Why two of the same phone get different prices
Your neighbour got more for the same phone. Here are the five reasons, in the order they usually explain it.
Two people, the same phone, the same year, two different numbers. It comes up often enough to be worth explaining properly, because the reason is never who asked more nicely.
1. The storage variant
The most common answer and the least noticed. A 256 GB phone is a different product from the 128 GB version of the same model, and it is priced separately — which is exactly why the flow asks you to pick the variant before it shows a number. More on storage and resale.
2. The panel
Two phones can look identical at arm's length and be a long way apart on a white screen at full brightness. Spots, faint lines, a permanent ghost of the navigation bar — panel faults are the single largest condition deduction, and they are invisible until you look for them.
3. The battery
On an iPhone the figure is right there in Settings, and there is a real difference between a phone in the low nineties and one below eighty. On Android the questions are behavioural, and "it needs charging twice a day" is an answer with a price attached.
4. A part that is not original
A screen or battery fitted outside the manufacturer's network is priced as a non-original part. Many people do not know their phone has one, because the repair shop did not say. On an iPhone, Settings → General → About → Parts & Service History will tell you. What that does to the price.
5. Warranty and the bill
An in-warranty phone with the bill to prove it prices higher, because the remaining cover passes on with the phone. Same model, same condition, different paperwork, different number.
What does not explain it
Who you are, how you asked, what day it is, or how long you spent on the phone with someone. The number comes from one table and the answers you gave. That is the whole design: the quote is the price, and it is the same price for the same phone in the same condition, for everyone.
How to make sure yours is the higher one
Answer from the phone rather than from memory. Check it the way our agent will — ten minutes, and the number you see is the number you keep.
See what your phone is worth
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
- Why did my friend get more for the same phone?
- Almost always one of five things: a bigger storage variant, a better panel, healthier battery, all-original parts, or an in-warranty bill. The price table is the same for both of you.
- Can I negotiate the price up?
- No, and that is the point. The number comes from a published table and the same answers produce the same number for everyone, so there is nothing to haggle over in either direction.
- Does the colour of the phone matter?
- No. Colour is not one of the questions.