Top 5 Best Places to Buy Refurbished Phones in the UK

Did you know that in 2023, ¼ of smartphones sold in the UK were refurbished? With the rising popularity of refurbished phones, hundreds of companies have leapt into the market, all offering you a cheap and trustworthy way to get the latest mobile phone. So, how can you tell which is the best place to buy a refurbished phone?

As The Big Phone Store’s resident refurb expert, I know a thing or two about buying refurbished mobile phones in 2024. Keep reading, and I’ll help you break down my top five picks for where to buy your next refurb!

What to look out for when buying refurbished

When buying a refurbished mobile phone, there are a number of key things to consider. I consider the following things an absolute must:

• Warranty & Returns Policy
• Clear grading structure
• Proactive customer service
• Good customer reviews
• Low prices
• Fully Tested, with industry-standard certification
• Trade-in, sell, or recycle your old phone

If any refurb phone seller does not provide all of the above, I would immediately ignore them.

1. The Big Phone Store

Of course you should have known that I would put The Big Phone Store first. But give me a chance, and I’ll explain exactly why I think we’re the best choice!

Why Choose The Big Phone Store?

What are the unique features of The Big Phone Store?

Independent refurbisher (not a third party retailer or marketplace)

We buy, refurbish, and re-sell pre-owned mobile phones, all under one roof. That brings with it the following benefits:

• Lower prices! Because we refurbish all our devices ourselves, there’s no third-party or middle-man to pay. That lets us keep our prices ultra-competitive – without cutting any corners when it comes to quality!
• Hands-on Customer Service! When you call our free helpline, you’ll get through to us directly. That means you’ll always get the best up-to-date information about your order, at every step of the way! 

Here since 1999, here to stay.

In 2024, we celebrated 25 years of refurb expertise. Unlike other large phone retailers (who have expanded into the refurbished phone industry), refurb has been the core of our business model since the very beginning!

Fastest growing refurbisher of 2023

While other big companies have poured money into promoting refurbished phones, our commitment to low prices, high quality and excellent service has allowed us to beat out all of them to become 2023’s fastest-growing refurbished phone seller.

In-Person Wolverhampton Store

We’re the UK’s largest refurbished phone specialist with an IRL location. If you visit us in-store, you can check out the quality of any of our devices with your very own eyes – before you spend a single penny!

Fully UK-owned business

As a private company, TBPS has no big corporate shareholders to pay to keep our stock price high. Our goal is the opposite – keeping our prices low when you buy refurbished with us!

Battery replacement available

One of the biggest reasons people hesitate to buy refurbished phones is that they worry that the battery won’t hold its charge as well as a new phone. While smartphone batteries are getting more and more durable each year, this is still a big concern for many first-time refurbished tech buyers. Well, worry no more – you can upgrade at the checkout to get a 100% healthy battery with your refurbished smartphone!

Reasons to avoid The Big Phone Store:

Not everybody is perfect. Here are my top three reasons that TBPS might not be the perfect fit for you:

• Only one in-person retail location (Wolverhampton). For most locations in the UK, you’re best ordering from The Big Phone Store’s online shop. Big corporate retailers may have more click-and-collect options available.
• No 12-month contracts. The Big Phone Store uses Klarna, which only allows you to split the cost of your device into three monthly payments. If you’d prefer the lower monthly cost of a 12-month contract, then you will need to look elsewhere. On the upside, though, the lower cost of refurbished smartphones keeps these 3 payments ultra-affordable – and not only that, once you’re fully paid off, there’s no way to get trapped into an expensive contract you don’t need!
• Some cheaper options available – While we try to keep our prices as low as possible, we refuse to cut corners when it comes to quality and service. If you’re willing to take a gamble elsewhere, you might find a cheaper refurb phone – just be aware that you’ll usually get what you pay for!

2. Music Magpie

MusicMagpie started life by buying back used CDs and books – but has since begun selling refurbished phones, too! 

Why Choose Music Magpie?

Refurbished Rentals?! Music Magpie has introduced a novel idea: as well as selling refurbished phones, you have the option of renting a used phone for a period of 12 months. If you can return the phone in good condition at the end of the rental period, this promises to be the cheapest possible way to get your hands on a second hand mobile phone. Personally, I’d be worried about breaking the phone, or losing it, and having to pay in full anyway! But if you’re super-savvy about your possessions, this might be a great option for you.

Decent Reviews: While not quite as perfect as our own review scores, MusicMagpie is a relatively trusted option compared to other refurbished phone sellers. And while they didn’t start life as a refurbisher, refurbished phones are now absolutely their core product. Topping it all off, the company uses the same high standards of smartphone testing (Phonecheck and CheckMend) that are used by The Big Phone Store!

Cons:

Large Corporation: As a publicly-traded company, MusicMagpie’s primary duty is to their shareholders. Not only that, the company recently announced it was looking to sell to a buyer. You can see for yourself how well the company is doing by checking out how their stock price has performed in the last few years.

Smartphone Rental Service: While getting a smartphone for the lowest price possible might sound like a dream, with rented smartphone, you get all of the drawbacks of buying a phone on contract, and you don’t even own your phone outright at the end of the rental period! I think it’s worth repeating my biggest concern again: this option could be particularly expensive for you if your phone ever breaks, or gets lost or stolen. 

3. Amazon Renewed

Amazon Renewed is a program that brings together sellers of used or second-hand products. It’s also a great place to find cheap deals on refurbished phones!

Why Choose Amazon Renewed?

Choice – With hundreds of different refurb specialists all under one roof, Amazon Renewed gives you much more choice than most refurb phone sellers. Even The Big Phone Store sells through Amazon Renewed’s online platform!

Customer Reviews: If you don’t know if you can trust an individual Amazon Renewed seller, Amazon’s own customer review system lets you see transparently just what other buyers think. While you must always be vigilant about fake reviews, this feature makes it easier for you to investigate for yourself how trustworthy each specialist refurbisher is. 

Cons:

1. Third-Party Sellers: Despite the official-sounding ‘Amazon Renewed’ brand name, buying second hand phones on Amazon is no different from buying anything else on their website. My number one piece of advice when buying any product from an online marketplace is to investigate the individual seller, as the quality of products sold through Amazon can vary wildly with no oversight or quality control. 
2. Paying a middle-man: You are always likely to pay higher prices when buying through a third-party website like Amazon, which takes a percentage of every sale through their website. The most trustworthy Amazon sellers will always have their own website anyway, and the prices will be lower when you go direct!

4. Giffgaff

GiffGaff is a major UK mobile network owned by Telefonica (which also owns O2). Compared to other mobile networks, GiffGaff has been a pioneer in offering refurbished phones with its contracts. 

Why Choose Giffgaff?

Best mobile network for refurbished phones: If you’re keen on getting your SIM card and phone on the same contract, GiffGaff is the best option for you. Just be aware that doing this is usually more expensive than buying your handset outright, and opting for a SIM-only plan!

Flexible Plans: Giffgaff offers refurbished phones on contract, with pay-monthly deals varying from 6 months to 24 months.

Cons:

1. Third-party drawbacks. At the risk of stating the obvious, GiffGaff is a mobile network – not a refurb phone specialist. That means that when buying a refurbished phone through GiffGaff, you’re usually paying higher prices than you would pay anywhere else, as GiffGaff acts as a middle-man between you and the refurbisher!
2. Poorly rated trade-in service. Pretty much every refurbished phone seller also offers money to recycle your old phone, and GiffGaff definitely stands out from the competition in this area… for all the wrong reasons. As well as only providing low offers for your old device, customer complaints have driven giffgaffrecycle.com to have a TrustPilot rating of only 2.3 (“Poor”) at time of writing.

5. Back Market

Back Market is a marketplace site, very similar to Amazon. The big difference is that the website exclusively sells pre-owned items!

Why Choose Back Market?

Specialist Platform: Back Market specialises in refurbished electronics, providing a dedicated platform for buying refurbished phones. If you want to find a great refurbished phone seller, Back Market gives you a simple way to find exactly what you’re looking for. 

Promoting Refurbished Phones: One thing I personally love about BackMarket is the work they’ve done to promote refurbished phones in the last year. As we’re fond of saying here in The Big Phone Store offices, we’re in the middle of a Refurb Revolution! Any company that is helping refurbished phones to gain the recognition they need is doing good work in our eyes.

Cons:

1. Price: As a third-party marketplace, prices on Back Market can vary wildly. Some sellers may be selling poor-quality products at very low prices, while more trusted refurbishers may need to charge a premium to pay for Back Market’s seller fees. 
2. Quality: Everything I’ve said about Amazon Renewed applies to Back Market, too. While there are some standards that BackMarket asks for its sellers to conform to, responsibility for quality control is mostly in the hands of the seller. Always investigate the independent refurbisher selling the item.
3. Minimal Customer Service: Third-party marketplaces can struggle to provide great customer service in general, as they don’t have any first-hand information about the status of the order. According to customer reviews, customer service is one of Back Market’s biggest weaknesses, which is why it places lower than Amazon Renewed on this list.

Other Options:

For completeness, the following is a list of other places you can buy refurbished phones in the UK. Please remember to be diligent and do your own research before buying!

Refurbished Phone Specialists:

• Envirofone
• The iOutlet
• 4Gadgets
• SmartCellular
• PhonesDirect

Large retailers

• The Carphone Warehouse
• Currys
• CEX
• Argos
• Mobile Phones Direct

Mobile Networks

• O2
• EE
• Three
• Vodafone

Marketplaces:

• TikTok Shop
• Mozillion