Sell, sell sell! We’re sitting on $8bn worth of secondhand mobile phones

Have you got any old mobile phones laying around? You could be sitting on a gold mine as eBay Australia revealed more than $8 billion worth of devices are laying unused in Australian homes.

In Australia 69,269 pre-loved mobile phones have been sold so far in 2019 along with 5.2 million mobile phone accessories on eBay.com.au alone.

Tech is a popular category on eBay with mobile phones one of the bestselling items.

After the recent release of new devices from Samsung and Apple, customers have been selling their old phone to help them upgrade to the new model.

eBay has an online tool that allows users to enter details about their device and receive an estimate of what their phone would be worth.

This value could be up to $250 more than customers would receive if they were to trade in their device rather than sell it.

Victorians topped the list for selling their mobile devices with 27,489 followed by NSW with 22,961 in Queensland with 10,271.

The Australian mobile market is dominated by Apple and Samsung which have 42 per cent and 35 per cent market share respectively.

“With a 21 per cent increase in the value of mobile phones sitting unused in drawers and cupboards in the last year alone and a mobile phone sold every 68 seconds on eBay, now is the perfect time to sell your old phone to fund an upgrade to a new model,” says eBay’s Sophie Onikul.

“eBay shoppers looking to upgrade their device can find a huge range of brand new mobile phones including the latest models at affordable prices from one of our 40,000 Australian retailers.”

The top models with the best secondhand return on ebay.com.au are:

1 – Apple iPhone X

2 – Apple iPhone 8 Plus

3 – Samsung Galaxy Note 9

4 – Samsung Galaxy S10

Here are eBay’s tips and tricks to get the best price for your mobile device:

– Preparation is key: Before you’re ready to list your phone for sale, be sure that it’s properly backed up so that you don’t lose all your data when you switch to your new model.

– Research: Find out your phone’s storage capacity, camera specs and which accessories are compatible with it to ensure that your buyers are fully informed about the product and better able to make their purchase decision.

The description is your sales pitch – try to describe your item as if there were no photos attached.

– Make it stand out:  When you take photos of your phone for the listing, use good lighting and try to photograph it against a solid white backdrop.

You’ll want to take photos from every angle including close-up shots and photos of any accessories you are selling with it.

Pair your description with at least three great images, but the more the better.