Why a price can change at the door — and what should happen when it does
A price that can never change would mean nobody was checking. A price that changes without an explanation means something else.
This is the complaint people have about buy-back services, and it is worth being precise about which part of it is fair.
Why a quote is conditional at all
The price is not a guess about your model in general. It is built from the specific answers you gave about your specific device: this variant, this screen, this battery, these accessories. That is what makes it a real number rather than a range.
The other side of that is simple. If the device is not what the answers described, the number those answers produced does not apply to it. A price that could never change would mean nobody was checking — which would mean the questions were decoration, and the number was a guess after all.
What should happen
Three things, in this order:
- You are shown what was found. Not "there's an issue" — the actual fault, on the device, in front of you.
- You are shown what it changes, before anything is agreed.
- You decide. If you would rather keep the device, you keep it. The pickup was free and cancelling at the door costs nothing.
That is the sequence at a TurnCash pickup, and it is a fair test for any buyer: shown, itemised, before, and refusable.
What is not fair
A number that moves without an explanation. A "final offer" presented after the device is already in a bag. A reduction that appears only once you have handed the phone over. Payment promised later, after "grading at the warehouse", which is where a price can change with nobody watching.
If any of that starts happening, the device is still yours until you agree. Ask for it back.
How to avoid the conversation altogether
Most doorstep changes come from three things, and all three are avoidable in ten minutes:
- The wrong variant selected.
- A panel fault nobody looked for, because a phone looks fine until you put a white screen on it at full brightness.
- A non-original part the owner did not know about.
Check your phone the way the rider will, and the number you accept online is the number that arrives in your account.
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
- Can a doorstep buyer reduce the price when they arrive?
- It should only happen when the device does not match the answers the quote was built from — and you should be shown exactly what was found and exactly what it changes before anything is agreed.
- What if I do not accept the new price?
- You keep the device. The pickup is free and cancelling at the door costs nothing.
- How do I stop it happening?
- Answer the condition questions from the phone rather than from memory. A declared fault is already in the price.