BuyBackWorld

BuyBackWorld Review:

Like The Whiz Cells and ItsWorthMore, BuyBackWorld offers to buy your cell phone or other electronics. You describe your item; get a quote; they send postage and you send in the device. Easy peasy.

The site handles far more types of devices than most other electronics resellers, offering to buy everything from cameras to wearable technology, gaming technology, drones and even calculators.

How it works

If you want to sell something, you can get an instant quote on the item by plugging in the serial number. You’ll then note a few other details, including the condition, and the site will say what it’s willing to pay.

Assuming you like the deal, the site will email you a pre-paid mailing label — and if you want, mail you a box to ship the item in. You send it in, the site checks to see if you described the condition accurately. If so, it pays you.

Payment

The site pays by PayPal, Venmo or check within three days of inspecting and approving the item.

Problems

However, consumers give this site wildly mixed reviews with some saying the process was fast, easy and seamless, and others claiming that the site engaged in bait and switch tactics, promising one amount and paying vastly less.

In some cases, consumers who claim they sent in items in great condition and demanded they be returned when the site claimed they were damaged, said the items did come back with damage, as if to justify the low valuation.

While other sites have some similar complaints, the number and severity of the complaints about BuyBackWorld indicate that this site has unique problems.

Recommendations

If you’re willing to take the time to sell directly to another consumer, you’ll get more selling with Swappa. Unlike resellers like BuyBackWorld, Swappa simply provides a marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect. That usually results in sellers getting significantly higher prices. You can check out Swappa here.

If you don’t want to take the time to negotiate with other consumers, the two resellers that we recommend are It’sWorthMore and The Whiz Cells. You can check out ItsWorthMore here.

What their users say: From SiteJabber

I’ve used BuyBackWorld for old phones and tablets multiple times and will continue to use them as long as they are in business.

Very easy process, payment was quickly made after the iPod had been checked over. BBW was the only business that would buy back the iPod. So- very happy.

Amended quotes

They give you a quote. Then they find something wrong and amend the quote. It’s what all these companies do now no one is honest anymore. Then they will send it back! Ok but that’s not how I sent it in so I can’t do anything with it now!

One person checked half of my items the first day and said they were fine and paid me what I was quoted. Another checked the other half of them the next day and said they all had fluid leaking all over them and paid me less or have them sent back. I felt I had to take what they offered and not have them sent back due to fear they would break them on purpose. When I securely packaged them they were all in perfect condition. Will not do business with them again.

Low-ball offer

Sent in my iPhone11pro in and was honest in the condition of it. I dropped it and the front and back were cracked. Was quoted $100 with it being broke. They received it then tried to lie and say there was an activation lock on the phone. There wasn’t. I owned the phone. They argued with me for 2 days about the status of the phone until I sent screenshots debunking their bull crap. Then they admitted I was correct and said they would continue with the evaluation and it would take another 48 hours. At this point they have already had my phone for 3 days…. After taking another 2 days they sent me a final offer of $20.

What their users say: (From Facebook)

“The quotations offered from BuyBackWorld are reasonable, until you send your device in. What they do is malicious. By giving a reasonable initial offer they bait the customer into sending their device to them. When received they review the device and give an adjusted offer. The adjusted offer is always lower, usually much, much lower than the initial offer. They count on consumers who don’t want the hassle of selling themselves to cave and accept a lowball offer. I did this with two devices and two identical results. The second of the two was a 100% functional and beautiful iPad2. They offered me $45 (selling on eBay for $55 to $90) and I thought, well it’s easy so let’s do it. When I sent my iPad into them, they came back with a final offer of $12…no explanation. Got my iPad back and sold it on eBay for $90.”

Low-balled

They offered me a good price for my iPhone 6 which was in great condition. Once they received it, they lowballed me and said it had a cracked screen, which it did not. They are deceitful and should not be trusted.

“Their offer had dropped from $70 to $12. The cable is worth almost 12 dollars…..I recommend throw your device away rather than dealing with this organization.”

From the Better Business Bureau:

“DO NOT SEND YOUR ITEMS IN. I sent in several items, received confirmation they were received and one week later began receiving emails they did not get them. After responding and requesting attention they canceled my trade with no contact and now I don’t have my items or my money!”

“Sent my used iPhone 6 in. I stated that it was in average condition. They offered $220 and sent me shipping labels. A few weeks later they sent me an email stating that my phone is suffering from “LCD compression,” which it was not. My new price is $55. I should have checked the reviews before I shipped.”

Scam

“Our company IT department evaluated my iPhone as being in excellent condition. BuyBack World said it was damaged and offered to pay 1/3 of its original quote. I suspect this is their business model.”

“This company is a complete and total scam! They make an offer to buy your phone that is in perfect condition so you send your phone and then they say your phone is damaged and is only worth $12 and not the $81 they had offered! This has happened to me 2 times now. The 1st time it happened, I thought that maybe it was damaged in the shipping. This 2nd time I shipped my phone back with the hard cover on backward to protect the screen and once again they say my phone was damaged!! Will never use this company again.”

“By email they told me they would pay me $100 for my Samsung Galaxy s6. So I sent it to them. Weeks later they tell me the phone is “password protected” (It is not!) and offered me $10! I told them to send my phone back.”