Our three grades, explained properly

Every buyback site grades phones, and most make it complicated on purpose: five or six vague tiers, so whatever arrives can be argued down a level. We use three, and the line between them is drawn in one place: the display.

Works fine is exactly what it sounds like: no cracks anywhere, everything works, and battery health is 80 percent or above. Signs of normal use are fine; we are buying a used phone, not a museum piece. It gets the full price. A phone with no cracks but a battery under 80 percent is priced as Picture fine. The calculator asks about the battery first, so you see that price up front and there is nothing to revise when the phone arrives.

Picture fine means the LCD is good: the screen is original and the picture is perfect. The front or back glass can be smashed. A dent, a broken camera or speaker, or Face ID that has stopped working count here too, as long as the picture is perfect. It usually keeps most of the working price; the exact figure depends on the model and shows in your quote.

Picture faulty means a bad LCD, or an aftermarket replacement screen: lines, bleeding, blank patches, touch that does not respond, or a screen that is not original. The display is the most expensive part of the phone, which is why this grade sits lowest, and why it still pays real money, because the rest of the phone keeps its value.

The rule in one line: a working phone with no cracks and a battery of 80 percent or above gets the full price. On a smashed phone, a good LCD is Picture fine and a bad or replacement screen is Picture faulty, and battery does not change those two.

Two honest notes. First, grade what you see, not what you hope: our bench checks every phone against the grade you chose, and if it does not match we send a revised price you can accept or decline, with a free return either way. Second, a phone that will not power on at all cannot be graded or wiped, so we return those rather than guess. We only buy phones that turn on, so check yours powers up before you post it.