Wanting to upgrade your iPhone is only natural, with new models slated for release each year – each of which showcase new and advanced must-have features. New iPhones are expensive products though, and selling your old iPhone may well be necessary to bring the cost down. But how can you ensure you sell your iPhone safely?
Preparing Your iPhone for Sale
One of the main factors when it comes to safety in the sale of your iPhone doesn’t relate to your phone’s intrinsic value, but instead regards the digital contents of your phone. Your personal information could be stolen by others and used to access your online accounts, or used in in scams as a form of identity fraud. As such, the question you should be asking is “before I sell my iPhone, have I completely removed my personal information and data?”
Thankfully, the risk of giving away your personal data with your iPhone is easily eliminated by resetting it to factory settings. You can get your iPhone sale ready by performing the following steps:
- Back up your data to your iCloud account, in order to save your contacts and media between phones.
- Unpair any accessories from your device, such as your Apple Watch.
- Sign yourself out of any apps, including your iPhone’s email inbox.
- Visit ‘Settings’ and select ‘General’; press ‘Reset’, followed by ‘Erase All Content and Settings’.
Options for Sale
With your phone completely wiped and factory reset, your next question should be “where will I sell my iPhone?” There are several options open to you, each of which have their own benefits and drawbacks. You could sell your phone to an online recycling service, which offers a flat fee per model and prevents you from organising and administrating a private sale. This is a better option for older devices that might not fetch much in a second-hand market, but might not make you the most money if your device is newer.
You could create a listing for your phone on an auction site like eBay; though you run the risk of selling your phone below the market price, the vast majority of products on the platform sell within their average value range. Online marketplaces are a more local alternative than eBay, with private listings akin to newspaper listings. You’ll be more likely to garner a swift sale, but you may also need to meet the buyer in person – which can present its own risks. By maintaining contact with the buyer, taking a friend with you and confirming payment before handing the phone over, you can remain safe during an in-person transaction.
