How is Cex for 2nd hand phones?

They're a complete rip off mate. They buy the handsets for next to nothing & then sell them with a massive mark up.

For example, they will pay you �225 cash for a "Grade A" N95 8gb & then sell the same handset for �375.

If i were you i'd try to find a private seller or take a look on ebay.....

They are a rip off most of the times.
That's true.
But you still can find a good deal on less popular phones - not the latest best sellers.
Plus you have a piece of mind that you won't loose your money because the phone will be barred or broken - they give you 12months warranty!!

I actually work at CeX but despite that, I say GRIM REAPER's comments are not justified at all.

What you have to realise is firstly, the phones are OFFLINE
Also for �375, I think thats the price for an unlocked one... or at the very least a Grade A (which is as brand new) (B being slightly used and C being scratches/missing items)

However, the main point is that you can trade in your old phones (or other items listed on the website) in towards your phone.
I bought a family member of mine one from there after trading my Tytn2 in which took off �180 of the price of the N95 Black.

The final point is you also get a 1 year warranty with them and apart from the obvious water damage/physical damage, you are covered.

No one can say tha about Ebay (where my own one is from as I got it before CeX had it in stock). What if the phone from ebay gets blocked/reported stolen? You generally get stuck with a dead phone unless properly protected with paypal.
What if the phone from ebay goes faulty...generally unless you know some contacts, you pay for the repair... in this case, warranty covers you.
This applies to private too... if you're spending the extra buck, its worth it with peace of mind that you're covered.

Thats just my thoughts and though i've worked there for around 6 years, and also feel prices are seen to be sky high, I work in repairs so I get the chance to see where the price really benefits people!

Also on the note of barred phones, if you do get one from cex that becomes blocked then you will get the unit replaced so don't worry about that either.

akash84 wrote: What you have to realise is firstly, the phones are OFFLINE

What do you mean by offline?

I assume he means not tied to contract. To be fair £375 is a reasonable price for a grade A unlocked phone especially with the warranty. I agree their buying prices are a joke though

all buying prices are a joke... Id love to hear of a place that give you a decent one,... but then there wont be one... as they'd never make any money./

�180 for a tytn2 is bit of a shocker, unless it was bashed to hell.

You're right, just double checked, it was infact �260, I think I saw the Tytn price when typing this
Its' Monday Morning 😊

And yes as mentioned, buy in is usually 50/60% of the selling price (cash/exchange), if it was any higher, there would be no profit made. Think of the overheads, staff, faulty item repairs etc 😊

You could compare it to a pair of nike trainers that cost �5.00 to make, but sell in stores for �80.00

Offline, yes contract free and usually free of simlock too
Where I work, I tend to de-brand phones too as most customers who want unlocked phones want them to be free of network rubbish too

akash84, which CeX branch do you work ok? Just out of curiosity.

I go to the Bromley one quite often. Went to trade some phones in at the weekend but was told they didn't have enough cash to buy phones but still had the 'WE BUY PHONES FOR CASH' sign outside... LOL!

akash84 wrote:
You could compare it to a pair of nike trainers that cost �5.00 to make, but sell in stores for �80.00

You could, but it would be rather pointless to compare a used marketplace with a new one. Of course Nike charge more than cost, as do Nokia and every other manufacturer in the world, the used market, conversely, is competitive. I appreciate that Cex have to make money but that is why I wouldn't use them to sell. When you sell on eBay, you cut out the middle man. No one is taking the difference between buying and selling price so you make more money.

eBay will eventually kill off Cex unless they innovate

Mitchem Everywhere! Do repairs but primarily the Croydon one (next to East Croydon station)

They're out of cash everywhere to be honest...Always happens after xmas and during halfterms where kids sell sell sell!
Wait till end ofmonth when its payday for everyone! Cash comes rolling in

I can see the logic of ebay taking over cex one day but can never see it happening. The "trade" market is getting too big now - gamestation/blockbusters who do the same with games/dvds also work in the same way.
if Cex did not buyfor cash but more importantly trade towards other items then I could see this happening...obviously these are our own opinions

Most of the time, I use ebay as i >know< I will get more but theres the hassle for one that works most of the time, postage costs, ebay, paypal fees etc - still it sometimes can work out more profitable on ebay. Other times, if I want something that I know cex sell, I'll trade towards it

akash84 wrote:
What if the phone from ebay goes faulty...generally unless you know some contacts, you pay for the repair...

Thats not true, I went to a nokia service center to get my phone repaired and didn't need a receipt, they look at the serial number and can determine a date of manufacture

Indeed, the phone is warrantied, not the owner, so provided it hasn't been tampered with in a warranty-voiding way and is within warraty date, they'll fix it for free.

akash84 wrote:I actually work at CeX but despite that, I say GRIM REAPER's comments are not justified at all.

What you have to realise is firstly, the phones are OFFLINE
Also for �375, I think thats the price for an unlocked one... or at the very least a Grade A (which is as brand new) (B being slightly used and C being scratches/missing items)

However, the main point is that you can trade in your old phones (or other items listed on the website) in towards your phone.
I bought a family member of mine one from there after trading my Tytn2 in which took off �180 of the price of the N95 Black.

The final point is you also get a 1 year warranty with them and apart from the obvious water damage/physical damage, you are covered.

No one can say tha about Ebay (where my own one is from as I got it before CeX had it in stock). What if the phone from ebay gets blocked/reported stolen? You generally get stuck with a dead phone unless properly protected with paypal.
What if the phone from ebay goes faulty...generally unless you know some contacts, you pay for the repair... in this case, warranty covers you.
This applies to private too... if you're spending the extra buck, its worth it with peace of mind that you're covered.

Thats just my thoughts and though i've worked there for around 6 years, and also feel prices are seen to be sky high, I work in repairs so I get the chance to see where the price really benefits people!

Also on the note of barred phones, if you do get one from cex that becomes blocked then you will get the unit replaced so don't worry about that either.

Don't get me wrong akash84, i still use CEX myself now and again. What i meant was that they are not always the best option for buying/selling "higher tier" handsets such as the n95 etc...

I've used CEX a number of times for selling cheaper handsets such as the Samsung E900 & ended up making more than i paid for it in the first place.

As for the years warranty, most Samsung's, Nokia's & Sony ericsson's come with a 2 year manufacturer warranty & Carphone Warehouse will repair any handset still in warranty.

I think that overall CEX is a good idea & convenient for those that need quick cash or are unwilling/unable to use Ebay, but personally Ebay is still the best sales tool in my eyes.

akash84 wrote:Mitchem Everywhere! Do repairs but primarily the Croydon one (next to East Croydon station)

They're out of cash everywhere to be honest...Always happens after xmas and during halfterms where kids sell sell sell!
Wait till end ofmonth when its payday for everyone! Cash comes rolling in

Ooo... Ive been in there a few times but prefer the Bromley one as it does computers and the shops bigger too...

What sort of repairs do you do? I work in a computer repair shop =)

Thanks for the info, ill leave it for a little while and hopefully the value of my phones wont go down =S

Hey everyone.
Im not sure where youve got all your negative views from. But certainly the Cex in Basingstoke has always done me proud. Never ran out of money, Lovely staff and quick to check items.
I traded in my LG Viewty Smart for �60 in there. Not much but thats more than any of the online companies like Mazuma Mobile, Envirofone or Carphone Warehouse.
I got �30 for my Flip Video camera. Which they took 10 minutes to check, absolutely fine as it allowed me to go shop for a bit and then come back to collect money.
�74 - DS Lite and 2 unboxed games. Lovely 😊
And �77 for my ipod touch 8gb, which had a crack on the screen. More than anywhere else offered me.
So saying that, thats �238 for me , from things i dont use. Enough to buy the HTC Desire and have �100 odd left over 😊

Thankyou Cex