Broke my phone pretty badly...

[Skillz]

My Pixel 3 XL otter box case started malfunctioning on me recently. The power/everything button stopped working because the rubber extender thing on the case was worn out. So I had to take the case off in order to use the phone as that button is pretty important. Well, not even 2 days of having the case off I dropped the phone. It was then, I realized the rear of the phone was just as fragile as the front. So, rear - shattered. Great. No biggie. New case will cover that up and all will be well. Not even 24H later. Dropped phone, again, cracked the top of the front screen. Shoot!

So now both the front and rear is cracked. The cracks are so bad, literal chunks of them are falling off exposing the insides. The phone is a good phone, and I don't want to spend the money on a new, flagship phone so I started looking around for used Pixel 3 XL phones to replace my Pixel 3 XL phone.

That's when I discovered www.backmarket.com anyone use this or heard of this site before? Seems sketch, but I bought a used black 128GB Pixel 3 XL phone for $350. Should be here Monday. Let's hope she's in as good as condition as they claim.

[crashtech]

Never heard of them but I feel for you. I got a new phone a few weeks back and it arrived without the case that I ordered, but I activated it and used it anyway. Within two days the slim slippery sucker had fallen out of my pocket and I ran it over with a creeper. Broke the screen, first time for me. From now on, I won't use a phone without a case.

[Skillz]

Anyone ever sold a used damaged phone?

Seems I can get $70 for my broken/damaged Pixel 3 XL.

https://www.sellcell.com/phones/google-pixel-3-xl/

Claims for a Verizon, 64GB, Pixel 3XL with damaged screen but still fully functional phone for $70 and they'll pay for shipping.

Seems like a no-brainer.

[Icecold]

Anyone ever sold a used damaged phone?

Seems I can get $70 for my broken/damaged Pixel 3 XL.

https://www.sellcell.com/phones/google-pixel-3-xl/

Claims for a Verizon, 64GB, Pixel 3XL with damaged screen but still fully functional phone for $70 and they'll pay for shipping.

Seems like a no-brainer.

I have no experience with selling a broken phone, but that sounds like a fair deal. I think you could get slightly more on eBay, but for a no hassle option to send it in with them paying shipping it seems pretty solid.

[Skillz]

Got the Pixel 3 XL in from BackMarket.com earlier today. Seems to be pretty legit.

1. I ordered the Google Pixel 3 XL 128GB - black model, but got the 64GB model instead. Reached out to them and they got back with me quickly, but the follow up has taken a while.

Hello, We apologize for the inconvenience. We can offer a partial refund for the difference of GB storage if you wish to keep the device. Please let us know how you would like to proceed. Thank you

I emailed them back saying I would like to know how much the partial refund will be. I can make a new order for the 64GB model on their site for $150 less than what I paid for the 128GB model. So if the partial refund is less than $150 then I will attempt to send it back for a 100% refund and order the 64GB model.

The phone is in excellent shape otherwise. I didn't notice any scratches or anything signs of excessive use. Phone was fully charged when I got it so I begin transferring everything off my old Pixel 3 XL onto the new one. Really easy process, by the way. It wasn't until I entered the IMIE number on the phone into my Verizon account to get it activated that I realized it was a 64GB model. So the phone was accepted by Verizon.

I kind of want the 128GB model, but if they refund at least $150 I'll keep the 64GB model.

[Skillz]

These clowns wanna refund me $70. I denied the offer and told them I'll send the whole thing back for a full refund. Waiting for a response.

Added in 2 hours 3 minutes 39 seconds:
They sent me a shipping label. Dropped it off at the post office earlier. Let's hope this refund doesn't take too long.

[crashtech]

I'm sure they run into plenty of people who are dumb or don't want the hassle of swapping. I guess I can't blame them for trying to max out profits, but one has to wonder if it's a kind of racket where they send whatever is in stock even if it's wrong and try to fix it later.

[Skillz]

From what I gather the web site backmarket.com doesn't actually sell anything. They're just a central hub for others to sell their hardware.

[Skillz]

Got a 100% refund deposited back into my account already. So that's a relief to know they're at least honest.

Now, to find another Pixel 3 XL phone that's black and either 64GB or 128GB for a decent price.

[Coleslaw]

Interesting story. Did you ever pull the trigger on another one? I picked up 3 Pixel 2's to sit next to my Pixel 2XL doing beermoney apps. They were kind of expensive for this use but I knew that they had good resale value and were pretty much compatible with every carrier and had good enough specs that I wouldn't have to replace them for a long time.

[Skillz]

Yes, the phone in the OP finally stopped working completely. On a road trip to a new job the phone went into an endless bootloop and nothing I did could stop it. That phone is gone now.

I used Backmarket to order a Pixel 3 XL 128GB black model again and received what I ordered for around $350. Been using the phone on my vacation down in the Keys for the past week without issues.

[Coleslaw]

Good to hear. The only reason I switched from my 2XL to a Galaxy S8+ was because CO was selling a pair for a reasonable price. My wife needed a new phone and she told me to pick them both up. So, I did. I kind of miss using the Pixel 2XL though. Only thing that I don't like about it is that they used OLED screens which have a terrible habit of getting screen burn-in. It also took a while getting used to the differences in how Google sets up a phone and how other carriers do it. But I grew to like the differences a little better. I've not used it as my primary for almost a year now and still consider moving back to it daily. I still have all of my authenticators on that phone as that is by far the biggest hurdle in migrating phones....

[Skillz]

Well I do recommend backmarket, but check the phone when you receive it to make sure it's what you ordered. Both phones I got from them were in excellent shape cosmetically. Just the first one was a 64GB model when I had paid for a 128GB model. They refunded me 100% with no hassle. Just took about a day for them to respond. Second phone I ordered a few months later was the exact model I ordered in excellent shape. I just wish they shipped original chargers with the phones as they send a generic USB block which doesn't "fast" charge the phones as good as the original chargers do. Not that big of an issue.

[Coleslaw]

Have you ever tried using Swappa? I had a former co-worker that swore by them and they typically have pretty fair prices as well.

[Skillz]

No, haven't used them. After I cracked the screen on my other Pixel I just got on google and looked up used phones. Found backmarket and gave them a shot. Didn't bother cross shopping or looking else where for better prices or anything. I felt $350 was a fair price for an immaculate Pixel 3 XL 128GB model.

[Coleslaw]

Fair enough. I was told by the former co-worker that Swappa would even hold the money from the seller for a period of time to guarantee the product was as described. That way there was more peace of mind when ordering used gear. I typically only order used if it isn't going to be a daily phone. Especially if it doesn't have removable batteries. But I do certainly recommend the Pixel line to anyone needing suggestions.

[Skillz]

Ah yeah, the battery. That was another thing I was concerned about. How well the battery life would be on a used phone since I can't remove it. So far, the battery has preformed as well (if not better) than the Pixel it replaced.

I generally always buy a new phone when I need a new daily, but I'm tired of paying the high prices of these flagship phones to replace a phone that was already handling all the load I needed.

[Coleslaw]

Check out this deal... https://slickdeals.net/f/14748470-googl ... ommentsBox

I just picked up 2 of them this morning. Now, I just need to find an unlocking service for them as I don't intend on using Sprint. If not, I may try flipping them for nice profit.

[Skillz]

Damn, I would buy a few of those myself, but I don't see where to buy it.

Added in 1 minute 42 seconds:
The other link showed the buying options. It's $350 for me or $260 from Amazon.

[Coleslaw]

Yeah..it isn't every store. These are being clearanced since T-Mobile doesn't want to sell any more Sprint CDMA phones after their merger. But these work on GSM as well. The only issue is if you don't use Sprint/T-Mobile, you will need to find an unlocking service for them. I plan on using them for the international SMS service I use for selling SMS messages. I just need to find out if I can use them on Twigby as is or if I have to unlock them first since Twigby is a Sprint MVNO. If they don't, I will either unlock them somewhere or I will flip them for a nice profit. Swappa has them in mint condition for $149. eBay is all over the place on pricing.

[Coleslaw]

finished my treasure finding with 2 Pixel 3a XL's (which I unlocked via ADB) and 2 Galaxy Note 9's which I'm looking into unlock options. All 4 phones were $24 each. Talk about a score.

[Skillz]

Didn't realize getting all my 2FA accounts transferred to my new phone WITHOUT having an old phone was gonna be so difficult. Just glad it's, so far, not impossible.

but all the accounts I'm trying to get on the new phone have so far only required I send them a selfie picture with my ID and a handwritten note of the current date + whatever the service name is. 2 for 3 in getting them, just waiting on the 3rd one I get review my pictures and reset the 2FA on the account so I can put it on my new phone.

This time I am actually saving the backup codes, secret key or whatever they give you to recover the account this time.

[crashtech]

The dark side of 2FA. I don't have any plan in place to recover that stuff...

[Coleslaw]

Yeah...my Pixel 2XL has the authenticators and I'm about to switch from my S8+ to the Pixel 3a XL. Even with the other phone, migrating them is a huge PITA. 2FA doesn't mean it has to be an authenticator app but some sites don't offer any other option. I am kind of liking the other device to have it because it means if I drop my primary phone, I don't lose them all. I was saving the backup codes before too but was too lazy to store those somewhere meaningful. So, it would still be quicker to send in ID's than to track them down...haha.

[Coleslaw]

OH..and I unlocked both Pixel 3a XL's pretty easy using ADB. However, the Note 9's I will probably have to pay a chop shop 3rd party to do as I'm not finding any do it yourself options out there.

Edit: If I was a T-Mobile customer or wanted to be an ATT customer, I could trade each of the Note 9's for S21's for free...

[Skillz]

Well I decided to just email the codes, information, etc.. for each account to my gmail account. I just put the codes in the message and put lots of key words for whatever I may be searching for when trying to track them down so they'll turn up.

Otherwise, you're right. Even if I did have my phone you still have to migrate each account one by one to the new device which would be a PITA. Taking selfies (3 for each account. All three holding the documents and looking straight at the camera, then looking left and right.) isn't all that much better either. Then when that's done, they just disable the 2FA on your account so you have to go to your new phone and set them all up again.