Frequently asked questions

SellmyCell is a New Zealand owned and operated mobile phone recycling service.

We pay cash for unwanted devices, then refurbish and find them new homes, extending their useful life. Any unusable parts are sustainably recycled.

Our mission is to provide the best value and a green, easy service for disposing of your mobile phone.

Simply find your phone model using the search field or by browsing the Sell My Phone page. Once selected, we just need to know the capacity, network and condition, and we’ll make you an offer on the spot.

To place an order, we just need your postal address, contact phone number, payment details and copy of a valid photo ID. Once the order is confirmed we’ll send out a postage pack for you to send the phone back to us.

Once you’ve received your postage pack, simply place your phone in the enclosed bubble bag. You can either call 0800 268 743 to arrange your free collection or drop your bag at your handiest post depot.

As soon as we’ve checked your phone and identification, we’ll issue payment and a confirmation email. This can take up to 3 days, but generally we issue payment the day we receive your phone.

• Sellmycell is New Zealand owned and operated.
• We strive to offer the best prices for used phones in New Zealand.
• Our service is hassle free. No need to take photos, write descriptions, pay listing fees, or answer questions.
• We love damaged phones and provide you with instant offers for your phone regardless of condition.
• We are the fastest payers in NZ, only 3 business days from the date we receive your device.
• We pay for any and all postage costs, using our service doesn’t cost you a cent.
• We guarantee our online price offers for 14 days, as long as your device is as described, we pay the price originally offered online.
• Dealing with us is risk free – if hidden faults are uncovered upon inspection, we will email you a revised offer. If you are not happy with the offer, we will post the phone back to you free of charge.

Simply enter your phone model into the search field on the Home page, or browse the Sell My Phone page to find your model, provide us with a few details about your phone and we’ll give you an instant value.

We are constantly monitoring the market to determine an accurate market value for your device. We strive to offer prices as close to market value as possible. You should receive a similar amount to Facebook Marketplace or Trademe, and save a lot of time and hassle in the process, not to mention the risk of dealing with scammers.

If your phone was purchased new through Spark, Vodafone or 2Degrees then it is likely locked to that network. To check this, you can pop a SIM from another network into your phone, if you are presented with a lock message then your phone is locked.

The process for unlocking your phone differs between networks. Click below for specific directions for each network:
2Degrees

Spark

Vodafone

This guide helps identify the model of your Apple iPhone. The model number can be found in the small print on the back of the phone. You can check the capacity of your iPhone under Settings>General>Storage & iCloud Usage.

For most other phones the model number can be found on the barcode label under the battery.

Your phone will fall into one of four condition grades. Your phone must meet all of the criteria of the given grade to qualify for that grade, if it fails to meet one or more of the criteria it will fall into the grade below. We do not accept phones that are incomplete or missing key components.

Flawless: Works perfectly; Still in its package and looks like new; Zero scratches or scuffs

Good: Works perfectly; Tidy condition; No major scratches or scuffs; No cracks in screen or body

Poor/Faulty: Powers on with physical or functional damage (For example a badly worn case, cracked or dull display, missing or defective buttons, degraded or diminished battery)

Broken: Doesn’t turn on; liquid damage; two or more faults

We consider the display to be damaged if there are major scratches or cracks in the LCD or front glass, or if the display has any other defects to the image, colour or brightness. Common examples of this are the effects of liquid damage, or a poor quality third party display being used to replace a damaged one.

We are not able to offer cash for phones which are missing key components such as the display or logic board. If you have phones of this nature that you would like to dispose of please contact us here.

Liquid damage occurs when liquid comes into contact with your phone. It can short-circuit or corrode the internal components of the phone causing it behave unusually, or stop working entirely.

Most phones have white indicator stickers which turn pink to indicate if a phone has been exposed to liquid. These are not user accessible on iPhones but can usually be found under the battery on other phones.

Your phone may behave normally for months after liquid damage has occurred but is still more likely to have future issues. Because of this we may email you a revised offer if we find your phone has been exposed to liquid upon inspection.

We do not accept stolen or counterfeit phones. As required by law, any phones that we discover to have been blocked or stolen will be passed on to the New Zealand Police.

Your offer is valid for 14 days from the date your order is placed. If we receive your phone after 14 days, we may email you a revised offer.

The offer is, however, subject to the phone being as described in the order.

Certain phones models may not be listed on our site. If you are not able to find your phone on our site, then we may not be able to offer cash for it currently.

If you have a phone to sell that isn’t listed but you think it should be, then please get in touch with us here.

An IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique number assigned to GSM, UMTS or IDEN cell phones. It carries basic information about the phone and can be used to tell if a phone has been blacklisted or reported lost or stolen. You can find your IMEI by calling *#06#.

Check your IMEI status here.

SellmyCell aims to reuse 95% of the devices we receive. This means the device is refurbished (or used as parts to refurbish other phones) and then resold locally or overseas.

The remaining 5% is sent to facilities in Japan for recycling, where the precious materials are extracted for use in new electronic devices. This is the best recycling practice currently available for electronics and it is achieved with the help of Zero Waste New Zealand.

All we require is the phone, battery and order form we post out to you. We also welcome any original packaging or accessories if you no longer require them.

On iPhones, the SIM card tray is located on the right side of the phone. Pop a paper clip, pin or SIM ejector tool into the hole and press to eject the SIM.

On most other phones the SIM card is located behind the battery.

Unfortunately, we are not able to return any SIM or memory cards once sent. We therefore recommend thoroughly checking your device before sending. We do however ensure that they are securely destroyed.

Before sending go to Settings>iCloud and select “Sign out”

If you’ve already sent the phone you can also remove the iCloud account by visiting the “Find my iPhone” section on iCloud.com, select the device and click “Remove from Account”.

On iPhones go to Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content and Settings

On other phones the reset function is usually found under the general settings.

This is because we have inspected the phone and found the details of the phone are not consistent with the details given when the order was placed. For example, hidden faults or liquid damage was found.

You are free to reject the revised offer and we will post the phone back to you free of charge.

No we will arrange and pay for this entirely!

We offer a free service for you to send your phone to us. We will send you out a pre-paid post bag and you can either drop this at your nearest post office or arrange to have it collected by a courier at a convenient time and place.

It may take up to 3 working days for the post pack to arrive after the order is placed. If it hasn’t arrived after this time, contact us here and we’ll arrange for a replacement to be sent out.

Your phone will reach us in 1-2 working days. Once received we inspect the phone, and assuming everything is as described, issue payment and a confirmation email. This process takes up to 3 working days.

Contact us here or call us on 0800 735 235 to cancel a transaction

All our postage is handled by CourierPost. We will send you tracking details once the post pack has been sent and you can track the parcel here.

We offer payment by;

Bank transfer; Payment will be made my a transfer into the nominated bank account.

PayPal; Payment will be made to the nominated PayPal account.

Charity; We will donate the offer value of your phone to a nominated charity on your behalf. The nominated charity will prepare and send you a tax deductible donation receipt, or you can choose to make an anonymous donation.

You will receive payment within 5 working days. It takes 1-2 days for your phone to reach us and a further 3 working days for us to inspect your phone and process the payment. You will receive a confirmation email from us once the payment has been made.