Do the bill, box and charger change what your phone is worth?
Three accessories, three different answers — and one of them is worth digging through your email for.
"Do I need the box?" is the question we are asked most after the price itself. The short answer is that each of the three adds something, none of them is required, and only one of them is worth going to any trouble for.
The bill
This is the one that can matter a lot, and only for one reason: it proves when the phone was bought, and therefore whether it is still inside the manufacturer's warranty. An in-warranty phone with a valid bill prices higher than the same phone out of warranty, because the next owner inherits something real.
If the phone is more than a year or two old, the bill is largely a formality. If it was bought recently, it is worth finding — and for most people it is not on paper at all:
- Bought online: the tax invoice is in your order history on the shopping app, and usually in your email as a PDF.
- Bought in a shop: the printed bill, or the invoice they messaged you.
- Bought from an Apple or Samsung store: it is attached to the account you bought it with.
The box
The original box adds a little on its own. It is not about the cardboard — a boxed device is easier to resell, and the IMEI printed on the box is a small piece of provenance. If you have kept it, hand it over. If it went out in the last clear-out, that is fine.
The charger
The original charger adds a little too, and it is the accessory most worth finding for a practical reason as well: it lets the rider power the device up and check it at your door. On a laptop or a smartwatch this matters more than on a phone, because those are harder to charge with whatever is lying around.
A third-party charger does not count as the original one, and does not have to go with the device.
What none of them can do
None of the three turns a damaged phone into an undamaged one. The screen, the body, the faults and the battery decide most of the number; the accessories are the last few lines of the quote. If you have them, say so and take the addition. If you do not, sell the phone anyway.
Warranty, specifically
Warranty is a question in the quote, and the bill is the proof behind the answer. Manufacturer warranty runs for a fixed period from the date of purchase — the length depends on the brand and where the phone was bought — and extended cover such as AppleCare or Samsung Care+ runs longer where it was bought. Answer what is true; the rider checks it against the bill you hand over.
See what the whole quote looks like, or start with your model on the sell page.
Get a price for your device
A price in about a minute, free doorstep pickup in a two-hour slot, and paid — cash or bank transfer — before our agent leaves.
Questions people ask
- Do I need the bill to sell my phone?
- No. A phone without a bill still sells. What the bill does is prove the purchase date, which is what lets a phone still inside its warranty claim the higher in-warranty price.
- Does the original box increase the price?
- Yes, a little, on its own — and a little more if the original charger is in it.
- Is a digital invoice acceptable?
- Yes. The tax invoice from an online order, in your account's order history or your email, is a bill.
- What if I lost the charger?
- The phone still sells. The charger adds to the price when you have it; it is not required.