How to buy, fix and flip pre-owned phones

Hey,

I originally posted this in /BeerMoney and they suggested it might be best suited to this sub.

I thought you guys might be interested in learning how to buy pre-owned damaged phones, fix them, and flip them for a profit. It’s a cool way to earn a side income and it’s even something that could be turned into your own small business.

A brief bit of background: I’m 25 and have been managing or running businesses since I was 17 (before then, I used to buy sweets and snacks from the local wholesalers and sell them on the school playground). I’ve always loved enterprising and entrepreneurialism and I’m looking to share my knowledge on how to flip phones.

You may have heard of companies such as iCracked, who’ve become super successful offering a phone repair service, and we’ve all seen the countless phone repair stores in towns and cities. Heck, there are tons of people on Facebook who offer this service too.

Before we go any further, this post isn’t about offering a phone repair service. It’s strictly about buying pre-owned phones, fixing them, at selling them at a profit.

Last summer I was working as a temp manager in a town that had no phone repair shops or services. I’d never looked into doing anything like that before, but I knew 5 people who had cracked iPhone screens – and that was before looking beyond the people I was working with.

Through a bit of trial and error, watching YouTube videos, and practicing on my iPhone, I taught myself how to fix and replace screens. I met customers in local cafés and it was a great bit of side income, but I soon found myself noticing just how much pre-owned iPhones in good condition were selling for, and how little I could buy an iPhone with a cracked screen for. A few quick scribbles on a piece of paper and I realised that I could make a good income, and from the comfort of my own home too (or wherever I might decide to fix the phone).

I recommend specialising in iPhones (5 onwards) for a few reasons. Firstly, they’re always sought after and they’re much easier to sell and command a good price for. Secondly, they are often simpler than other smartphones to repair. Another reason is that, if you begin to scale your business, buying replacement parts in larger quantities will bring the individual cost down.

I also recommend that you still learn how to fix other smartphones, as they are becoming more and more popular, and you might have less competition when it comes to selling them, allowing you to get a better price.

I started with a cracked iPhone 4, fixed it, flipped it, used that money to buy an iPhone 5 with a cracked screen and grew from there. Right now, I’ve sold out of all my inventory and I’m considering doing a weekly ‘walk-through’ blog this year, beginning now in January and aiming to make as much money from flipping phones before Christmas as possible.

There are countless places to source pre-owned phones from: Your old phone, friends and family, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, work-mates, putting up flyers in shop windows and on uni campuses. The list goes on.

There are often better places than eBay to source and sell phones, but I’ve just done a quick search on there to give you a really quick example of how flipping a phone works:

iPhones 5s are selling for around £200. I can buy an iPhone 5 with a cracked screen for £100. I can buy a quality replacement screen for £40. That means I can make £60 ($85) off one phone, without needing to leave the house. If you’re good at networking and selling, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to sell the phone offline within a few hours, and eventually you can even create a list of people you know who are ready and willing to buy a phone from you.

One of the great things about phone flipping is that you can work exactly the hours you want to.

Skills You don’t need any formal qualifications to do this but ideally you should have a knack for being able to fix things. This isn’t rocket science, but it’s not Lego either. If you’re good at negotiating, haggling and selling then you’ll find it much easier to increase your profit margins.

Being successful in any market place is based on buying low and selling high. A lot of your profit is determined when you’re buying, not just when you’re selling.

What is Phone Flipping? Phone flipping is buying pre-owned damaged phones, repairing them, and selling them for a profit. Many people have iPhones and other smartphones laying around with a cracked screen or some other damage. They’ve often since upgraded to a new, shiny phone and it wasn’t in their interest to sell their old phone, or pay to get it repaired.

Put simply, you’re buying a damaged phone, repairing it, and flipping it for a profit.

What do I need to get started? You’ll need your inventory (damaged phones). To get started, this can be just one phone you’ve found in your drawer or one you’ve bought from a friend, or even a phone a family member gifts you. If not, you can advertise online or buy your first phone from eBay. You’ll also need the correct tools (I’ve assembled a starter tool kit with all the tools you’ll need to start – the link’s at the bottom of this post). Once you’ve diagnosed the problem with the phone (usually a damaged/cracked screen), you’ll need to order the replacement part. You may also decide that you’d like to buy business cards, flyers and have a website, but this is totally up to you. If you don’t already have an old phone to use then you’ll need around £175 ($250) start-up money to get started.

How do I source old phones? As mentioned above, there is no shortage of places to find pre-owned phones with a cracked screen. Ask friends and family members, and people you work with. If you’re at college or uni, put some flyers up on notice boards. There’s a website called Facebook (you might’ve heard of it!) – put a status on there. Twitter and Instagram are ideal too. Gumtree, Craigslist and eBay are other places to source phones from (I will mention that it’s important that you know the phones you’re handling aren’t stolen – there are a number of ways to safeguard yourself, that can be found online).

How do I fix the phones? There are countless resources online that can teach you how to repair damaged phones. I’m beginning to build a collection of the best resources on my website that I’ll be continuously updating, and I’m looking to start my own video tutorials too. YouTube has some great instructional videos for almost every phone imaginable. To begin with, I recommend just focusing on repairing iPhones with cracked screens as this usually offers the best possibility for maximum profit margins, and the more you practice, the better at it you’ll become. Eventually, you might consider moving onto repairing other faults too. FWIW, I only ever really concentrate on buying phones with cracked screens.

How do I sell the phones? This is the fun part – and the reason you’re doing this! Profit time! Often, the places to sell your phones are the same places you can source phones from. Selling iPhones and getting the best price can be an art form, and it’s certainly the part I love the most. There are few feelings quite like making a great sale! eBay, Facebook, local listings, Craigslist, Gumtree, classified sections of forums you visit, friends, family, work, university… Again, the list goes on. Word of mouth will eventually take over a lot of this, and you might soon have people calling you, asking if you have any phones to sell!

(As a disclaimer, please note that I accept no responsibility for any losses or damage caused if you decide to try this.)

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I aimed to cover more with this post but it’s already much longer than I’d anticipated, and I’d be super happy to write more posts if you’re interested.

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As I mentioned above, I’ve created a ready-to-go starter box that contains all the tools you need to get started (for the most popular phones). I’ll offer a 10% off voucher to anybody from this sub who is interested (use the code: BEERMONEY). You can find it at Phone Flippers

US customers should receive their tool box within 7 days.

I’ll be adding more and more info, blog and resources to the site. My plan is to make a one-stop hub with all the information you need to start phone flipping, and begin expanding it for all skill levels.

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Best of luck to anybody who gives this a go, and I will answer any and all questions you might have. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll write more posts here and cover more focused aspects.

TL;DR: Buy, fix and flip pre-owned phones.