You’re busy, and multitasking is a way of life. There are some places where multitasking should never really take place. Some of those places are obvious to most people, and some of them fall into a gray area for others. One of those gray areas is the bathroom. I know of two people personally who ruined their phones by dropping them in the porcelain throne. If it works after that, it’s never quite the same.
So what are your options?
- If the phone works, you can keep using it until your contract renews. (Yuck!)
- Pay full price for a new phone.
- Extend your contract and get another phone.
- Pull out an old phone from the kitchen drawer that’s been collecting dust.
But let’s say that you read the post about Ting and you’re convinced that you don’t want to renew your contract, or you like your big carrier, but don’t have the extra cash to go out and buy a new phone and your contract isn’t up for renewal. That’s where Swappa comes in.
Swappa is a site where users can buy and sell good, working phones. Unlike eBay, where you may never really know what you’re getting when you bid, prices on Swappa are set up front and sellers have to follow a certain set of guidelines.
- Phones cannot have any water damage, including toilet water.
- Phones cannot have cracked screens.
- Phones must have clean ESNs (which means they can be activated on the appropriate network when you purchase it).
- Each listing is approved by a Swappa moderator.
Purchases are paid through PayPal, which gives the buyer and seller extra protections.
Buyers
The price you see is the price you pay. It even includes shipping, so it’s a pretty straightforward system. If there is a certain phone model that you’ve been interested, you can sign up for notifications and receive an email each time someone lists that type of phone. If you like what you see, you can buy the phone.
I believe they originally sold Android phones, but they’ve expanded into all types of phones including iPhones and Windows Phones. They even have listings for tablets as well if you’re looking for one.
Sellers
If you’re a seller, there are no listing fees or commissions that you pay. You simply choose the amount you want to get when you sell it, and $10 is added on to pay Swappa. When the device sells, you ship the phone to the buyer and you get the full amount that you wanted. The buyer pays the $10 fee to Swappa when they buy the device. You’ll need to factor in the cost of shipping since you’ll be paying for that.
We’ve used this service several times to purchase used Sprint phones for Ting, and we’ve directed several others to use it as well when purchasing a phone. It has worked out really well and we’ve been very happy with each phone that we’ve received. They are often in better condition than we assume they will be. Sellers are usually very good at communicating with you and answering any questions you have. In fact, I have even video chatted with the first person I bought a phone from because I had some questions on how to modify it after getting it. Since then, I’ve sent him emails asking different things that weren’t even related to a listing and he’s always been quick to respond.
Potential Savings: You should be able to save 50% or more off the purchase of a gently used phone versus a new one. It all depends on the demand for the device. If it’s a new phone, the price will be higher. If it’s a year or two old, then the price will be even better, even compared to a new version of the same phone.
The phone I recently bought off Swappa was like new. I must say that I was more than a little leery of trying Swappa being unfamiliar with it. The phone came with all the original packaging and accessories and showed no signs of ever having been used even though it had. Paid about 65% below retail. Very pleased with the entire process and was surprised at how much the moderator was watching over transaction.
Other interesting site is http://www.gadgetsalvation.com/