topic Re: Selling your cell phone in Electronics

Selling your cell phone

SharkE — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:14:51 GMT

My Tracfone got upgraded. They don't want the old one back.

I thought I seen something about a place that will buy your old phone?

Anybody know of such a place ?

thanks !

Re: Selling your cell phone

jackthebear — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:21:14 GMT

I have never done it but there is Gazelle an online thing and probably some others. They all offer quotes first.

also a kiosk https://www.ecoatm.com/

is it worth saving in case you loose your phone? I saved my iPhone and it turned out my daughter actually needed it

Re: Selling your cell phone

Nuttmeg — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:39:13 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
My Tracfone got upgraded. They don't want the old one back.

I thought I seen something about a place that will buy your old phone?

Anybody know of such a place ?

thanks !

This video has some nice ideas about recycling a cell phone.

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-sell-or-recycle-your-phone-for-cash/

Re: Selling your cell phone

SharkE — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:39:45 GMT

Tracfone is going to deactivate it as soon as I get the replacement.

They force your hand when they deem you need an upgrade. They give you a week to accept or decline the upgrade. We're older folks and would have kept the phone till we died since we never use it anyway and have over 3500 minutes on it.

When I called in they said "do you wish to accept the free upgrade"? I said "don't have much choice I'll lose all the minutes I've paid for plus the phone". she says "no, not minutes , just we will deactivate the phone on the 16th". I didn't argue the point, but, what good is 3500 minutes unless you buy a new phone ? LOL We're taking the free upgrade and keeping our phone number, plus, all the minutes we've paid for.

might as well get few bucks out of the oldy. LOL

Thanks !

Re: Selling your cell phone

ChynnaBlue — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 14:53:48 GMT

Amazon has a buyback program. Gazelle is the other option I looked into. Neither gave me as much as selling back to my provider, but I had an iPhone and AT&T.

Re: Selling your cell phone

RainyDayGal — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:09:16 GMT

There are places you can also donate your phone, like the USO for the troops to be able to call home.

Re: Selling your cell phone

Nuttmeg — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:43:47 GMT

@ChynnaBlue wrote:
Amazon has a buyback program. Gazelle is the other option I looked into. Neither gave me as much as selling back to my provider, but I had an iPhone and AT&T.

Gazelle will only accept phones from certain providers. I usually keep an old phone in case of a loss or damage. I want to LOL. Verizon will not give you much on an older Samsung phone.

Re: Selling your cell phone

Nightowlz — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:11:54 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
Tracfone is going to deactivate it as soon as I get the replacement.
They force your hand when they deem you need an upgrade. They give you a week to accept or decline the upgrade. We're older folks and would have kept the phone till we died since we never use it anyway and have over 3500 minutes on it.

When I called in they said "do you wish to accept the free upgrade"? I said "don't have much choice I'll lose all the minutes I've paid for plus the phone". she says "no, not minutes , just we will deactivate the phone on the 16th". I didn't argue the point, but, what good is 3500 minutes unless you buy a new phone ? LOL We're taking the free upgrade and keeping our phone number, plus, all the minutes we've paid for.

might as well get few bucks out of the oldy. LOL
Thanks !

Why would Tracfone deactivate your phone? Is the phone so old they need you to upgrade? If Tracfone does not want the phone back it's not worth anything. I would donate or recycle it. What model # phone did you have & what model/brand was it replaced with? Nothing wrong with Tracfone doing that at no charge but you should have the choice to keep using the phone you have. It's just a hassle having to figure the new one out.

Re: Selling your cell phone

RainyDayGal — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:29:42 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
Tracfone is going to deactivate it as soon as I get the replacement.
They force your hand when they deem you need an upgrade. They give you a week to accept or decline the upgrade. We're older folks and would have kept the phone till we died since we never use it anyway and have over 3500 minutes on it.

When I called in they said "do you wish to accept the free upgrade"? I said "don't have much choice I'll lose all the minutes I've paid for plus the phone". she says "no, not minutes , just we will deactivate the phone on the 16th". I didn't argue the point, but, what good is 3500 minutes unless you buy a new phone ? LOL We're taking the free upgrade and keeping our phone number, plus, all the minutes we've paid for.

might as well get few bucks out of the oldy. LOL
Thanks !

Re: Selling your cell phone

RainyDayGal — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:31:35 GMT

@RedConvertibleGirl wrote:
@SharkE wrote:
Tracfone is going to deactivate it as soon as I get the replacement.
They force your hand when they deem you need an upgrade. They give you a week to accept or decline the upgrade. We're older folks and would have kept the phone till we died since we never use it anyway and have over 3500 minutes on it.

When I called in they said "do you wish to accept the free upgrade"? I said "don't have much choice I'll lose all the minutes I've paid for plus the phone". she says "no, not minutes , just we will deactivate the phone on the 16th". I didn't argue the point, but, what good is 3500 minutes unless you buy a new phone ? LOL We're taking the free upgrade and keeping our phone number, plus, all the minutes we've paid for.

might as well get few bucks out of the oldy. LOL
Thanks !

This doesn't make any sense. I get offers for an upgrade phone all the time, but I never take them because I don't want a new phone. My phone (through Verizon, previously AT&T) was never deactivated. Are you positive they would deactivate the phone if you don't get a new one?

Re: Selling your cell phone

SharkE — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:32:06 GMT

pretty old. These days anything is considered old after you receive it.

Just sign of the times.

something to do with 2G networks, new networks out there, blah,blah

we just use it in case we need roadside help, call in a pizza, etc.

don't even turn it on. We're not part of the have to have a phone crowd.

I'm glad to leave my landline at home. Don't want to be bothered. LOL

Re: Selling your cell phone

151949 — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:55:51 GMT

I would assume the issue is that the OP's old phone is no longer compatible with the provider technology.

Re: Selling your cell phone

1MrsT — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 17:16:29 GMT

@SharkE I always check out the prices at Nextworth.com and Gazelle.com. I've sold every one of mine and DH's iPhones and iPads we've bought through the years. Because I keep the original boxes they come in, and our devices always have good, protective cases, I always receive the highest value for used devices they offer.

Lately I've found that Gazelle offers slightly more than Nextworth, plus if I take my payment in an Amazon giftcard instead of a check, they add an additional 5% to the final amount.

I'm not familiar with Tracfone, but it can't hurt to check them out...or keep them in mind for future devices.

Re: Selling your cell phone

tansy — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 18:22:41 GMT

Hard to believe that there would be any value for an outdated Tracfone phone. I donated mine to an organization for abused women.

Re: Selling your cell phone

DJs mom — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 18:39:30 GMT

You have an old Tracfone on the 2G network. I doubt if it is worth anything or your time to try and sell it. Maybe think about donating it to a shelter. A lot of times they give them to battered women to call 911 if they need help. 911 will still work even if the phone is not activated.

Re: Selling your cell phone

SharkE — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 18:46:10 GMT

@1MrsT wrote:
@SharkE I always check out the prices at Nextworth.com and Gazelle.com. I've sold every one of mine and DH's iPhones and iPads we've bought through the years. Because I keep the original boxes they come in, and our devices always have good, protective cases, I always receive the highest value for used devices they offer.

Lately I've found that Gazelle offers slightly more than Nextworth, plus if I take my payment in an Amazon giftcard instead of a check, they add an additional 5% to the final amount.

I'm not familiar with Tracfone, but it can't hurt to check them out...or keep them in mind for future devices.

I think Tracfone's appeal to certain groups of the population.

Low income folk and old farts like us who just keep one in case of emergency or for convenience.

No contract, no hassle thru the year. We buy the once a yr. card for 100 and that keeps for 365 days a yr. We don't text either. Lot of people shouldn't be that's driving come to think of it. We always get bonus minutes, so, last time I got 1100 minutes. LOL

If we ever get put on hold waiting for the AAA truck we don't have to worry about running out of minutes ! ROFL I've got 4500 on mine and he has 3500 on his. We used to use walky talkies on vacation when we would wander away from each other , but, now we use those minutes. LOL

Simple life...................

Re: Selling your cell phone

Kachina624 — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:18:06 GMT

I think the companies that buy used phones are interested in the high-priced iPhone and the like. They're renewed and sold as refurbished. Tracfone are practically worthless for resell. I'd prefer to give mine away (I have a drawerfull) if I could figure who to give them to. You can get an idea of the value of a Tracfone by looking at the prices brand-new at Walmart.

Re: Selling your cell phone

glb613 — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 22:03:43 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
I think the companies that buy used phones are interested in the high-priced iPhone and the like. They're renewed and sold as refurbished. Tracfone are practically worthless for resell. I'd prefer to give mine away (I have a drawerfull) if I could figure who to give them to. You can get an idea of the value of a Tracfone by looking at the prices brand-new at Walmart.

Purge your information and donate them to a local women's shelter. Cell phones will dial 911 without a cell phone plan.

Re: Selling your cell phone

CatsyCline — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:31:39 GMT

Verizon Wireless takes used cell phones . "Hopeline"

below page has links to drop off places or you can mail them . they took my old phones even the one that didnt work. i had a Blackberry and a Razr and a Samsung tracfone and they had zero resale value

http://www.verizon.com/about/responsibility/hopeline/get-involved

make sure to wipe the fone, remove the SIM and the data card (photos, any images stored on the phone, apps)

HopeLine phone donation scrubbing process

The donation process is very straightforward, here’s what you need to know:

Verizon takes the protection of customer information seriously. We encourage customers who donate to HopeLine to erase any personal data on their phones first, and ensure service is turned off.
Prior to donating your phone, back up all of your personal information. Erase your address book, call logs, messages, stored photos, videos and other media. More information on how to erase personal data is also available on your phone manufacturer’s website or user guide.
HopeLine puts donated phones through an extensive refurbishing process and does a complete scrub to ensure that all customer personal data is removed before distributing the phones for re-use by domestic violence victims and survivors.

Re: Selling your cell phone

jaxs mom — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:00:08 GMT

You check and see if there is a local cell phone donation program. We had one where I used to live and the group gave the phones to women in battered womens shelters or other situations where they needed a phone for safety.