An alternative to expensive new phones

It’s that time of the year when the phone companies want us to dig deep into our pockets to buy their latest phones. Apple is about to announce their new iPhone 16 phones, and Samsung and Google have just announced their new models with many of them costing $1000 to almost $2000.

But there’s an alternative to spending big bucks to get a phone with new features. Consider the refurbished (also called renewed) phone market. That’s what I did recently when I purchased a high-end Android phone for testing purposes. I paid $650 for what was recently an $1800 phone.

Refurbished phones are available from Apple, Amazon and scores of companies. It’s a huge business that offers more affordable phones at bargain prices. Many of the phones are like new and barely used, while others are trade-ins that have gone through a refurbishing process.

Over the last decade phones have become easier to resell. No longer is the industry encumbered by locked phones or carrier-specific models. All phones are required to be unlocked by the carriers after 6 months of use and there’s a government requirement that all phones that enter the recycling market be unlocked, because a locked phone cannot be easily recycled and contributes to electronic waste. Most phones now work with all carriers.

But the primary reason is that 20% to 30% of new phone purchases are returned for various reasons: buyer’s remorse, a change of mind, or those that take advantage of free returns and just like to try out new products.

By law these returned phones cannot be sold as new, and the original sellers, Apple, Samsung or the various carriers, are not equipped to resell most of them, so they sell them to wholesalers, who then sell and auction them in bulk to various refurbishing companies.

The best of the refurbishers are government certified that insures they recycle the products in compliance with recycling laws. One example is OEM Source in New Jersey. I purchased my refurbished phone from their retail site. After making my purchase, I contacted them to ask them about their business. They explained how they often will buy more than a million dollars of one phone model, use their technicians to check each phone for cosmetics, and use special test software to test their functionality. Phones are graded from excellent to fair, based on their condition. Like most reputable refurbishers, they offer a 30-day return policy.

When I wanted to try a phone with a folding display, I looked at some of Samsung’s older models. Samsung had just released the Z Fold6 for $1900, but the reviews indicated its improvements were incremental over their previous two generations, the Z Fold5 and the Z Fold4. The Z Fold5 can be bought as refurbished for about $950, and the Z Fold4 for $650, which is what I purchased.

OEM Source told me that iPhones are the most popular and the most difficult phones for them to get, because of a huge demand in China for used iPhones, fueled by customers wanted to avoid domestic models that come with government-installed software.

Apple also sells refurbished phones directly from their site with discounts of about 20% for a 2-year old model. Samsung is the next most popular, followed by Motorola, and others.

Amazon is also a big source for refurbished phones, but they don’t do their own refurbishing. They are a middleman and sell refurbished phones from other refurbishers. When you look at a listing on Amazon, it will identify the refurbisher or may indicate it as Amazon, which indicates the refurbished phones are fulfilled from their warehouses.

Refurbished phones are also worth looking at for finding a low cost phone, especially for those that may subject their phones to abuse and harsh use. For example, a renewed Motorola Moto Edge 5G UW with 256 GB of storage is available for about $115.

Buying a refurbished phone is great for the environment because it lengthens the time before it has to be discarded. Another advantage is that dedicated accessories for older phones are often much less expensive. An $80 leather Samsung case for my phone was available for $9. And you do get a free 30 day trial from most refurbishers, which is twice as long as you get from most of the carriers.

So what are the disadvantages? The battery may be partially used and need to be replaced sooner. For example, phones graded at excellent have their batteries at 80% or higher capacity. Phones graded lower might have batteries at lower capacity. And you don’t necessarily have the original manufacturer’s warranty. Also, your chances of getting a phone that needs to be returned is higher than when purchasing a new phone, just because you are not getting a factory fresh unit.

Like with all purchases, chose your refurisher with care. Check their reviews, their return policies, and the return window. Phones are very complex and it may take a week or two of use before a problem surfaces.