Why Buy Cell Phones in Bulk?
The used mobile phone market is estimated to be $56 billion in size and growing at just under five percent per year, with North America being the fastest-growing region. A market of this size presents a broad and deep opportunity for new entrants.
Phone resellers are benefiting from increasing consumer awareness of the value proposition of used devices. As the price of flagship phones continues to increase, more and more customers are willing to consider phones from the previous generation. Additionally, major carriers have extensively marketed their trade-in programs, pumping the secondary market with inventory. Now is a great time to be selling used mobile devices.
Benefits of Buying Cell Phones in Bulk
When you buy cell phones in bulk at wholesale prices, you’re well positioned to profit by reselling the devices to final customers. By occupying the last step in the secondary market lifecycle from trade-in to retail sale, you can make steady profits. The keys to success as a reseller are understanding your customers, having a reliable and affordable wholesale supply, and marketing your business to bring in a consistent flow of new customers.
The primary benefit when you buy cell phones in bulk is that you pay a reduced price per unit relative to purchasing in a smaller volume. As a reseller, whenever you find a lot of devices that you know will be popular with your customers (such as a recent-generation iPhone), you should seek the largest quantity you can sell in a reasonable timeframe.
As in much of business, there are inherent tradeoffs. The more inventory you carry, the greater risk you bear and the more capital you have tied up. But, purchasing in large lot sizes can dramatically improve your unit economics, leading to more profit. Carefully gauge your cash flow and risk tolerance when determining how large your bulk purchases should be.
How To Buy Cell Phones in Bulk
To understand how to buy iPhones wholesale (as well as leading Android and Samsung devices), it helps to look upstream and see how devices enter the secondary market. The major sources of used cell phones are:
- Carrier trade-ins
- Damaged devices that are warranted
- Store returns
- Personal device sales on marketplaces
Of all these streams, the largest and most reliable is the trade-in stream from major carriers and big box retailers. These companies have heavily promoted their trade-in programs in recent years to reduce the sticker shock of new phones. When shopping for a wholesale supplier, look for a company that has long-standing relationships with the big carriers and retailers.
As a new business owner seeking to understand how to buy wholesale Apple products, researching wholesalers, while it can be intimidating, is an important step to building your business. Fortunately, some basic Google searching can quickly guide you to well-established device wholesalers. You’ll get results for companies that specialize in wholesale devices as well as broader marketplaces that serve all aspects of the secondary market. Also, if you have colleagues already in the business, you can ask them for feedback on their suppliers.
Phone resellers seeking to buy cell phones in bulk should compare wholesale suppliers based on the quality of merchandise, logistics, reputation, reliability, and liquidity of supply. Look for a supplier that’s been in business for a while, has a well-established grading program, and offers competitive pricing that positions you to succeed as a business partner.
Once you’ve identified strong candidates to be your wholesale partner, place small sample orders with them to evaluate the accuracy of their device grading. It’s incredibly important to your profitability that when a supplier assigns a high grade to a device (and a correspondingly high price), you can sell that device to a customer at a profitable retail price based on the phone’s good condition. Accurate wholesale grading is critical to the predictability of your pricing, and your pricing must be competitive at the retail level, yet preserve your profit margin.
Best Practices for Reselling Bulk Cell Phones
Know Your Inventory
The better you understand the attributes of your phones, the better you can market them. First, it’s critical to know what model, color, and grade of phone you have on hand so that you can price appropriately and accurately represent the model to the retail buyer. If multiple variants of a phone model were produced, such as iPhones with different amounts of storage, you must identify the variant you’re offering for sale. If your device is carrier-locked, that should be prominently mentioned. If you find devices with easily repaired defects, that can be a quick and profitable win.
Create High-Quality Listings
Many phone resellers choose to offer their inventory for sale on online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Swappa, and more. To make sales on these platforms, you must create listings with accurate information on the devices you’re selling, take representative photos, and price competitively. The more detailed you can be about a phone, the better. The little details of presentation also matter — take the time to clean up fingerprints and dust before photographing your devices.
Account for Market Demand Trends
There are some consistent annual cycles to the used mobile business. Apple releases a new iPhone every fall, which leads to price devaluations of prior generation models, followed swiftly by a wave of trade-ins. Android release cycles are not as predictable, with new phones appearing year-round. Regardless of manufacturer, the holiday period reliably produces a boost in devices on the secondary market as consumers upgrade to new phones. Be prepared to time your inventory purchases accordingly.
Buy Cell Phones In Bulk at WeSellCellular
If you’re wondering where to buy wholesale iPhones, WeSellCellular is here to help. We have industry-leading grading standards, so you can be assured of the high quality of your merchandise. Make your first purchase today.
