Everything you should know while selling your phone

Are you planning to buy a new phone either because your old one is no longer working or to make some money? Wondering how you are going to dispose of it while also being environmentally friendly? Then there’s a simple solution for you, sell your phone.

After you are done using your phone, all that is left for you to do is dispose of it. However, you are left between the two options of throwing it in the trash or reselling it. With the global pollution and consumption of goods rising at an incredible rate, every bit of resource you save by proper management can help save our planet. This is another important factor that should motivate you to sell or recycle your device rather than immediately throw it away.

Now, if you are finally set on selling your device, here are some important facts to keep in mind:

  1. Removing your wireless account:

The first thing you should do when you plan to sell your phone is to remove your wireless account. Whether it be your Wi-Fi accounts, SIM card accounts or any other configuration that you set up, remember to clear it as quick as possible. If this information is given to the buyer, they can abuse your account and make calls and use data on your expense. Also, if your Wi-Fi password is leaked, you can experience serious bandwidth issues in the long run.

Depending on your carrier, you may also face a loss of data.

  1. Backingup your data:

Before you sell your phone, remember to take both hard and soft copies of the data you  have on your phone. With today’s software, both iPhones and Android users can live with the luxury of transferring all of their data automatically through cloud storage. In a single tap, all your old passwords, images and documents will be transferred into your new device hassle free.

Earlier, this required a physical back up and retransfer which took quite a bit of time and effort.

People who own an Android account can use their Google account to save all of their details. As for iOS users, they can back-up the data as well as their favourite applications by using iTunes which comes pre-included with their iPhones. There are additional options available on the market for people who want to perform a comprehensive yet thorough back-up through external applications from the internet.

  1. Removal of micro SD cards:

Your phone’s treat your micro-SD cards as removable storage devices and will start storing data on it as soon as you connect it to your device. So remember to take out your micro-SD cards before selling your phone. Apart from this, high quality micro-SD cards don’t come cheap and you definitely don’t want to be giving it away for nothing in return.

  1. Transfer of your images and videos: 

While passwords, calendar information and account details can be stored by your google account, your pictures, videos and music will have to be manually transferred using bluetooth or an external app.

The only way around this is if you use a newer model of phone which stores photos, videos and other data on the cloud instead of it’s own memory card. If so, you need not worry about manually backing up these files but can instead simply re-download it on your new device.

However, it is generally considered safer to take physical back ups especially when working with older phone models.

  1. Disabling passcodes:

When you are done with all the aforementioned tasks, remember to disable any and all passcodes on your device or even perform a clean wipe of all data using a factory reset.

  1. Finding the right buyer:

After you have set up your phone for sale, it is essential that you find buyer for your device. Finding a good buyer means that your data will remain safe even if you failed to perform the steps correctly. 

Agencies such as mobile monster (https://mobilemonster.com.au/) save you all the hassle of finding a right buyer and pay you back exactly how much your phone is without cutting prices anywhere.

So remember to sell your devices to the right agency to ensure that you get the best prices for your old phone.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.