Getting rid of the two iPhone 6’s which are SIM locked to AU

Now that I have terminated the AU connections, it is time to sell the iPhones. I checked the offerings on my favourite sites few weeks ago, namely Sofmap and Dospara. Sadly they were offering only JPY 30,000 per phone. It was possible to get JPY 34,500 from Sofmap if I sold it for points, but I had no use for the points at this time and there won't be enough time to use them.

So I turned to my trusty auction site: Rakuten Auction. I checked the prices other people were selling the same phone and they were listing them for JPY 45,000-ish starting bid. Nobody had bid for those phones though. I set JPY 44,000 as the starting bid for my phones. This was about a week before terminating the AU connections. Nobody bid for it and when October 31 drew nearer, I reduced the starting bid all the way down to JPY 38,000. Then someone asked for the IMEI number of the Gold model saying that he would like to buy it. With the IMEI number they can check is the phone had any network restrictions with AU. Our phones had no restrictions except that they had to be used on the AU network. But I read that it is dangerous to give out the IMEI numbers to others so I was a bit worried about it. But just then, I found a shop that would give JPY 36,000 for the Gold model and JPT 35,000 for the Space Grey model. Considering the overheads and delivery charges (as I listed the phones as free delivery) involved with the auction, I decided to sell the phones to this shop. So I withdrew the listing from Rakuten Auctions.

However, the shop was not that great either. I emailed them confirming the prices and I never received a reply from them. I could of course call them but I didn't have to do that because they have a email system. I could have visited their shop but since their working hours are very short (10am to 7pm on weekdays, 11am to 6pm on Saturdays, 12am to 6pm on Holidays), I would not be able to make it to their shop and finish the trade if I leave after work. Yesterday was a holiday and I was thinking of visiting their shop. My wife wasn't very happy about it; she wants to sell the phones, but also wants to be with me but then again don't want to pay for the train tickets to visit the shop. This made me reluctant to visit the shop as well. If I received the darn reply from them, it would have been OK because I could have simply sent them the phones and they would assess it and send me the money.

I gave one final shot at finding a better shop (not necessarily a shop that offered more money, but that would have been great) and after some time I came across a shop called Smarket. They were not only offering JPY 37,000 per phone but also doing it in style. I first had to put the items that I wanted to sell to a shopping cart like area and then fill an online form including my personal details and the bank account to which they would deposit money. There were instructions as to what to do before sending the phones in. (Of course I had to factory reset the phone and then they also wanted me to activate them; luckily I didn't throw away the AU SIM cards!) The pricing is valid for a whole month too.

And then comes the most amazing thing. They will deliver an empty box to put the phones and the other necessary documents in and also take them away on another date. I had to specify these days and times too. And the delivery is totally free. If for whatever reason they had to return the phones back to us, then we would have to bear the cost. There are other shops that bear the initial delivery charges such as Sofmap, but they don't send a box nor their offerings are as high. I wish I had known this shop when I saw selling my iPhone 5S's.

Well, I have only sent the phones. They sent me a 60cm (W + H + D) box with two bubble wraps to wrap the phones, a copy of the application form that I filled (for my signature) and also an instruction leaflet. I had to include documents to prove I am who I claim to be (I made copies of last month’s Electricity Bill and the insurance card), signed the application and put the phones wrapped in the bubble wraps. A Sagawa driver came to pick the package up on Saturday morning.

I haven’t heard from them yet. I guess it will take a few days for them to do the assessment and inform me about their price. I hope they will give me the full amount that they said they would give because the phones are in sublime condition. There aren't any scratches or marks on the phones' bodies. So far this is the best 買い取り service that I have ever uses in Japan. Too bad it is only for phones. (Wonder what they will offer for my Nexus 5 hmm... Should not get these ideas!)