Selling a financed or carrier-locked phone
People use these three words interchangeably and they mean completely different things — one is fine, one lowers the price, and one makes the phone unsellable anywhere.
Financed: still making payments
You bought the phone on an instalment plan and there's a balance left. We buy these. The offer is lower than the same phone paid off, for a specific reason: until the balance is settled, the carrier can blacklist the IMEI, which would make the phone worthless to us after we've already paid you.
Just select Financed in the quote flow — it's one of the questions. Be honest about it; it's checked at inspection, and it's much easier to price up front than to renegotiate later.
You still owe the balance. Selling the phone does not clear your instalment plan. The carrier keeps billing you, and if you stop paying they'll blacklist the phone that's now in someone else's hands. Settle the balance with your payout if you can.
Carrier-locked: tied to one network
The phone works only on AT&T, or only on T-Mobile, and so on. We buy these too, at less than an unlocked equivalent, because the pool of buyers is smaller.
How much less depends on the carrier. Verizon handsets are typically close to unlocked prices, since they're usually sold unlockable after a short period. AT&T and T-Mobile sit lower. Smaller carriers lower again.
Worth knowing: if your phone is eligible for unlocking, it's often worth requesting the unlock before you sell. It's free from most carriers once you meet their conditions, takes a few days, and can add real money to the offer.
Blacklisted: the one that's actually a problem
A blacklisted IMEI has been reported lost, stolen, or unpaid, and it's flagged in a shared industry database. It won't activate on any US network. Nobody legitimate buys these, us included, at any price.
If you're not sure, check the IMEI before you ship — dial *#06# to display it and run it through any free IMEI checker. Better to find out now than after posting it.
What about an iCloud-locked phone?
Different problem, same outcome: unsellable until resolved. If the phone is yours, sign out and it's fine — instructions here. If it's locked to an account you can't access, it can't be sold to anyone legitimate.
Quick summary
- Financed — we buy it, lower price, declare it up front
- Carrier-locked — we buy it, price depends on carrier, unlock first if you can
- Blacklisted — nobody buys it
- iCloud/Google locked — nobody buys it until you unlock it, usually easy if it's yours
Common questions
Do I need to pay off my instalment plan first?
How do I find out if my phone is unlocked?
Do you need my IMEI to buy the phone?
Find out what yours is worth — takes about 30 seconds, no account needed.
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