To grade your phone's condition for trade-in accurately, check the screen switched off in good light, feel every edge and corner for chips, confirm it powers on and the screen responds everywhere, and be honest rather than hopeful about scratches. Grade what's in front of you, not what you remember buying. Get that right and the quote you accept is the quote you get paid, because the single biggest reason trade-in quotes drop on arrival is sellers over-rating their own phone, not recyclers playing games.
Here's the thing most guides skip: grading isn't about being harsh on your phone, it's about being accurate. A phone graded correctly up front has nothing left to "chop" later. This is the closest thing there is to a guaranteed quote.
What does "phone condition" actually mean for trade-in?
Condition is a grade, not a vibe. Recyclers and trade-in services sort phones into a small number of cosmetic bands, usually something like Excellent, Good, and Poor or Faulty, and each band maps to a price. The wording varies by company, but the logic is the same everywhere: the fewer the marks and the better it works, the higher the band, the higher the payout.
The problem is that "Excellent" means something specific to a grader and something much vaguer to the rest of us. Most people glance at a phone they've used daily for two years and decide it's "basically mint." Worth knowing: graders inspect it cold, in good light, against a checklist. That difference in how you each look at the same phone is where quotes go wrong.
Why does getting the grade right matter so much?
Two reasons a trade-in quote drops, and they get unfairly lumped together. The first is the one everyone fears: an inflated headline price designed to win the click, quietly trimmed once your phone is in someone else's hands. That's the bait-and-switch the industry deserves its bad reputation for.
The second is far more common and far less sinister. The phone simply wasn't in the condition the seller thought. Around 90% of trade-in downgrades come from the customer mis-grading their device at the self-assessment stage, not from the recycler moving the goalposts. There's a name worth remembering for the space between the condition you think your phone is in and the condition it's genuinely in: the grading gap. Close that gap yourself and you remove the most common reason a quote ever changes.
That's the non-obvious bit. You can't control whether a company runs an honest pricing model, but you can control your own grade, and an accurate grade is what makes any quote stick.
The phone grading checklist (run this before you accept a quote)
Take five minutes and go through this properly. It's the difference between a quote that holds and an awkward email a week later.
- Check the screen switched off, in good light. A black screen reveals scratches and hairline cracks that disappear on a bright display. Tilt it under a lamp or by a window.
- Run a fingernail around every edge and corner. Chips and dents are the single most commonly missed flaw, and one corner chip is often enough to move you down a grade.
- Look at the back and the camera lenses. A scratched rear glass or a marked lens counts, even if the screen is flawless.
- Confirm it powers on, charges, and the whole screen responds. A dead pixel, a dim patch, or a dodgy charging port shifts the phone into a different category entirely.
- Check the basics that block a sale. Is it unlocked? Is Find My (iPhone) or your Google account signed out? A locked phone or an active account can't be processed at the value you expect.
- Grade what's there, not what you remember. A single deep scratch usually means "Good," not "Excellent." Be honest rather than hopeful and you'll match the grader.
Let's be honest, step six is the one that actually matters. We've all talked ourselves into "it's basically perfect." The seller who grades a notch tougher than they want to is the seller whose quote never moves.
How to match your phone to a grade
Use this as a rough guide. Exact wording differs between services, but the bands line up closely across the industry.
| Grade | What it usually means | Typical signs |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent / Like new | Looks barely used, fully working | No visible scratches at arm's length, no chips, screen and back glass clean, all functions work |
| Good | Clear signs of use, still fully working | Light scratches you can see up close, maybe a tiny mark, no cracks, everything functions |
| Poor / Worn | Heavy wear but powers on | Deep scratches, scuffs, small chips or dents, screen works but is marked |
| Faulty / Broken | Doesn't work properly or at all | Cracked screen, won't power on, dead pixels, charging or button faults, water damage |
One insight that surprises people: a cracked or faulty phone is rarely worthless. Broken devices still carry value in parts and materials, so it's almost always worth getting a quote rather than leaving it in a drawer. The honest grade for a smashed screen is "Faulty," not "bin."
How Reboxed closes the grading gap for you
We built TechCheck® specifically so you don't have to guess the band. Instead of a vague "what condition is it in?" box, it asks the questions an engineer would: does it power on, is the screen or casing damaged, what's the cosmetic grade, is it network locked. Answer those honestly and you get an instant, guaranteed quote.
To be clear, that's not a promise an offer can never change. If a phone arrives and genuinely doesn't match what was declared, we send a revised offer with the reason, and you're free to accept it or have the device returned free of charge. We don't chop quotes to play games. When the grade is right up front, there's simply no surprise waiting at the other end. Once your device is received and verified on a weekday before the 2pm cut-off, you're paid the same day by bank transfer or PayPal. Postage is free and insured, every device is securely and permanently wiped on arrival even if you forgot to reset it, and five trees are planted for every device rehomed.
Where grading carefully still won't get you the most money
Let's not pretend trade-in is always the highest number. If you want absolute maximum cash and you don't mind the hassle, selling privately on a marketplace can net more, particularly for newer flagship models in genuinely top condition. The trade-off is real: you'll field lowball offers, message timewasters, carry payment risk, and handle postage and disputes yourself. A guaranteed quote with free insured postage and same-day payment is about certainty and convenience, not squeezing out the last tenner. If certainty matters more, trade-in wins. If every penny matters more and you've got patience, sell it privately. Fair enough either way.
It's also worth knowing we're deliberately not listed on third-party comparison sites, because those tables reward whoever posts the biggest headline number, which is exactly the race that leads to quotes getting chopped later.
FAQ
Q: How do I check what condition my phone is in for trade-in? A: Check the screen switched off in good light, run a fingernail around every edge for chips, look over the back glass and camera lenses, confirm it powers on and the whole screen responds, and make sure it's unlocked with Find My or your Google account signed out. Then grade what's actually there, not what you remember buying.
Q: What counts as "Good" versus "Excellent" condition? A: Excellent usually means no visible scratches at arm's length, no chips, and everything working. Good means clear signs of use, such as light scratches you can see up close, with no cracks and all functions working. A single deep scratch normally moves a phone from Excellent to Good.
Q: Why do trade-in quotes get reduced after I send the phone? A: Two reasons. Some recyclers inflate the headline price to win your click, then trim it later. But most reductions, around 90%, happen because the customer mis-graded the phone's condition at self-assessment. Grading accurately up front removes the second cause entirely.
Q: Is a cracked or faulty phone worth anything? A: Usually, yes. Broken devices still carry value in parts and materials, so it's worth getting a quote rather than leaving the phone in a drawer. Grade it honestly as Faulty and you'll still get an offer.
Q: What happens if I grade my phone wrong by mistake? A: With Reboxed you're sent a revised offer that explains why, and you can accept it or have the phone posted back to you free of charge. You're never forced to take a lower price just to get your device returned.
Check your phone's value in 30 seconds with an honest, guaranteed quote. See what your iPhone is worth or what your Samsung is worth, and read how the process works first. You can also check our reviews on Trustpilot, rated Excellent across over 10,000 reviews on Trustpilot and Reviews.io.
