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The smart way to buy a used phone online - YouTube
Channel: The Verge
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- The time has come.
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I'm coming clean.
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I've had the S7 for two years now.
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And being someone that films the latest
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and greatest tech everyday,
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it's gotten me wanting a new phone.
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The thing is, I don't wanna spend $1,000
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and I don't necessarily need something
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that came out yesterday.
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So I'm gonna show you how
to buy a good, used phone.
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(light music)
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Okay, I'm buying an S9+.
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Now, I am not here to
tell you what phone to buy
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and I'm sure you'll
sound off in the comments
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about your favorite devices
and what you would buy,
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but what I am here to do is to tell you
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the best buying practices
for a used device.
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The safest and most reliable ways.
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Before we get to any of that, though.
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You have to remember that
phones come out in cycles
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and there are better and worst
times to buy certain devices.
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So I hit up Chris Welch, a
reporter here at The Verge,
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and I was like, Chris, is it
a good time to buy an S9+?
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- [Chris] So there are pretty
clear timelines for when
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it's a good idea or bad
idea to buy a phone.
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New iPhones come out every September
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so you really shouldn't buy
one if it's July or August.
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Samsung puts out the Galaxy
S at the start of each year,
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March or April.
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Then the Note follows
that up in the summer.
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Google does Pixel updates in October.
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In general, Apple and Samsung
both change their designs
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every two years.
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Then in between,
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there's a more powerful
version of the same phone
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with better specs, nicer
camera, stuff like that.
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That's what we call the S year.
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So the question comes down to:
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do you want the new
flashy design right away?
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Or can you wait one year
for the more powerful,
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more refined version of that same phone.
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Now Google is a bit different because
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the Pixel generally hasn't
used the same design
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more than once.
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But maybe you'd be totally
happy with last year's phone.
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You don't need a neural
engine to browse Instagram,
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or a Snapdragon 845 to play Spotify.
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So in your case,
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you'd be totally safe to
buy the S9+ right now.
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And since it's less than a year old,
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buying it used will save you at least $100
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and still get you a great phone.
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- Okay, so we are in luck.
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It is a good time to buy a used S9+.
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But, where do you start?
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I mean there's a million
different options.
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Personally, I always look at
eBay and Craigslist first.
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Craigslist can be a little
bit of a slippery slope.
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If a phone is stolen and
then you go to turn it on
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and the serial number's flagged as stolen,
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you'll be out the phone and the cash.
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And you'll have no
connection to the seller.
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So for this video, I'm
gonna skip it entirely.
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But let's have a look at eBay.
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eBay has a ton of listings
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and I went onto Samsung's website to see
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what a brand new S9+ would be,
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it was around $840.
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So I'm gonna try to beat that.
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Now, for my sake, I'm
going to search by Verizon
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because that's my carrier.
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There are unlocked devices,
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but you'll have to do research on your own
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to figure out if they'll
work on your network.
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I've looked through a bunch of listings
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and I found this one.
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This is the most promising.
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It's a Samsung Galaxy
S9+, 64 gigs, for $549.
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For me this looks nice because
the photos are very clear,
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I can tell that there's no
scratches on the device.
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Wow, they have a lot of five star reviews.
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760 positive reviews
and only six negative.
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When a seller has a lot of
positive feedback like this,
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it's usually a pretty good sign that
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they're safe to buy from.
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Also when searching I've noticed a lot
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of stock photos used for
the photo of the phones,
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this is something you
wanna stay away from.
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It's really important to see
your device in the photos
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and maybe that means
reaching out to the seller
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and asking for a photo
of a specific thing.
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Just to be sure that's the
device and that he has it.
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So $549 on eBay.
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That's pretty good but if
you know anything about me,
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you know I'm all about the deal.
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So I'm gonna keep shopping.
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There's this website called
swappa.com that I really like.
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You're still buying person-to-person
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so there is a level of risk,
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but there's a lot more safeguards in place
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to ensure that you're getting the device
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that you're actually looking at.
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There's a few listings
for the S9+ on here.
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They range from about 500 to $800.
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That mostly has to do with the storage
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but I'm looking for the 64 gigabyte model
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so it's not a huge problem for me.
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I'll be at the lower end.
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Okay so this one looks
pretty good, it's $514.
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If you look at the photos you'll notice
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that there's a code in there.
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That's one of the
safeguards that Swappa has.
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It basically is the code for the sell.
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So the phone that you're
seeing in the photo,
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is the phone for that listing.
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I'm gonna scroll down,
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I'm gonna read some of the comments next.
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Maybe I'll go in and I'll
see who the seller is,
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if he sold things here before.
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Kind of all the same steps as eBay.
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Okay so this looks pretty good
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and another safeguard is that
Swappa doesn't allow the sell
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of broken or unusable devices.
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Now since you are buying used,
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it doesn't come with a warranty.
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So say down the line something
happens to your phone
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or it glitches out.
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You're on your own to get it repaired.
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If you wanna little bit
more reassurance when
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buying a used phone,
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you might wanna look
at refurbished models.
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They come with a guarantee.
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So if there's a defect down the road,
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they'll replace the device for you.
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You can buy refurbs from
a few different places,
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including the manufacturer
and your carrier.
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But there's also sites
like Gazelle or Best Buy.
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They often have cheaper prices on these.
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All right, Best Buy's
website is a little confusing
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in trying to find refurbs,
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but if you scroll all the way down
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to the bottom where it
says buying options,
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that's where you'll see them.
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Now you can open-box online,
it's a little more expensive,
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or if you got into the store,
they have cheaper options.
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But it's probably because
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they want you to actually look at it
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and know what you're getting
before you leave the store.
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So gazelle.com has
certified pre-owns as well,
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here's an S9+, 64 gig,
through Verizon for $639.
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That's cheaper than Best Buy,
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but it's still not as cheap
as Swappa or eBay was.
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So buying a refurbished device
is definitely the safest
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way to buy a used devices.
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But, for me, I'd rather
have the cheaper price
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and take the risk.
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So Swappa is the most appealing to me.
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The price was the lowest
and although it doesn't come
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with a guarantee, the seller
seems like he's sold things
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on here before and he
has really good reviews.
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And I feel good about it.
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So I'm gonna go with Swappa for this one.
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And I'm gonna waive that whole guarantee
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so if something goes
wrong, I guess it's on me.
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But what I will use Gazelle
for is selling my old phone.
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It's not in great condition,
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but I definitely want it recycled properly
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and I no longer need.
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So you can go on their
website, enter some info,
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if it has scratches,
if it turns on at all,
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and then they'll offer you a price.
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They're gonna give me
10 bucks for this thing
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and free shipping, so I guess
that means lunch on Gazelle?
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(soft music)
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All right, so sound off in the
comments of your favorite way
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to buy and sell devices.
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And who's got the oldest phone out there?
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Anyone got me beat?
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Also, like and subscribe.
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We'll see you next time.
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