Pawn shops may indeed take in cell phones for a quick cash loan.
We all need a little quick cash and sometimes we aren’t sure what we can pawn to sell to get it. One of the items that a lot of people will try to sell (or pawn) are cell phones and get what – some pawn shops will in fact take them!
Pawn shops are there to help you out and get you the money you need to make it through whatever it is that might be going on. They are your friends and will often try to work with whatever you have to see you through a tough time.
Because of that, yes, many pawn shops will at least consider cell phones as something that you might be able to pawn to get a little quick cash when you are in a tight spot.
Of course, not every pawn shop will take them. That’s just the nature of the business – not all pawn shops operate the same way unfortunately.
That having been said, there is a pretty good bet that you can pawn your cell phone to come up with the money you need when you are in a tight spot and aren’t sure where to turn.
Cell Phone Pawning Tips
Some pawn shops will take cell phone’s in on loan.
Now in order to get the most for your cell phone, there are some things that we should keep in mind. Take a moment and let these next few paragraphs sink in and you will likely have a much better pawning experience.
First of all – call ahead. You are going to save yourself a lot of time and frustration just by calling ahead to see if your local pawn shop will take in cell phones for loans. It can be a touchy topic with some shops, so make sure you do this before you do anything else!
Secondly – try to keep in mind that pawn shops are business that depend on the value of the items that they take in. Heading down to a pawn shop with a 15 year old cell phone probably won’t get you very far. In fact, it will likely get you nothing at all.
Because of that, make sure that you are realistic about the phone you are pawning. Something newer, particularly a smart phone, is always going to be the way to go whenever possible.
Thirdly – make sure that your phone is complete and in good condition. Pawn shops may not want to take in your phone if you are missing things like the battery sim card, charger, etc.
Additionally, pawn shops won’t be really excited to take in phones with damaged (or badly damaged) screens. A few marks and scratches is one thing, but a complete spider webbing across the screen will likely not get you very far with your local pawn shop so keep that in mind as well.
Lastly – make sure that your phone isn’t ‘Locked’ or unable to be activated. You can do that using Swappa.com’s ESN check. It will quickly tell you if the phone you have is able to be activated and by what carrier.
A pawn shop is going to look into that before considering your phone for pawn so save yourself a little time and do the work upfront to save yourself possible embarrassment and a wasted trip.
