Mobile Phone Exchange are a well known company in the world of mobile phone recycling and offer a clean looking site which is easy to find your way around.
Guidelines and terms are pretty straight forward. They have a decent reputation and are trustworthy and do not seem likely to go out of business any time soon!
Information provided on the way they operate and what happens to your old phone is well written and clear, unlike some other sites we have reviewed. That said, in essence, each of these companies offer the same benefits for their customers:
- Resell working or repairable phones, often to developing countries
- Safely scrap non repairable phones recovering valuable elements and components and safely disposing of toxins
- Give you some extra cash for your trouble!
Like all recyclers Mobile Phone Exchange must and do comply with legislation regarding the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) directive and explain some of the issues around simply throwing old phones in the bin.
How To Sell to Mobile Phone Exchange
Mobile Phone Exchange have concise guidelins on how to sell your phone, beginning with using their online tool to find the value of your handset. They include a nice tip not present on other sites we have reviewed, which is to enter *#06# into your handset to retreive the IMEI code which you can then put directly into their search tool. Some other recyclers seem to lack this feature, so, if you are not sure which model your phone is then a quick visit to Mobile Phone Exchange could help you out!
As with all these companies, they will send you a freepost envolope / label which you can use to send your phone to them free of charge. They also have some advice on insurance if your phone is valuable.
Another area where Mobile Phone Exchange are very transparrent is the promise of payment within three days, better than a lot of companies, many of whom do not even guarantee a turn around time (Mazuma being a noteable exception).
Whilst on the subject of price, Mobile Phone Exchange have a page on their site dedicated to this topic where they explain that they actually monitor their prices against other leading companies such as Envirophone and Mazuma and aim to pay more for your mobile than all leading rivals.
We are not sure how they achieve this, nor can we be sure whether they actually achieve this target, however, Mobile Phone Exchange certainly do seem price competitve from the comparisons we have done.
Another nice bonus available through Mobile Phone Exchange is the option to get an extra 15% on the value of your phone if you accept payment in the form of gift vouchers for either Argos or Debenhams, so, if you have your eye on something from either of those stores it is well worth considering.
Mobile Phone Exchange also target corporate customers (offering additional support and bespoke quotes), which is a really smart move with many companies replacing hundreds of handsets every year. They also mention that they are trade in partners for Vodafone and the News of the World.
They also operate on an international basis with offices in Hong Kong which may go some way to explain how they are able to pay more than other companies for the phones they buy, if for example they have a hand in reselling them further down the chain, i.e. if they are able to get closer to the end user buying used handsets and cut out some of the other companies in between.
Should you sell to Mobile Phone Exchange?
Mobile Phone Exchange are one of the top companies in this area and you should have no issues with payment. Their service is reported to be professional. If they do as they say and offer the best price for your handset (compared to other leading companies) then yes you should use them.
It may seem obvious to say go with the best price, but please note we are confing this statement to the leading companies. If you start looking at smaller companies then you have to consider the fact that some have gone out of business owing customers money, whilst others have terrible reputations for non or late payment.
