The used smartphone market is huge and if you do not take the correct precautions you might not get the best deal
Smartphone manufacturers have been frequently launching new smartphones making their last ones feel old pretty soon. This plays a lot with the mindset of people who want to have the latest and the greatest. These people then purchase the newer smartphones and do not know what to do with the older ones. So they decide to sell them off, which creates a huge supply of used smartphones in the market. Then the people who do not want to spend much but want a decent phone turn to the second hand smartphone market to get a good deal. However, if they do not know much about the device and just go and pick up some device from the seller they can be scammed. So we decided to compile a list of five things that you need to do before paying for a second hand smartphone.
Find out the current price of the phone you are looking to buy
There are many online shopping sites which let users sell off their used smartphones to others
If you are going to buy a used smartphone, the main motivation behind that is getting a good deal. However, to know if you are actually getting it for a good price, a little bit of prior research is needed. The first thing that you need to look for is how much does a new piece of the same cost in the market right now. Then you need to check multiple marketplaces and figure how many people are selling the device and for how much. After doing that and getting a feel of the market, you can decide on how much you are willing to spend on it and in what condition are you willing to accept the device in. Then you can contact the seller and bargain a bit to get the most out of your buck.
Check for physical damage
Any physical damage brings down the price of a smartphone
When you have decided on a price and have setup a meeting with a seller, the easy part is over. Now, before you pay and leave with the phone, you need to check the smartphone for any visible damages that you can spot. Check for dents, scratches, water damage, or any parts wobbling or coming out. If you see any damages that you can deal with then, it might also help you bargain a bit. Like a minor scratch on the back might help you bring the seller of the device down by Rs 500 or more. Just make sure there aren’t any major issues with the smartphone so that you do not repent later. To check for water damage you just need to find the water test sticker on the phone and see if it is still the original colour. To know where the water damage sticker might be, just Google it with the model name of the smartphone.
Time for technical checks
Checking all the ports of a used smartphone is a good idea, as you do not know what might be broken
Now that you are done with the external checks of the smartphone, you need to check that the internals are in the right condition too. For this we recommend you take a power bank, a charging cable, a working SIM card, a microSD card and a pair of headphones with you. This will help you check each and every port of the device. Try making calls, sending messages to check if the internal modems are all working, check the charging and the 3.5mm port along with all the physical buttons on the phone. Open up the phone if you can and check to see if the battery is not bloated. Finally touch everywhere on the screen to see if the touch is responding properly or not.
Check if the phone is rooted or jailbroken
Bypassing the walls that the operating system has setup might lead to unfavourable outcomes
After all the physical tests mentioned above are done and you are satisfied with the condition of the smartphone. It is time to check if the software is in proper condition and hasn’t been tinkered with. If you find a smartphone that is rooted or jailbroken this might be a big problem. The previous owner might have tinkered a lot with the software and might have even overclocked the processor thus burning it a bit at least. Jailbroken iPhones cannot use the App Store to download apps and might get locked if upgraded to a newer version of iOS.
Use the phone for a bit of time to see if it works properly
Using a smartphone for some time like your daily driver will help you figure out if there is something wrong there with the smartphone
Finally, after all of the above checks are done comes the turn to actually use it as you would normally do. We recommend that you spend at least 30 minutes with the device using it thoroughly to see how smooth it works. During this you may even find something that you missed in the above tests. Using the smartphone will also make you see if you are comfortable with it – is it too big or small, is the operating system easy to learn for you and much more. Using a smartphone for 30 minutes might seem like a long and tedious task at the beginning, but when you think that, that is the smartphone you will be using as your daily driver for quite some time, it doesn’t seem that long.
Now that all of the above tests are done and you are happy with the deal, it’s time for payment. But wait! One major check still remains. Ask the seller for the original invoice and box (at least the former) to know for sure that he or she is the rightful owner of the device and it isn’t stolen. Once you have the original invoice in hand, give the seller what you agreed upon and be the happy owner of that smartphone
The nice part about buying a good second hand smartphone is that you will end up losing a lot less money when you sell the smartphone in the future compared to selling a new smartphone.