How it works

Where the prices come from

We read the published trade-in price for each device configuration directly from each store's own valuation tool, then store it with the date it was collected. Nothing is estimated, modelled or interpolated — if a store does not publish a price for a configuration, we show no offer for it rather than guessing one.

Prices move. Each offer card shows when we last collected that figure so you can judge how current it is, and the "Go to store" button always takes you to the store's live page.

The stores we compare

How we handle condition

No two stores describe condition the same way, so we map each store's own wording onto four grades:

Argos, Assurant and Currys publish a single "fully working" price that applies whether your device is mint or scuffed. Those offers appear under Excellent, Good and Fair, and carry a info One price for all working grades badge so you know the figure is not condition-specific.

When a store splits Faulty further

Back Market asks three separate questions — how the screen looks, how the sides and back look, and whether everything works — and pays very differently depending on the answers. A cracked handset that still works is worth several times one that is cracked and dead, and all of those land in our single Faulty grade.

Rather than quote the mildest fault to everyone, the headline figure on a Faulty offer is the lowest the store will pay, with the full breakdown printed underneath it. If less is wrong with your device than the headline assumes, you will see exactly what that is worth before you click through.

When a store ignores network lock

Most stores quote a different price depending on whether your handset is unlocked or tied to EE, O2, Vodafone and so on. Back Market's UK funnel never asks — it goes model, storage, then straight to condition — so one figure covers every network.

Those offers carry a sim_card Same price on any network badge and show up whichever network you pick, rather than being filed under "Unlocked" where a shopper with a locked handset would never see them.

Cash or store credit

CeX quotes two figures: cash, and a higher amount if you take store credit. We show the cash price as the headline and the voucher value as a badge, so you are never comparing a voucher against someone else's cash.

What we don't do

We never take your device, your payment details or your email address. We do not rank stores by commission — the list is sorted by price, highest first, and you can re-sort it alphabetically to check. Every store's own terms, postage arrangements and inspection process apply once you leave this site.