Just as a car begins to depreciate the moment you drive it off the lot, your phone depreciates as you take it out the box. And there's no exceptions. There's no Aston Martin DB5 or other classic-equivalent smartphone.

A phone is not a financial investment. No matter what you buy, its value will steadily decline. In fact, most technology becomes less useful and less desirable over time; eventually becoming obsolete. You know this, because you have an old iPhone or flagship Android phone that you literally cannot give away.



iPhones have always had the greatest residual value. On average, iPhones lose 41% of their value in the first year after they are released and 60% after 2 years.

Samsung phones lose an average of 64% of their value in the 12 months after launch, and 77% after 24 months.

It gets worse. OnePlus phones lose 78% of their value on average after 24 months. Google phones lose an average of 83%. Huawei phones lose a staggering 87% in just two years.

It's better to think of your phone as a tool that you make use of and enjoy. If you buy a top-end phone like an iPhone 13 or Samsung Galaxy S22 for £700 and use it for just two years, it is, in a sense, only costing you about £1 per day. If you re-sell it for 40% of what your originally paid for it, it's just 60p per day. Not bad when you look at it like that, right?

Recently upgraded? Here's what you need to know:

> Most people sit on their old phones for a while - 16 months on average! In this time, it loses around 50% of its value. Your phone is not going to gain value sat in a drawer. Re-sell it as soon as possible.

> Most shops (including ours), will offer a trade-in when you buy a new phone. We almost always suggest to our customers that they sell us their old phone immediately - after we've transferred the data for them.

> One third of people don't even trade in their phones. That's more e-waste in landfill, and less money in your pocket.

> It adds up over time. We can safely assume that most young people will go through about 35 smartphones in their lifetime. Delaying selling all your old phones could cost you thousands of pounds cumulatively.

> If it's fairly old, like an iPhone 6 - it won't have much (if any) value. Charities such as Hubbub will help you gift your old phone to someone that needs it.

> It's a good idea to keep one old phone spare, in case someone in the household loses or damages their phone.

Sell a Device