Envirofone Trade-In Report · 2026
The Great British Phone Drawer
We looked at 20,810 phones traded in with Envirofone between July 2025 and June 2026 — the models Britain is finally letting go of, what they're actually worth, and the ancient handsets still being rescued from drawers a decade after launch.
20,810
Phones & devices traded in
£2.85m
Paid out to customers
£137
Average payout per device
13.8%
Were launched 5+ years ago
Based on real Envirofone trade-ins, July 2025 – June 2026.
“There's a small fortune hiding in Britain's drawers. We paid out nearly £3 million in a year for phones people had simply stopped using — and more than one in eight had been sitting unused since before the pandemic.”
The phones Britain is letting go of
The ten most-traded handsets over the past year, by volume — with the average and highest amounts we paid for each.
1
iPhone 131,393 traded · avg £122 (up to £255)
2
iPhone 111,198 traded · avg £50 (up to £255)
3
iPhone 121,198 traded · avg £81 (up to £190)
4
iPhone 141,177 traded · avg £166 (up to £310)
5
iPhone 15650 traded · avg £250 (up to £415)
6
iPhone 14 Pro Max527 traded · avg £265 (up to £485)
7
iPhone 14 Pro521 traded · avg £220 (up to £405)
8
iPhone 15 Pro479 traded · avg £340 (up to £535)
9
iPhone 15 Pro Max467 traded · avg £397 (up to £665)
10
iPhone XR456 traded · avg £37 (up to £77)
Still in the drawer
Some handsets are dug out years — even a decade — after launch. These are the oldest models still being traded in, and what they're worth today. The oldest of all: the iPhone 6s, launched in 2015.
Launched 2018
iPhone XR
456 traded · avg £37
Launched 2016
iPhone 7
250 traded · avg £7
Launched 2017
iPhone 8
211 traded · avg £11
Launched 2017
iPhone X
129 traded · avg £16
Launched 2017
iPhone 8 Plus
83 traded · avg £12
Launched 2016
iPhone 7 Plus
62 traded · avg £10
Launched 2015
iPhone 6s
21 traded · avg £1
In total, 13.8% of everything traded in was a model launched five or more years ago — and roughly 1 in 5 phones sold to us weren't even working. They still had value.
Where Britain is trading in, by region
Where our trade-ins came from, by UK nation and region (share of located orders).
| # | Region / Nation | Trade-ins | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South East | 3,243 | 15.7% |
| 2 | North West | 2,335 | 11.3% |
| 3 | East of England | 2,104 | 10.2% |
| 4 | London | 2,062 | 10% |
| 5 | South West | 1,944 | 9.4% |
| 6 | Yorkshire & the Humber | 1,858 | 9% |
| 7 | West Midlands | 1,689 | 8.2% |
| 8 | Scotland | 1,662 | 8.1% |
| 9 | East Midlands | 1,463 | 7.1% |
| 10 | North East | 1,019 | 4.9% |
| 11 | Wales | 920 | 4.5% |
| 12 | Northern Ireland | 337 | 1.6% |
The cost of waiting
A phone is a depreciating asset, and our data shows it plainly. The average iPhone 15 traded in for around £250; an iPhone 11 from four years earlier, just £50; and a 2016 iPhone 7, about £7. The longer a phone sits unused, the less it's worth — so the best time to sell is now.
What to do with an old phone
Turning a forgotten phone into cash takes minutes.
Step 1
Get an instant quote
Tell us your model and its condition and see a no-obligation price straight away.
Step 2
Send it free
We post a prepaid, tracked pack to your door — drop it at any post box or Post Office.
Step 3
Get paid the same day
We test it the day it arrives and pay cash to your bank — not store credit.
We're a Which? Recommended Provider, rated 4.7/5 on Trustpilot by 46,000+ customers, and we've paid out over £160 million since 2005. Every phone is refurbished for reuse or responsibly recycled — nothing goes to landfill.
Officially recommended by Which?
Envirofone is a Which? Recommended Provider for refurbished tech — independently assessed for trust, value and service. (October 2025)
Methodology
Figures are based on 20,810 completed trade-ins paid out by Envirofone between July 2025 and June 2026 (orders marked 'Payment Issued'). Model figures merge all storage sizes; 'average' and 'up to' values are the actual amounts paid after inspection. Regional figures map customer postcodes to UK nations and regions and are shown as a share of located orders. Bot, cancelled and unpaid orders are excluded. This reflects Envirofone's own trade-in data — a large sample of the UK second-hand market, not a national census. Figures are rounded.
For press
Journalists are welcome to use these figures with attribution to Envirofone and a link to this report (https://www.envirofone.com/en-gb/uk-unused-phones-report). Available on request: the full regional dataset (20,810 trade-ins, £2.85m paid), high-resolution charts, and a named spokesperson interview.
Press enquiries: get in touch via our contact page.
The Great British Phone Drawer — Envirofone Trade-In Report 2026.
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