Carl Brennand

twelfth Mar 2024

Studying Time: 3 minutes

All of us chortle on the ‘brick’-style mobiles of the Eighties and ’90s or the foolish flip telephones of the early 2000s, in comparison with in the present day’s ultra-slim and stylish handsets.

Nonetheless, many individuals don’t realise accumulating sure cell phones from these a long time previous and promoting them on eBay generally is a good strategy to make extra cash.

Right here’s our fast information to doing this efficiently:

The fundamentals

As with all commodities, the rarer your classic cell phone, the extra it is possible for you to to cost for it. Which, on this case, signifies that handsets courting again to the Eighties are usually price much more than these manufactured between the Nineties and now.

Nonetheless, age isn’t the one factor that issues. Listed here are just a few elements to remember:

• Is the cellphone in mint situation? Telephones which might be well-preserved can fetch a a lot higher worth than those who have nicks, scratches or cracks.
• Do you continue to have the unique packaging? If you happen to can sell the cellphone within the very field it got here in, your worth can shoot up much more.
• Has the battery triggered any injury? If you happen to personal an previous cellphone, it’s smart to take the battery out and retailer it individually as they generally tend to corrode with age.  Moderately than threat damaging the cellphone, take away the battery and preserve it secure.

Telephones price promoting

Questioning in case your previous brick is price a list on eBay? Cellular Telephone Historical past has an important worth and rarity information that you should utilize to cross-references costs on eBay and the likes.

Nonetheless, we carried out a fast search of our personal and located the next are all good bets to get you greater than £500 a pop:

• 1981 Mobira Senator – the ‘daddy’ of all of them and the the primary ever Nokia cellphone presently fetches round £1400 (if in an excellent situation)
• Orbitel Citifone – nearly as uncommon as you will get, promoting a 1985 Citifone might make you round £900 richer.
• Motorola DynaTAC 8000x – the world’s first commercially-available hand transportable cell phone first arrived within the UK in 1985 and value £3,000 per handset. Today you may sell one in every of these cell dinosaurs for between £300 and £800.
• Motorola 8100L – first manufactured in 1988, this uncommon discover can go for as much as £550.
• Nokia 9000 Communicator – quick ahead a decade or so, the Nokia 9000 Communicator is taken into account to be the forefather of the fashionable smartphone and was first launched to the market in 1996. You probably have one in good situation, you may sell it for near £1000.
• Nokia 8800 – getting into the brand new millennium, the Nokia 8800 slide cellphone was thought-about tremendous stylish, luxurious and extremely modern on the time. It’s making an enormous comeback amongst classic vogue lovers and – relying on the situation and the color – you may get greater than £1,500 in your previous cellphone.

How a lot can I make?

Something from small change to lots of relying on what you’ve received.

You probably have owned one in every of these telephones and may’t keep in mind what grew to become of it, you would possibly nonetheless have it in your attic or behind a cabinet, so it’s effectively price having a rummage.

Whereas the telephones listed above can get you the large bucks, let’s simply be trustworthy – most of us don’t have these fashions mendacity round. And if we do, it could be too late to salvage them from the toy field or the junk drawer.

No must despair, nonetheless, as you may even get fairly first rate costs on eBay for extra widespread stalwarts such because the Nokia 3310 and the Blackberry Pearl Flip.

In fact, there may be additionally at all times the choice of promoting your discarded gadgets at electronics gala’s or automotive boot gross sales. When you could not be capable to promote it to an viewers as huge as eBay’s, individuals who frequent a majority of these gross sales usually know precisely what they’re in search of (which could simply be your previous cellphone) and can pay good cash for uncommon finds.

If you happen to’ve simply upgraded to a snazzy new cellphone and need to money in in your previous one, take a look at our article about recycling cell phones.

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