If you're looking to sell your phone online, you might be wondering how to get the best price for it. After all, selling anything in the resale market isn't exactly easy, let alone smartphones. Often, you're competing with other sellers selling the same product.In this guide, we'll walk you through seven tips you can use to get the best price possible when selling your old iPhone or Android phone online. Take a look!

1. Time Your Sale

If you've finished preparing your phone for sale, your instinct might tell you to start looking for buyers immediately after, but that might not be the smartest idea. You see, when you sell your phone is just as important as how much you sell it for.

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For instance, if you put up an ad right after the launch of an awaited phone of roughly the same price, you're basically asking for trouble. Companies can be quite creative with their marketing, so buyers might be tempted to buy a new phone instead of your old one, even if the latter is cheaper.

To avoid this clash, you should sell your phone when there are no major upcoming announcements from reputed smartphone companies. For instance, Samsung usually releases its new line of Galaxy phones in the first quarter of a year, whereas Apple does so in the month of September or soon after. Time your sale accordingly to avoid these events.

2. List Your Phone on Multiple Platforms

There are many marketplaces where you can list your phone for sale including OLX, Craigslist, eBay, Swappa, Facebook Marketplace, and more. The more places you put up an ad, the higher your chances of scoring the best deal.

All marketplaces allow buyers and sellers to chat with each other, but some allow making anonymous phone calls too. If you choose to do the latter, remember to record your call when talking to a buyer to have proof of what price was agreed upon. If you're chatting instead, it might be a good idea to take screenshots.

3. Use High-Quality Images

People usually don't put a lot of effort into choosing good photos when selling their stuff in the resale market; but you can use this to your advantage. By uploading high-quality photos of your phone, you can make your ad stand out against all other phones similar to yours.

If you need some help with that, you can refer to this product photography guide to get some ideas. It's obviously better if you have access to a professional DSLR camera, but shooting from a good smartphone camera will work just fine too.

Make sure the images are bright, clear, and punchy. You may tweak them a bit in Adobe Lightroom for added glamour, but avoid going overboard with it, since the photos need to provide an accurate representation of the actual product. Too much editing can make it disingenuous and invite suspicion.

4. Write an Honest and Detailed Description

An honest, accurate, and well-written product description significantly increases of chances of scoring a good deal. If your phone has any cracks or shatter marks, make sure to reveal that in the ad itself.

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Some important things to add to the description include the phone's official specs, its overall condition, its age, whether it's still under warranty, and the accessories you're including in the package.

If you're selling your iPhone, it's a great idea to include the device's maximum battery capacity in the description. You can follow this guide to check your iPhone's battery health. If the maximum capacity is below 80%, your iPhone will not run according to its advertised performance; in that case, you might have to reduce your asking price.

5. Share as Little Personal Info as Possible

Selling anything in the resale market comes with some personal risks. To minimize them, it's important that you share as little info about yourself as possible. Don't add any details that are not necessary for the platform or the buyer to know, especially info about your identity.

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Avoid revealing your home address, bank account details, and if possible, your email address and phone number. If you need to speak with a buyer, it's much safer to do it in a Zoom meeting by simply sharing a link.

6. Negotiate Well and Bundle Extra Accessories

It's extremely rare that a genuine buyer will agree to your asking price without any bargaining; after all, they want a good deal as much as you do. So, you might want to set your price slightly higher to account for the inevitable haggle.

If the buyer still won't budge, a great way to entice them is to add extra accessories to the package. Along with the phone, you can also bundle useful goodies such as a spare charger, a back cover, a pair of old earphones, a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter, and a microSD card. Basically, bundle anything relevant you have lying around that you don't use any more.

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Also, if your phone has a screen protector installed, make sure to communicate that. The point here is that if the buyer is getting all the essential goodies from you without having to buy new ones separately, they are more likely to agree to your price.

7. Meet at a Public Place for the Sale

If you managed to make a deal, ask the buyer to meet you at a public place rather than somewhere isolated. For obvious reasons, you should be a bit skeptical when meeting someone this way.

As much as we wish otherwise, scammers are everywhere, so stay on your guard and remember to take necessary precautions to ensure your safety. The buyer will most probably want to inspect your phone for any issues, which is perfectly normal and recommended.

Sell Your Phone Online for the Best Price

If you've never sold anything in the resale market before, your first experience can be a bit intimidating. But if you do everything we discussed above properly, your old phone will be off your hands in no time.

Remember to sell at the right time, for the right price, and to the right buyer.