Selling a second-hand smartphone requires something more important than physical cleaning. The versatility of smartphones has made them the most used electronic devices, and the amount of personal and professional data they store is enormous. And you need to make sure you don’t give them to third parties.

The last third of the year is a good time to refresh your mobile phone, taking advantage of the back-to-school and previous sales campaigns that major retailers have been running in the lead up to Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. And selling a used mobile phone is a good way to reduce the price of buying a new one.

And the sooner the better, because the loss of value is high with the advent of new generations. Apple iPhones are the ones that hold their price the best, but even they are dropping in price, and by a lot. In addition, companies specializing in remanufactured downward pressure.

How to sell a used smartphone… safely

Once the decision has been made to restore and sell the used one, you can assess the actions of manufacturers who offer delivery to make it cheaper to buy new. We already told you that they are usually not very generous, and direct user-to-user sales can be the most profitable. In all cases, the line tasks to protect data privacy. We remind.

data copy

The first thing we need to do is create a backup of all data on the terminal. This includes photos, videos, documents, messages, contacts and more. There are several ways to do this. I personally like to do a complete copying to a PC or external disk, both from the terminal’s internal memory and microSD (if we have it installed) in case there is a problem with changing the terminal or with the subsequent synchronization to the cloud services that we certainly use.

We also need to ensure that these cloud services are up to date with the latest changes and files added to the terminal. This includes general online storage services such as Dropbox or OneDrive, or those that specialize in photos such as Amazon Photos.

Same with the rest of the apps we use. Most have their own backup system and they are usually synchronized regularly, but make sure. One of the most used, WhatsApp, creates automatic backup copies of chat history (and content) connected to Google Drive, but it must be managed by the user in the configuration.

Both Android and iOS have a backup tool integrated into the general settings and it is another point that we have to check to make sure that they have done a final data backup. On Android, you probably use a Google account and this makes it easier because it automatically stores important contacts, calendar, Gmail, Play Store apps and even other settings like wallpapers, language, etc. time zone, etc. Manufacturers like Samsung offer their own “Cloud” in case you want to make copies there.

As for the rest of the apps, there are free tools to back them up. Personally, when changing devices, I prefer to install applications “manually” using cleaning, but if you are interested in something more automated, tools like Titanium Backup are among the best, even if it requires the terminal to be rooted. There are several such general applications as well as others for specific tasks such as saving all SMS. An example is SMS Backup & Restore.

Data transfer

If you bought a new mobile before disposing of the old one, you can try to transfer all the data. However, it is not easy to transfer data of external apps between Android devices. There is no official solution for this from Google and although some OEMs generally offer it usually doesn’t work well with other brand devices before implementing the customization.

If you are going to switch between Samsung devices, you can use the Smart Switch mobile application. Other manufacturers have their own like OnePlus which offers OnePlus Switch software. The results tend to be unpredictable, and even on terminals of the same brand, errors occur when doing this (as it usually does) on different models and versions of Android.

If you don’t want complications or errors, you can opt for a clean install, backup your files, data, and apps well if necessary, then start your terminal from scratch. On most consumer smartphones, this will be a matter of minutes.

Data deletion

After a good season of SAT work, I have to tell you that I found everything. And in this case I mean equipment or components (oh! those hard drives) supplied with all kinds of personal and professional information. It is not unusual to buy a second-hand mobile phone and check that the internal memory has installed applications and usernames and passwords to access various services. Or a microSD full of images, some compromised…

If the mobile falls into the hands of someone unscrupulous and you have not deleted all the information, you can get into a big problem. We have to eliminate absolutely everything before selling so that we do not leave our personal data in the hands of third parties. In addition to files, this includes user accounts and subscriptions to streaming services, cloud storage, etc.

Removal of any link

If your old terminal is Android, it is very likely that it has Factory reset protection (FRP). This is an additional layer introduced by Google as a security measure to prevent the terminal from being reset in situations of theft or loss of the terminal. Obviously, you must remove this protection before selling the smartphone so that it can be used by a third party. To do this, you will need to remove all Google accounts signed into the device. Go to Settings > Accounts, select and delete the Google account you first used to sign in to your device.

Factory reset

Once you have completed securing your data, you must reset the terminal to factory state finish distancing yourself from it completely. This will remove all accounts, files and data from the internal storage and essentially return the software back to an unused state. So when the new owner of your phone has the device in their hands, they will configure it from the beginning just like we do when we buy a new mobile phone.

SIM and microSD

After completing the software tasks, it is time to remove the SIM card that we will use in the new terminal, as well as the microSD memory card, if it is installed. Personally, I don’t like to put a microSD to a second-hand smartphone for the data security reasons mentioned in the previous points.

If you are going to include it as part of a bazaar mobile make sure you put a good low-level format on it. There is quite effective specialized software with which you can recover data from memory cards where the data was simply deleted from the explorer.

Now yes: external cleaning and transport

A thorough cleaning of the terminal would be necessary. You have to do this all the time and in the time of COVID and other mistakes, much more so. If we keep the original packaging (as recommended), we only need to keep the phone, charger, standard accessories and additionally what we bought separately, such as covers, cases or screen films. It is also advisable to add an invoice if the terminal is still under warranty. If the battery is removable, it is better to place it outside the smartphone.

Do not include used headphonesIn this case, for health reasons. The buyer will already have his own. If you want to include them, they must always be new, unused models. Also, basic wired and basic wireless headphones are pretty cheap.

It’s time to take some good photos of the smartphone and accessories and hang them in the places where we sell them. If it is in good overall condition and at a reasonable price, we will be able to sell this bazaar mobile. Donating it for a discount on a new model is another option, although manufacturers aren’t very generous and it’s usually worth selling it to another user. if you do it don’t waste time because the loss in value will be constant with each passing day.