Can I sell a water damaged iPhone in the UK?

Yes, ReMint buys water damaged iPhones in the UK, as long as the phone still powers on. It does not matter whether it went in the bath, the sea, a puddle or a washing machine, or whether it now shows a liquid detected warning when you plug it in. Every phone that arrives with us goes through the same automated test using industry diagnostic software, and a phone that powers on and completes that test is a phone we can buy. A phone that will not switch on at all is the one thing we cannot price, and in that case we return it to you free of charge.

Before you do anything else, let the phone dry properly. Do not put it on charge while it is still wet, because that is how a small amount of water becomes a failed charging port or a failed logic board. The old advice about a bag of rice does not help and can leave grains in the ports, so skip it. Switch the phone off if you can, leave it somewhere warm and airy for a day or two, and only then try it again.

Be honest with yourself about time as well. Water damage often gets worse over days rather than better, as moisture creeps along the board and corrosion sets in, so a phone that works this week may not work next month. If you want to sell it, sell it now rather than leaving it in a drawer while you decide. The sooner it reaches us, the better the chance it passes the test cleanly.

Grading it on our calculator is simple, because we grade by what you can see, not by what happened to it. If the phone powers on and the picture on the screen is perfect, choose Picture fine, whatever else is wrong with it: a camera that has fogged up or a speaker that sounds muffled both sit in that grade, as long as it still charges. If the display itself is affected, with lines, blots, dark patches or areas that no longer respond to touch, choose Picture faulty. Either way you see the price straight away.

One honest caveat. Water can leave hidden corrosion that only shows up on our test bench, so we cannot promise the quoted price holds if the phone fails a test it looked like it would pass. If that happens we send you a revised offer, and you can accept it or decline it, in which case we post the phone back to you free. Your quote is otherwise fixed for 10 days from the order and holds whenever the phone matches the answers you gave.

The rest of the process is the same as for any other iPhone. Turn off Find My iPhone and sign out of iCloud (Settings, tap your name at the top, then Sign Out), because a phone that arrives locked is put on hold until it is released. Post it free with the prepaid Royal Mail label or the QR code we send you, which you show at the Post Office counter if you have no printer. We check it within one working day of arrival and pay by bank transfer within 48 hours of it arriving, Monday to Friday.