand and it was xperia compact z1. It wasn’t bad deal, but it was already 2y old, but for the price it was ridiculous deal. It lasted 2 years and I had to upgrade to new device, newly bought this time.
I assume if I had to I’d not mind buying second hand again but only max 1y old (since premiere) device, from reputable reseller and it would have to be flagship only.
How are you going to manage the battery for 5 years?
Like in my previous phone OP7T, I will swap for a new one after 2-3 years, if necessary…
I always buy used off Swappa, from a seller that reports the battery health.
Never had any issues, and they’re so much cheaper than anything new/refurb.
