Smartphones are more expensive than ever right now, with most flagship phones from the like Apple, Samsung, and Google costing hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars more than how much they just a few years ago. Thankfully, they've also gotten a lot better over the years, meaning you no longer have to buy latest and greatest phone out there to get the best experience. This also means you can get away with buying a used phone as they'll remain relevant and continue performing well with software updates.

"Used" or "pre-owned" phones sound scary and are often looked down on, but you can score some solid deals and save a lot of money on your smartphone upgrade by opening your wallets for them. It is, however, important to look for reliable platforms when it comes to buying a used phone because the last thing you want to do is end up losing your money on a faulty unit or something that you didn't pay for. Thankfully, there are a handful of reliable places offering used phones in 2023. If you don't know where to look for, then we recommend starting with the places highlighted below.

There are a ton of places to buy a used phone on the internet, but we're only adding a limited number of places that we know are reliable. Also, this list is only meant to point you toward the right platforms, so please make sure you do your due diligence before buying a used phone from any of the platforms mentioned below.

Best overall: Swappa

Swappa has been around for quite some time now, and it's known to be one of the best places to buy or offload used smartphones. What started off as a small community effort by a bunch of enthusiasts has now turned into one of the biggest user-to-user marketplaces where you can buy or sell smartphones or other gently used gadgets. Each and every listing that goes up on Swappa is verified by human staff to ensure they follow strict requirements, so you don't have to worry about getting scammed with a fake listing or a product. Swappa doesn't allow broken products to be listed on its platform either, and there's also a good support team with real humans to help you with your queries.

One of the best things about Swappa is that it works on a set fee structure, meaning you only have to pay a set amount of money, and you tend to get the best prices. Notably, all payments are made over PayPal, which is incredibly secure and comes with buyer protection. If the product you purchased doesn't match its description, then you can get your money back as a buyer. All things considered, Swappa is a great place to look for used phones and other gadgets as there are tons of listings, and you can count on their service and PayPal transactions.

Best with a 30-day return window: Gazelle

Gazelle is also one of the oldest platforms to exist in the used smartphone space, but it uses a slightly different business model. Unlike Swappa, Gazelle doesn't allow anyone to trade on its platform. Instead, it buys used smartphones after running a 30-point inspection to ensure everything is working and then lists them on its website for you to buy. This means you are guaranteed to receive a working product and the overall experience is pretty good. Gazelle will also let you pick the condition you'd like your phone to be in — fair, good, or excellent — and you pay for the unit accordingly. If you don't like the phone you received or if you think it doesn't match your expectations, then you can get your money back with a 30-day return window.

Gazelle also offers a lot of payment options, and you can choose to make monthly installments for your phone if you don't want to pay the full price upfront. That's right, Gazelle offers financing options to make the purchase easier on your wallet, and you can also add a device protection plan for an additional fee to get one year of accidental damage protection and repairs. The used phone you purchase on Gazelle might be more expensive compared to what you'd pay for it on user-to-user marketplaces, but that's the price you have to when you're dealing with a platform that acts as an intermediary to ensure you get quality products.

Best for variety: eBay

eBay is also a good place to consider if you are looking to buy a used phone. It's one of the biggest marketplaces out there that allows pretty much anyone to create an account and start selling their stuff. That makes a solid platform with tons of listings. You're bound to find more listings for used phones on eBay than most places out there, so you tend to get a lot more variety too. eBay has sellers from all over the world, and you can easily find the listings as long as you know what you're looking for. We recommend being a little more careful when it comes to picking a seller simply because there's little to no restriction on who can create an account and list their items for sale.

Thankfully, you do get PayPal protection on your transactions on eBay, so you will have recourse to get your money back as a buyer in case something goes wrong, or a product you bought doesn't match its description. It's worth mentioning that there are no dedicated teams to perform a quality check or inspect the items that are listed for sale on eBay, so please make sure you do your due diligence before buying.

Best place to buy refurbished phones: Amazon or Best Buy

Refurbished phones are repaired and/or restored to a like-new state and are verified to work as intended. The best places to find these are Best Buy and Amazon. They're fairly easy to find since they both have a dedicated section on their marketplaces for refurbished and pre-owned phones. Amazon marks its renewed products as Premium, Excellent, Good, and Acceptable based on the condition, so you know exactly what you are paying for. Best Buy has no such markings, although you can rely on the refurbished phones sold on its platform too.

Refurbished phones are different from the used or pre-owned phones you'd directly buy from a seller without an intermediary, so you'll probably pay relatively more for them. They are sold at a discount compared to the retail price of a new phone, though. You can find refurbished phones from other sellers, too, so you don't necessarily have to limit your searches to Amazon and Best Buy. Apple, for instance, also offers refurbished iPhones directly on its web store. You'll find a ton of other retailers and manufacturers offering refurbished phones, too, so just keep your options open.

Also great for refurbished phones: Back Market

Back Market is also a reliable platform offering refurbished phones and a bunch of other devices. It's essentially a marketplace on which professional sellers and refurbishers can become a seller to deliver reliable renewed phones. Back Market has a strict screening process for those who are willing to sell on its platform, so you can count the Back Market sellers to deliver reliable phones. All renewed phones purchased from Back Market come with a 1-year warranty, and you can even return the phone within 30 days of purchasing it if you change your mind.

All orders placed on Back Market come with free standard shipping, and you also get several payment options. Students purchasing refurbished phones and other items from Back Market also enjoy 5% off everything, which is great. The folks over at Back Market are dedicated to fighting e-waste by lowering the phones that end up in landfills. And as a part of their eco-friendly mission, they'll also let you trade in your old phone in exchange for money.

Bonus: Social media platforms and dedicated communities

This one's more of a bonus addition, as you'll have to put more effort into finding something to your liking. You can always turn to social media platforms and maybe even dedicated marketplaces on platforms like Discord. Facebook Marketplace is also a good place to look for used phones, as there are a ton of listings on it that are updated on a daily basis. We once again recommend meeting the sellers from Facebook Marketplace in person just to ensure you're getting the product that matches its description.

Best places to buy used phones in 2023: Final say

Our list of the best places to buy used phones, as you can see, is fairly slim because we only wanted to highlight the ones that are known to be reliable. Swappa is the one we recommend in particular for smartphones, so be sure to start your search from there before moving on to other platforms. It's a great user-to-user marketplace with a lot of verified listings, and you also get buyer protection with PayPal. A lot of other local retailers and carriers in the U.S. also sell certified pre-owned phones, so be sure to check them if you want more options. Alternatively, you can also choose to buy a refurbished phone from platforms like Gazelle or Back Market if you want to ensure you're buying a restored unit that'll work as advertised.

Buying a used phone will help you save money on your smartphone upgrade, but you'll have to take some precautions, especially while dealing with sellers on platforms like eBay or even Craigslist. The entire process and experience of finding and buying a used phone has gotten a lot better and safer now, but there's always a likelihood of a few mishaps. That's not to say you'll have a bad experience, so approach the process with an open mind and ensure you're sticking with the right platforms and taking the necessary steps to stay away from bad actors. Do spend some time looking at different options and comparing them to find the best deal, instead of rushing to grab the cheapest used phone.