How to Sell a Broken Mobile Phone

A broken mobile phone is still worth selling — typically £10 to £88 at For Parts, against £40 to £350 in working order.

Can you sell a mobile phone that does not work?

Yes. Repairers, people replacing one component and buyers who want a project all shop deliberately at this end. None of them will accept a fault they discover after paying.

What actually goes wrong with mobile phones

These are the faults that move a mobile phone down the grades, and the first things a buyer will ask about:

Blacklisted or finance-locked IMEIs, which are unsellable
Devices past their security-update window
Cracked screens and back glass
Batteries needing immediate replacement

Grading it honestly

Fair covers something heavily used, or with a described fault or missing part: around £18 to £158. For Parts covers something not working or incomplete, sold as seen: roughly £10 to £88. Grades are seller-declared and nobody inspects them for you, so grading up does not raise what you get — it produces a buyer who arrives expecting something else. All five grades explained.

Working out what you actually have

Establish the fault properly rather than guessing at it:

Check the IMEI against a blacklist service
Note the exact model, storage and battery health
Factory reset and remove all accounts

Photographing the fault

Photograph the damage directly and in focus — it is the evidence that the rest of the description is honest:

Front, screen on, showing the home screen
Back and sides in daylight
The settings screen showing model and storage
The charging port and any damage, close up

What to state in the listing

Alongside the fault itself, buyers of broken mobile phones want these confirmed:

Exact make, model and storage
Unlock status and original carrier
Battery condition and realistic daily life
What is included: charger, cable, case, box

Make, model, storage, unlock status: “Sony Xperia 10 IV 128GB Unlocked”. Never list a phone as just “mobile phone”. If it is an older or budget model, saying so honestly attracts the buyers who actually want a cheap spare or a first phone for a child.

What buyers will ask

Answer these in the listing rather than waiting to be asked:

“Is it unlocked?”

Test with another network’s SIM if you can, and say what you found. This is the first question on almost every phone sale.

“Does everything work?”

Test the cameras, speaker, microphone, charging port and buttons individually, and list anything that does not.

“Is it reset and ready to use?”

Remove your accounts and reset before listing, then say so. It removes the buyer’s main worry in one sentence.

Is it worth repairing first?

Usually not, unless it is cheap and you can evidence it. What lifts the price is condition and completeness, which a repair rarely restores:

Unlocked handsets with a clean IMEI
Recent models still receiving security updates
Battery health well above eighty percent
Original box, charger and accessories

If the work would cost more than the gap between £88 and what a sound one fetches, sell it as is broken and let the buyer decide.

When to list it

Sells quickly at realistic prices. Budget and older handsets have a steady market as spares, children’s phones and travel phones, provided they are described honestly.

Getting it to the buyer

Small and easily disputed. Photograph the exact handset and accessories going into the parcel, and confirm payment has cleared before sending.

WishThrift does not process payments, arrange delivery or hold funds. Confirm the money has cleared before the item leaves your hands, and keep the conversation on the site so there is a record of what was agreed.

Ready to list it? Free to list, no commission, and neither side pays a buyer-protection fee — create a free account, or read the full mobile phone selling guide if yours turns out to be sound.

Frequently asked questions

Is a broken mobile phone worth anything?

Yes — typically £10 to £88 at For Parts against £40 to £350 working. Repairers and people harvesting one component buy deliberately at this end. Blacklisted or finance-locked IMEIs, which are unsellable

Should I repair it before selling?

Usually not, unless the repair is cheap and you can evidence it. The things that genuinely lift the price are unlocked handsets with a clean IMEI and a repair rarely restores those.

What do buyers ask about a faulty mobile phone?

The fault itself, in detail. Test with another network’s SIM if you can, and say what you found. This is the first question on almost every phone sale. The listing that answers it before being asked is the one that sells.