UK carrier Giffgaff closed off the first month of 2017 by launching a new service called Marketplace, giving customers old and new the opportunity to sell or buy a pre-owned phone on both pay monthly and SIM-free terms.
The company says the pre-owned market in the UK is worth £1.2 billion and as smartphone innovation dwindles, people are more readily moving towards pre-owned purchases rather than brand new handsets, incentivising sales of existing smartphones in the process too.
How does it work?
Unlike selling or buying a used phone on a platform like eBay, Marketplace features an online valuation tool that’s supposedly more thorough than those of rival services. What’s more, Giffgaff is confident that the sense of brand familiarity it pushes in the UK mobile space helps legitimise the experience of buying or selling a used phone.
Sellers get peace of mind by way of next-day payment and if they aren’t happy with the final valuation once they’re phone’s been sent to Giffgaff for inspection, they can request a free return.
For buyers, all Giffgaff Marketplace handsets are graded by condition from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ so that you have a better idea of what to expect, and all come unlocked and ready to use, something the network says it offers exclusively over its rival networks. Orders placed before 10pm also come with free next-day delivery.
As with the carrier’s other offerings, phones bought through Marketplace can be purchased outright or tied to a monthly, handset-only contract and picked up alongside Goodybags, with £10 free credit on offer at the launch of the service.
Want to know how Giffgaff Marketplace stacks up against similar services? Why not check out our ‘How to buy a second-hand phone, without risk or stress’ feature.
Leave a Reply