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)
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 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'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!
Mine is Samsung Galaxy J5 2017 for $50. Reasonably small, headphone jack, fully rectangular OLED screen, physical buttons, Android 10 thanks to XDA Developers. Minor inconveniences like no Bluetooth audio and camera app failing to start but I am satisfied overall.
I have bought all my round 90ish phones in my collection second hand otherwise I would have no shot at affording it. I have bought a couple of lemons yes, but overall I got mostly quality stuff
In my opinion if you set a limit on how much you want to spend and keep looking around that price point you can get some amazing deals. My top 3 are a Galaxy Note 9 in almost mint condition for 70€, a LG G8S for 60€ in excellent condition and a Galaxy S10E for 50€ with a cracked back (easy fix btw).
Also the most important things to look out for are screen damages. OLED burn-in still is a very common issue and many LCD screens also have problems with very uneven backlights. I always demand a totally black and totally white image of the screen beforehand for that reason.
Also with battery life its less of an issue than one might think. I only got a handful of phones where the battery life was really unusable (less than 3h of SOT). I remember the HTC One M8, 10 and U12 Plus as well as a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, Honor V8 and Nexus 6P really being in an unusable state when getting them in terms of battery. Not bad i.m.o. for a sample size of 90.
I've been buying refurbished phones on ebay for years and never had any issues. So long as you use common sense and buy from reputable sellers, you'll have no problems.
Cellphone is something too much personal so I prefer a new device, cause I'll be having it for its whole lifespan. I went for S23 8/256 on 6 of February and no regrets cause I'll be having it for whole 5y. But I got it for 600$, 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 buy ever phone on backmarket.com
Be careful though, Backmarket is a marketplace, they're not the refurbishers. You almost have no control over which refurbisher you buy from and they do not control the products. A refurbisher can put whatever they want basically, I had a very horrible experience with them and you can also look at the negative reviews.
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.
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)
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 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'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!
Mine is Samsung Galaxy J5 2017 for $50. Reasonably small, headphone jack, fully rectangular OLED screen, physical buttons, Android 10 thanks to XDA Developers. Minor inconveniences like no Bluetooth audio and camera app failing to start but I am satisfied overall.
I have bought all my round 90ish phones in my collection second hand otherwise I would have no shot at affording it. I have bought a couple of lemons yes, but overall I got mostly quality stuff
In my opinion if you set a limit on how much you want to spend and keep looking around that price point you can get some amazing deals. My top 3 are a Galaxy Note 9 in almost mint condition for 70€, a LG G8S for 60€ in excellent condition and a Galaxy S10E for 50€ with a cracked back (easy fix btw).
Also the most important things to look out for are screen damages. OLED burn-in still is a very common issue and many LCD screens also have problems with very uneven backlights. I always demand a totally black and totally white image of the screen beforehand for that reason.
Also with battery life its less of an issue than one might think. I only got a handful of phones where the battery life was really unusable (less than 3h of SOT). I remember the HTC One M8, 10 and U12 Plus as well as a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, Honor V8 and Nexus 6P really being in an unusable state when getting them in terms of battery. Not bad i.m.o. for a sample size of 90.
I've been buying refurbished phones on ebay for years and never had any issues. So long as you use common sense and buy from reputable sellers, you'll have no problems.
Cellphone is something too much personal so I prefer a new device, cause I'll be having it for its whole lifespan. I went for S23 8/256 on 6 of February and no regrets cause I'll be having it for whole 5y. But I got it for 600$, 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 buy ever phone on backmarket.com
Be careful though, Backmarket is a marketplace, they're not the refurbishers. You almost have no control over which refurbisher you buy from and they do not control the products. A refurbisher can put whatever they want basically, I had a very horrible experience with them and you can also look at the negative reviews.
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.