How to Sell a Broken Xbox One

A broken Xbox One is still worth selling — typically £18 to £38 at For Parts, against £70 to £150 in working order.

Can you sell an Xbox One 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 Xbox Ones

These are the faults that move an Xbox One down the grades, and the first things a buyer will ask about:

Missing the bulky external power supply on original units
Disc drive failures, a known weak point
Controller drift or worn bumpers
Original launch models, which sell for very little

Grading it honestly

Fair covers something heavily used, or with a described fault or missing part: around £32 to £68. For Parts covers something not working or incomplete, sold as seen: roughly £18 to £38. 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:

Identify which model you have from the rear label
Test the disc drive with a game
Confirm you have the correct power supply for that model

Photographing the fault

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

The console, controller and all cables laid out together
The console powered on, at the setup screen after reset
The model and storage label on the underside
The controller sticks and triggers, plus any scuff, crack or vent damage

What to state in the listing

Alongside the fault itself, buyers of broken Xbox Ones want these confirmed:

Exact model — original, S, S All-Digital or X — and storage capacity
How many controllers, and their stick condition
Whether it has a disc drive, and whether the drive has been tested
That it has been factory reset and removed from your account

Model and storage: “Xbox One S 1TB with Controller and 4 Games”. The variant matters enormously — original, S, S All-Digital and X are different consoles at different prices — so name it exactly. Say how many controllers and whether games are bundled.

What buyers will ask

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

“Has it been factory reset?”

Confirm it, and say you have removed it from your account. A console still tied to a previous owner is the single most common complaint in this category.

“Does the disc drive work?”

Test it with a disc and say. Drive failure is the usual fault on these consoles and an untested drive is worth notably less.

“Is there controller drift?”

Test both sticks in a menu and answer honestly. Drift is common, cheap to fix and forgiven when disclosed — and resented when it is not.

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:

The One X, which sells clearly above the S and original
Controller included and free of stick drift
All cables plus the external power brick on original models
Larger internal storage

If the work would cost more than the gap between £38 and what a sound one fetches, sell it as is broken and let the buyer decide.

When to list it

Peaks from November to Christmas, with a second window in the fortnight after. Values step down whenever newer hardware drops in price, so there is rarely any benefit in waiting.

Getting it to the buyer

Post double boxed with the console immobilised, or hand over locally. Include every cable — a console arriving without its power lead is effectively unusable until the buyer sources one.

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 Xbox One selling guide if yours turns out to be sound.

Frequently asked questions

Is a broken Xbox One worth anything?

Yes — typically £18 to £38 at For Parts against £70 to £150 working. Repairers and people harvesting one component buy deliberately at this end. Missing the bulky external power supply on original units

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 the One X, which sells clearly above the S and original and a repair rarely restores those.

What do buyers ask about a faulty Xbox One?

The fault itself, in detail. Confirm it, and say you have removed it from your account. A console still tied to a previous owner is the single most common complaint in this category. The listing that answers it before being asked is the one that sells.