Selling or Recycling Your Old Phone in Edinburgh: A Safe Guide

Most of us have an old phone sitting in a drawer. Whether it works or not, it is worth more out of the drawer than in it. Here is how to deal with it safely.

Step 1: Back up your data

Move your photos, contacts and messages to your new phone or to the cloud first. Our phone backup guide shows how.

Step 2: Sign out and wipe it

iPhone

Turn off Find My, sign out of your Apple Account, then erase all content and settings. Apple lists every step in what to do before you sell, give away or trade in your iPhone.

Android

Remove your Google account (and Samsung account on Galaxy phones), then do a factory reset from Settings. Removing accounts first stops the next owner being locked out.

The National Cyber Security Centre also has simple advice on keeping your accounts secure.

Step 3: Choose sell, trade in or recycle

• Sell it: working and even broken phones often have value for parts or repair.
• Trade it in: against a new phone or a repair.
• Pass it on: to family, after wiping it.
• Recycle it: if it really has no value left.

Selling a phone to MrFix

We buy used and broken phones, tablets and laptops. Visit our phone buy and sell page or use our sell your device form for a quote, or bring it into one of our Edinburgh stores.

Recycling in Edinburgh

Never put phones or batteries in your household bin. Lithium-ion batteries can cause fires in bin lorries and recycling centres. Check the City of Edinburgh Council’s bins and recycling pages for where to recycle small electricals.

Could it be repaired instead?

A cracked screen or tired battery does not mean the end of a phone. Read repair or buy a new phone? before you decide.