 So, you hear the words “new” and “flagship” and “Jelly Bean,” and instantly, you have a nerdgasm. Every major and noob Android user has had that moment. You own an Evo Design 4G, but you desperately would love to give the HTC One S a run. So, how can you (get money towards) affording these amazing phones? Well, AndroidStory has the answer for all you Android phone owners (and any iPhone kids out there that want to convert to the light side of the tunnel, and not remain in Apples dark, gaping hole of oppression). First, let’s go over some prerequisites for effectively selling your previous phone to get a new one. Unless you are a developer (and even developers have teammates with other phone models to expand their demographic), you don’t necessarily NEED to collect your Android phones. What you will need is:
For this, we will use my HTC Evo 3D as an example (and I really am selling this, so this is a real life example)
The first thing you will need is, of course, the phone. If you have a phone that was flagship (a major phone such as the Evo 3D or Galaxy S II), then you can pretty much start the base price at $150-$175, respectively. Your phone was high demand, has great specs, and can compete with the best of them (my Evo 3D runs circles around my friend’s One X). The reason I say that price range is because if you look on Amazon or any other site that still sells your flagship phone, if someone were to buy it without a contract from that site, they would be paying $300-$350 on the low end. However, the phone is technically “used” and so to be fair, we cut the price in half.
Now, you say to yourself, “dude, I have all of this, EXCEPT the “great condition” phone. What do I do if it isn’t in a “great condition?” Great question (no pun intended)! Well, here is how you gauge it. For every scratch on your phone, small and large, take away $2-$5 for every scratch, and don’t lie to yourself about the damage. For some small, noticeable under the light scratches, $2 is fine, but for a scratch that starts at the top of your phone and ends at the bottom, go ahead and shave off $5, this depends on severity. I as a buyer will not blow $150 for a scratched up phone. My Evo 3D has had a screen protector and a case (Platinum Defender Series) on it since the day I got it, so I literally have a phone in magnificent condition. After you have calculated the phone damage, that number is your new base price.
Note: IF THE SCREEN IS CRACKED IN ANY PLACE, go ahead and shave off half of the original asking price. $150-$175 has just become $75-$87.50 if you are lucky. There are people out there that will pay for a broken phone, fix it, and sell it, but they are not paying $150 for it, flagship or not.
After that, make sure you have a backup temporary phone to transfer your number to so that the phone you are selling can have a clean ESN number (the number Sprint/Verizon checks for before you can activate your number on the device). Most people buying a different phone want to actually use it, so a bad ESN will hurt your phones selling  chances in some cases.
Next, calculate accessories. For example, with my phone, I have: Platinum Series Defender case, [installed] screen protector, headphones, 16 GB MicroSD card, an extra battery (1700 mAh) and an MHL adapter (for HDMI out). That alone allowed me to bump my asking price up almost $40, now you can charge what you want, but for me, it was the same basic concept. take half of the price of each item, add it together, and apply it to the base price. Make sure that the buyer knows that this package CANNOT be separated, because in the long run, it effects your asking price. My phone’s package is now (with my calculation) worth $190! That is enough for me to both buy out my sprint contract (because I have less than a year left on the contract), and buy the Galaxy Nexus from Amazon Wireless for $50+tax. Be sure to add in potential shipping costs. If your total comes out to $196 and some change, just go ahead and ask for $200, the buyer won’t die over $4.
Finally, market your phone. Post on Swappa.com (maybe eBay also), and just be patient. I have someone that is going to buy my phone for the $200 I asked for. Make sure that you get all the terms and conditions, as well as the agreement in writing and saved as a PDF for your records (if possible, have the person place their signature and send the document back to you or take a picture of it and send it to you. If they are sending a picture, then it must be a good quality one). This will save you in case the seller wants to get brand new and decides to sue you or something (which I don’t think they can to be honest, but still).
There you have it, the perfect way to get money towards the new phone. If your phone is older or newer than described, then modify the base accordingly. We hope that this helps to close the gap with the Android community’s fragmentation, but if we help one person, that is more than enough. Thanks for reading guys!
Credits to The Verge for the photo
The Gabriel Method is the new UNBELIEVABLE way to lose weight!
