If you’re a little short on money and need to find a way to come up with some cash then buying and selling used cell phones is a great way to do this. You can even become a business owner by doing so—just look around you, nowadays everyone is on their cell phones! This guide will help show you how to make money buying and selling used cell phones.
New Phones vs Old Phones
The difference in buying new cell phones and used call pones is that new phones are bought by distributors from manufacturers. The manufacturers send the distributor the cell phones with an MSRP or manufacturer's suggested retail price. This is what the consumer pays so the distributor can make a profit on the phones they sell to you. So leave the new devices to Sprint or Verizon.
Making a Profit
Astoundingly, you can make anywhere from $100 per day to $17,000 per month selling used phones on sites such as eBay and Craigslist. With websites such as Thestore.com buying and selling refurbished cell phones is easier than ever. You can purchase refurbished phones and then sell them on your domain or on eBay and Craigslist for a markup.
Make sure to do market research to see what phones are popular among your target customers. Usually, Apple iPhones are in demand and are most often in circulation. An iPhone can range drastically in price depending on if it is a used phone or not. You will also only want to sell cell phones that are unlocked, some cell phones have a bad IMEI or ESN this is how the phones are tracked. Some phones are still even being financed by their original carrier, try not to fall victim to this scam and look up the IMEI or ESN number before purchasing.
Cracked Screen? Buy it.
Another good way to make a profit is by buying used cell phones with cracked screens. As long as you can replace the screens then you will see your profits in your business begin to skyrocket. Most people will either throw away or replace their phones after they're cracked. Now you know that buying those cracked phones, fixing them, and flipping them will bring you a ton of revenue. If you're unsure of how to fix a screen, there are many tutorials on youtube that will show you how.
Analyst Support
After your business has begun to bloom, hiring an analyst is a good idea. Companies such as The Analyst Agency, a primary market research company, can assist you and show you how to profit even further. The Analyst Agency will look into how to boost your company's performance, find your target market, as well as what other competitors are offering, what their prices are, and much more.
After their analysis, they will provide you with scenario planning, and a win/loss analysis. It’s in your interest to hire such an analyst company to gain a better insight into qualitative research into your business and how to gain an edge on your competitors with valuable information.
Calculate Your Profit Before Buying
You’ll want to calculate all of your costs before buying anything because if you end up losing money then it isn’t worth flipping. First, you will want to scan the market and check the MSRP value of the phone, the refurbished value, and the used value of the phone you plan on selling.
If you can find it used with a broken screen then all you will have to pay for is the materials to fix the screen and the phone itself. You will not want to buy the phone at MSRP value because there won’t be any room for you to make a profit on the cell phone.
Selling Accessories
After you’ve begun to profit off of your cell phone business, you can move on to selling accessories for phones. This will also add to your profit if you can find a manufacturer willing to work with you. When people buy phones, they will usually purchase a case, or a screen protector because they’re afraid to either scratch or crack their phones.
