Used iPhones in the UK typically sell for £80 to £600 (about $110 to $810). Two things decide an iPhone sale and neither is cosmetic: the battery health percentage and whether the phone is cleanly unlocked from its previous owner’s account.
What iPhones are worth in the UK
| Condition | Typical | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| New with Tags | £600 | Unused, tags or seals intact |
| Like New | £510 | Barely used, no visible wear |
| Good | £390 | Light signs of use, complete and working |
| Fair | £270 | Heavily used, or a described fault or missing part |
| For Parts | £150 | Not working or incomplete, sold as seen |
Guide ranges converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate, not quotes — sellers set their own price. Grades are seller-declared; WishThrift does not inspect or verify them.
What lifts the price
- Battery health above 85% — buyers ask for this figure before they ask about scratches
- Carrier-unlocked, with the original box, cable and IMEI clear on checks
What pulls it down
- Battery health under 80%, where iOS starts flagging service warnings
- Cracked back glass — often costs more to repair than it adds to the sale
Selling an iPhone in the UK
Most private sales settle by bank transfer or cash on collection. Faster Payments clear in seconds, which makes a transfer as safe as cash for the seller — wait for it to land before the item leaves your hands.
Royal Mail, Evri and InPost cover the whole country, and InPost lockers mean neither side has to be in for a delivery. Tracked 48 is the usual default for small parcels.
Two practical things shape a UK sale. Bank holidays and the run-up to Christmas slow collections right down, so build a few extra days in. And postage from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, the Highlands and the islands carries surcharges that catch sellers out — quote for the buyer’s actual postcode rather than a flat rate.
Second-hand demand peaks in January, in the weeks before Christmas, and at the start of the academic year in September.
Working out what yours is worth
- Open Settings > Battery > Battery Health and note the maximum capacity percentage
- Check the model and storage in Settings > General > About
Getting it ready
- Read Settings → Battery → Battery Health and note the maximum capacity percentage. Buyers will ask, and a listing that states it up front outsells one that does not.
- Find the model and storage in Settings → General → About, and check whether the carrier line says Unlocked.
Photograph
- Front, screen on and showing the home screen, so the display is provably working
- The Battery Health screen with the percentage visible
- Every crack, chip or deep scratch, photographed close and lit
Put in the description
- Exact model and generation, and the storage capacity in GB
- Battery maximum capacity percentage from the Settings screen
- Whether it is network unlocked, and which carrier it came from if not
Model, storage and unlock status are the whole search: “iPhone 13 128GB Unlocked, Battery 89%”. Put the battery percentage in the title if it is above about 85% — it is the strongest single signal you can give, and most sellers bury it. Never write just “iPhone for sale”; buyers filter by model and yours will not appear.
Small and valuable, which makes it the classic target for payment scams. Confirm payment has cleared into your own account before the phone leaves your hands, meet in a public place, and never post ahead of payment.
It costs nothing to list
There is no listing fee, no selling fee and no commission, so the £600 a buyer pays is the £600 you keep. You and the buyer settle up and arrange the handover between yourselves; WishThrift does not hold the money or ship the item.
Where in the UK
The United Kingdom is a big place and what sells well moves with it. These are the parts of the United Kingdom with their own page for iPhones.
Common questions
Where can I sell an iPhone in the UK?
List it free on WishThrift and deal with the buyer direct. There is no selling fee, so the whole amount stays with you. Most private sales settle by bank transfer or cash on collection. Faster Payments clear in seconds, which makes a transfer as safe as cash for the seller — wait for it to land before the item leaves your hands.
Has the screen been replaced?
Answer honestly. A third-party screen is not a dealbreaker if disclosed and priced for, but a buyer who discovers it later has a genuine grievance.
How much does battery health affect an iPhone’s resale value?
More than most sellers expect. Anything above 85% sells at the normal rate for its generation; below 80% buyers negotiate hard because a replacement battery is an immediate cost for them.
Can I sell an iPhone that is still locked to a network?
Yes, but expect noticeably less. Be upfront in the listing — a buyer who discovers it after agreeing a price will walk away.
More: how to sell an iPhone, what iPhones are worth, or Electronics across the United Kingdom.