The iPhone 16 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are among the best phones money can buy right now, so it’s perhaps no surprise that you’ll pay heartily for that cutting-edge tech. Even Google’s more affordable Pixel 8A still costs $499, which is a lot of cash to put down in one go, particularly when many of us are keeping a much closer eye on our spending. Buying an older phone on the used market can save you a lot of money while still allowing you to put some great mobile tech in your pocket.
Even phones a couple of years old still include all your everyday essentials, plus allow for things like photo editing, gaming and video streaming. Don’t think you need to buy the latest tech in order to enjoy the same apps and services as your friends.
And even better, buying a used phone saves it from going to a landfill, while reducing the number of new phones that need to be shipped to stores — and to you. Shopping used can help reduce your overall environmental footprint, which we can all agree is a good thing.
Read more: Best Phone to Buy for 2025
But there are key things to keep in mind if you want the best phone for your money and you want to stay safe when you get it. Whether you’re shopping on eBay, Amazon Marketplace or Facebook Marketplace, here are our top tips on how to safely buy a great used phone, whether you want an iPhone or an Android phone.
What features do you need in a phone?
First, think about what you actually need from your phone, as this will dictate what sort of level (and budget) you need. If you just want something more basic to handle casual WhatsApp messages and play Spotify during your commute, you don’t need flagship levels of performance. As a result, a lower-end phone with a smaller price tag will suit just fine.
The Pixel 6 Pro is guaranteed to get security updates until October 2026, so this phone has a fair amount of use ahead of it.
If, however, you’re really into phone photography then you may want to spend a bit more on something with a decent camera. In that case, something like last year’s Galaxy S24 (only one generation old), with its more powerful multi camera array may be preferable. You’ll have to find that balance between the performance you need and the price you’re happy to pay. Newer phones with more modern features and better performance will come with a higher price.
Buy from a trusted source
Not every phone seller has your best interests at heart, so it’s important to be savvy when you’re shopping. Some places to avoid should be obvious; don’t buy from the guy selling phones on a street corner from a big box, for example. Others can be hit and miss.
The site eBay is a well-known source for buying used items, and there’s a huge selection of phones to be had. Some of these are sold by refurbishing companies that trade solely in buying and selling used handsets. Others are regular people trying to offload their old devices when they upgrade. The result is that it can sometimes feel like panning for gold, looking for those nuggets you actually want. Check the next section for more tips on buying on eBay.
Facebook Marketplace can also be a good way of finding people locally who simply want to quickly offload their no-longer-needed phone. But you’ll need to exercise your own judgement here to avoid getting a dud.
My best advice though is to go to trusted companies that buy old phones, refurbish them and sell them on. Increasingly big-box stores like BestBuy are starting to offer used phone sales, while Google itself launched a refurbished service in 2024. There are also companies that specialize solely in buying and selling used phones: I’ve used MusicMagpie in the UK and had no problems. Its online catalog is vast, it clearly lists the condition of the phones, every handset is factory reset and you get a 12-month warranty with every purchase. Prices might be a tad higher than you’d find on eBay, but the peace of mind more than makes up for it. They also offer rental options if you can’t quite stomach splashing the cash upfront. Gazelle offers a similar service in the US, although we haven’t tested it ourselves and so can’t vouch for the overall quality of the service.
You can check when your phone last had a security patch — and download an update if there’s one available — by going into the settings.
Don’t buy a phone that doesn’t get security updates
I’ll make this as clear as possible: Do not buy a phone that no longer gets security updates from its manufacturer. Unsupported phones are open to all kinds of vulnerabilities that can give hackers easy access to every single piece of information on your handset — or even control it completely. Those bank details, cute pics of your kids, sexy selfies you sent to your partner — all could be accessed and stolen.
Most Android phone manufacturers tend to support their handsets for at least two to three years, although both Google and Samsung have taken that further, offering up to seven years of security support on their latest launches. Similarly, Apple’s latest iOS 18 is still officially supported on 2018’s iPhone XR, making that phone still safe to use today. Google’s Pixel 6 Pro, released in October 2021 is guaranteed to get security updates until “at least” October 2026, according to Google’s support page. 2023’s Pixel 8 Pro meanwhile will receive updates until at least October 2030.
It’s encouraging to see companies offering longer support periods on their phones as more often than not the hardware is still perfectly capable of handling all your everyday needs for much longer than the software support might provide for. But outdated software makes the phones vulnerable, and it’s simply not advisable to continue using phones outside their security support period.
Your best bet is to look at phones that came out within the last two years and are therefore likely still receiving security updates. When you find a phone that suits, search the model name and try and find out if it’s still getting updates, and if there’s an indication of how much longer it’ll get them. Companies often aren’t forthcoming with info about when they’re cutting a product loose, but by looking at what other models are being supported you should be able to make a fair estimate.
