Modern technology gives us many things.

Your pre-loved smartphone is worth more than you think

We change our smartphones every year with most sticking the old device in a drawer not realizing there’s serious money to be made by selling it. We’re actually sitting on $8.6bn worth of unused handsets across the country.

With the Samsung Galaxy S8 due for release soon along with a rumoured 10th anniversary iPhone on the horizon, there will be many customers looking to upgrade.

But according to a study by eBay Australia there are billions of dollars worth of second-hand phones sitting unused in drawers and cupboards.

In 2016, Deloitte revealed used smartphone sales generated more than $17bn globally.

Here in Australia, more than 154,000 pre-loved handsets were sold through eBay along with more than 421,000 mobile accessories.

A mobile phone was sold on ebay.com.au every 60 seconds last year with the iPhone 6, iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S5 the most popular devices.

But what’s your old phone worth?

eBay has created a tool to give you an estimated value based on the brand, the model and the condition.

For example, a lot of people might be surprised to know the iPhone 6S, despite being 18 months old, can fetch as much as $682, that’s $139 more than the year-old Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge at $493.

And Sunday is the most popular of the week for smartphone purchases on eBay.

According to eBay here are the top five mobile phone models to get you the best return.

  1. iPhone 7 Plus
  2. Google Pixel XL 
  3. Google Pixel
  4. iPhone 7
  5. iPhone 6s Plus

“We expect buying and selling in the smart phone category on eBay to break records this year as Aussies get swept up in the hype that the 10th anniversary iPhone in particular is going to generate.” said eBay spokesperson and trend watcher Megan English.

“This means it’s the perfect time to sell any old handsets that are lying around at home.”