Do you have any experience with this? Here's my plan- -Use startup money and buy a few broken "flagship" phones. Galaxy S3, iPhone 5, Nexus 4, Blackberry Bold [kidding!], etc..) -Replace the screen or whatever the ailment may be. $50 for a digitizer, $10 for screen. -Root (Android)/ Jailbreak and unlock em. -Post them on Ebay/Craigslist to profit. I've noticed that people are too lazy to mod phones themselves and pay up to $50 for a service which takes maybe 10 minutes; and unlocking the phone adds some value too. For example, the lowest S3 cost was $320. The broken one I would buy goes for about $200. I'd want to sell it for at least $370. $120 profit? I don't plan on paying my tuition with this "business plan" but it would be a little extra stash cash , I would get to test out tons of gadgets, write reviews, and have a new hobby. What do you guys think?
It doesn't seem too hard to replace a screen- just a steady hand, a set of tools, nd patience. I'd practice first of course.
Did this in highschool all the time! I would suggest iPods as well as phones Apple products have a decent resale value And depending on your turnover you can have some nice cash in your pocket I never sold through eBay only Craigslist and by word of mouth but eBay will def give you a higher profit
Didn't even think about iPods! Thanks for the tips. How long would you hold on to a phone, on average, before finding a buyer?
You can make hella money doing this. I paid some guy i found offline 75 bucks to replace the front screen on my phone. The glass cost him maybe 20 or 30 dollars, could be less, so in 20 minutes he makes about 50 bucks
Got a suggestion. The phones you can't fix part out. Seriously take them apart carefully and sell all the parts. Sometimes you can part out phones, tablets or laptops for more than what you can sell them whole for.
Ah okay good suggestion Mindwrack! Do you guys have experience taking phones apart? Like how difficult from 1-10? I've been watching Youtube videos and it looks deceptively easy. But I don't want to waste money and mess up peoples phones.
I replaced the screen on my iPhone 4 when I had it..it was one of the easiest thing I ever did, just very time consuming, at least it was for my first time.. I would suggest labeling all screws and parts to where they go for your first couple times..and def use a magnetic screw driver, well save you lots of frustration lol
I just picked up two kits, totaling 50 different tiny head sizes/ shapes from Wallyworld for $4. Took apart my phone (HTC Pyramid)down to the adhesive between glass & LCD and reassembled it. I took it apart to see how comfortable I'd be fixing my broken LCD and to my surprise- not hard at all, just kind of tedious. Now I just have to wait for the replacement screen to get here, for the real test. Dun-dun-dun.
I know someone who used to do that with iphones. He said he made like $50 a pop. I was thinking of doing this with game consoles & just running ads in local towns to buy em, then fixing em & selling on ebay. Ive seen broken ps3's selling for crazy prices like $80 on ebay, so apparently theres good $ in it.
How easy is it to fix a console? I feel like there's a lot more stuff that has the potential to be broken. On a phone there are maybe... 5 peripherals to be plugged into the motherboard. Consoles would be great money.
Not awfully hard, once again, you just needs parts, tools and time. I fix consoles for pretty much the same reason and I make around £30 on each job, so it's not a bad little hobby.
This sounds like something I'd like to do. How exactly would you get started, assuming you have all the necessary tools and preliminary knowledge? Would you just post an ad saying "Hey, I've never fixed a phone before but I'll fix yours!"? Just curious as to how you would gain experience considering these devices are worth a pretty penny and you wouldn't want to screw up.
Hey man if u have the knowledge I say do it. I've seen people flip fones when it's modded and to be honest I am one of those people who are too lazy to mod my fone. I wouldn't mind paying 50 maybe less. It's a hustle homie. Get on it.