Selling a used phone? How to show buyers it's clean

1. Get the phone ready

• iPhone: sign out of iCloud and turn off Find My (Settings > [your name] > Sign Out). Apple's guide for sellers walks through it.
• Android: remove your Google account and, on Samsung, your Samsung account, before you reset.
• If the phone was on a payment plan, pay it off first, and check in your carrier account that the device balance is zero.
• If you plan to sell it as "works on any carrier", check that it isn't locked to your carrier. On iPhone, Settings > General > About should show "No SIM restrictions" next to Carrier Lock.

2. Put the right details in the listing

• The exact model and storage, as shown in Settings.
• The carrier it came from, and whether it's locked.
• That you'll share the IMEI with serious buyers. You don't need to post the full number publicly.
• That you'll reset it in front of the buyer and give a written receipt.

3. Share a check result buyers can read

A check report dated before the sale shows the phone wasn't on the lost/stolen list or locked on that day. LegitPhone's seller check (legitphone.com/verify) gives you a link you can paste into the listing. Buyers see the verdict, the model, the check date and only the last 4 digits of the IMEI, so they can match it in person without you posting the whole number.

Turn off Find My and remove other locks before you run it. If something is still on, the report will say so.

4. What a report can't prove

No report proves who owns a phone, and none can confirm a phone is paid off with every carrier. A result only shows what the records said on the day of the check. Keep your original receipt or carrier paperwork if you have it. It's the strongest proof of ownership you can offer.

5. On the day of the sale

• Meet somewhere public and busy, in daylight.
• Let the buyer dial *#06# and compare the IMEI with your report.
• Let them put in their own SIM and make a call.
• Erase the phone together, so the setup screen doesn't ask for your account.
• Write a short receipt with the model, the IMEI, the price, the date and both names.