What’s the current go to purchasing a 2nd hand iPhone ?

Need to get an iPhone 12, normal or pro. Fairly smartish.

used to be I’d hand down my old iPhone, but that’s not really viable this time.

now I’ve had to look, eBay looks like a blasted minefield, Giff gaff are selling refurbished phones, there’s something called black market ? Not going near gumtree. It’s clearly been a while since I had to look for iPhones.

anyone got experience of any of these that they would recommend? Are there any others?

CEX shops have a good rep and I have bought a few bits from them

CEX or GiffGaff

From my experience so far – CEX over-delivered (on a camera). Claimed to be in ‘A’ condition but it was almost entirely brand new (a small crease on the instruction booklet was the only thing that gave it away). GiffGaff have generally been good, but on one phone purchase, it was claimed to be A condition but it had marks on it. They did replace it without fuss, but it was a birthday present and it got a bit tight getting a replacement in time.

I bought a refurb 11 from music magpie, been fine.
I know a few people that have used CEX without issue too.

You could try the likes of music magpie or cex. Bought from both in the past and never had an issue.

Never heard of CEX or music magpie before – thanks all

Will try those, as the prices aren’t far off fleabay with less of the faff / risk / ebayness

Used both Music Magpie – mainly phones or tablets, and CEX for other stuff, including smart watches.

Cex have real shops, so you can go in and actually see the item you’re buying.
removes any stress over condition.

Had several items from cheapest_electrical on eBay, all matched or exceeded the stated condition and regularly included in the 10% off up to £75 type offers (one on now for example).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/cheapestelectrical 

The phone I’m typing on was bought from Envirofone in 2019. It was absolutely mint, would use them again.

Only Giffgaff but had two that were as advertised / priced and excellent condition. Of course the battery state is unknown.

i bought a two yr old iphone on lfgss for 100 – its like new very happy

I got an iPad from Second-hand phones a couple of months ago. Refurbished and in excellent condition. I found them on eBay initially, but the website sells the same items without the eBay commission. Best prices I could find at the time. I’d heartily recommend them .

https://second-handphones.com/

Bought a refurbed iPhone 12 mini from the Applestore a few weeks ago – it was cheaper than some of the reseller, non-refurbed stuff. As new, boxed with full warranty.

+1 for GiffGaff

Have had a few devices from music magpie.

All been good and as described expect one that had an issue with the camera but they sorted a return and refunded me with no hassles at all.

Never heard of CEX or music magpie before

There seems to be a CEX shop in pretty much every town centre! They sell phones, video games, just about every consumer electronics device. 

Lad at work has just bought one from Back Market, he went for their best quality version & isn’t disappointed

Money saving expert have a search tool to show you the best deals , including refurbished phones

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-free/apple/

Giffgaff for us recently too, mostly because many phone insures are quite picky on refurb phones if you want to insure it and it has to be from a service provider, which GG are classed as, so we were able to insure the lads phone against accidental damage.

Music Magpie or 4Gadgets. Used both and very happy with what was provided.

My mate just got one off Music Magpie and it’s immaculate, no issues a few weeks in!

Mrs has just got an iphone off giffgaff and it’s fine. I’ve had several ones off musicmagpie and they’ve all been fine apart from the one that wasn’t and that was quickly dealt with and an replacement given to us with minimal hassle.

Music magpie does have an ebay shop where prices for the same phones are slightly cheaper than their website.

Got an iPad from Back Market – no issues

I bought a iPhone XS classified as “Very Good” from Music Magpie and it was flawless. Would recommend.

I recently bought an iPhone 13 mini from eBay. Came from ‘cheapest_electrical’ which I saw recommended elsewhere. Was listed as ‘A’ but looked brand new, no complaints at all from me.

If you can, wait for one of the eBay deals. I bought mine on a day when it was ‘20% off selected sellers with code’ or words to that effect. Giffgaff, Musco Magpie eat al sometimes participate in those offers I think.

We’ve had a couple from iOutlet which were absolutely fine.

There’s also Apple’s own refurb outlet and although more expensive they do include a brand new battery and shell so no chance of getting your new-to-you phone and finding the battery is already at 80% max capacity.

How much you looking to spend? My new phone just turned up so about to trawl the comparison websites to find a place to buy my 12 max pro.

I’ve been buying renewed from Amazon as they back it up with 1-year Amazon Renewed Guarantee which looks like I can pretty much return it any time in the first year if unhappy. I bought amongst other things an iPhone SE series 2 for £130 which was mint. Search for what you want with ‘renewed’ in title.

Apple refurbished store. They replace the battery (with an OEM one) and put a brand new shell on it. Imperceptible from new.

Damnation, never checked  back in here before purchasing – would have contacted houns re the 12 pro max. Somehow missed the MSE comparison link when I last checked in last night.

didn’t know about Amazon renewed either. Should really have known to check Amazon, that’s a rookie mistake.

went with music magpie. Apple refurb store was much dearer, unsurprisingly.

eye opener as to how large the secondhand iPhone market is and just how expensive some models are secondhand.

Lad at work has just bought one from Back Market, he went for their best quality version & isn’t disappointed

Backmarket are just a marketplace. The phone will likely have come from musicMagpie or somewhere similar.