On March 14th, almost exactly two months ago, I completed an order with SellYourCell.com. We bought new phones in February and everything seemed to be working fine, so I opted to sell our older phones for a little bit of cash.
We had the same phone: the LG VX8600. Both were in good condition. Mine had a couple of extra scratches on it, but overall the phones worked, the batteries worked, and they were in usable condition.
Searching for a Phone Buyer
I went online and searched for a vendor to sell my phone to. Back in 2006 I tried this and it took months and several e-mails to get my money, so I went into this situation with the full understanding that this could blow up in my face.
Nonetheless I searched and there are several companies that offer this type of service. Many boast of being featured in mainstream media like the Wall Street Journal, NBC, etc. Yet some of the firms offered litterally nothing for my phone. That ruled them out. Several others offered a little bit, but not enough to be worth my time.
That’s when I came across Sell Your Cell. They’ve got a decent looking website (unlike some of the others). They have a physical address and phone number listed on the website as well. It lookde and sounded legit.
I put in my “order” for our two phones and was told we would receive $24 for them. We printed off the shipping label (they pay for it, another perk), put everything into a box, and shipped it off.
Because I had done this before, I figured I knew what the company wanted. They wanted not only the phone, but any chargers, manuals, boxes, etc. that originally came with the phone. So I kept them.
That’s right. For three years we’ve had two LG VX8600 boxes sitting in our closet with the manuals inside of them. I put the phones and chargers back inside the original boxes, and put the boxes in the larger box that we shipped everything out in. I know they can use this to sell this phone to someone else.
That was March 14th. We put the phones in the mail a few days later.
That’s the last I’ve heard from Sell Your Cell.
Sell Your Cell Rips Me Off
To be honest, I kind of forgot about it until a few days ago. I never received an e-mail or call saying they had received my phones. Their automatically generated e-mail says to allow 10 to 14 days for the phones to arrive at their location, and then after 30 days (so they can test the phones and verify they work), they’ll send a check. At most you’re looking at 45 days or so — a month and a half.
In my opinion what’s happening here is they are giving themselves ample time to test the phone and go ahead and resell it in hopes you forget about it. We’re not shipping media mail here. This was a regular shipment. We’re in Alabama. They’re in Orlando, FL. It won’t take 2 weeks to get there. I guarantee that.
I am also pretty confident that it doesn’t take 30 days to verify the phones are working.
Any way you cut it, it’s been 60 days since I’ve heard a peep from the company. I called and left a voicemail yesterday. I called and left another one this morning. The voicemail says “Thank you for calling Rush Ventures Incorporated, home of SellYourCell and ReplaceYourPhone. We’re either away from the phone or assisting another customer at this time. Please leave your name, number, and invoice number and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible.” (or something like that).
They had been open 8 minutes when I called. I somehow doubt that they’re already so busy with customers on the phone that they can’t help me. This time my voicemail was not as polite, essentially saying I had no problem contacting the authorities in their state about scamming people from the Internet. (I have little patience.)
I doubt they call me back.
Let this be a lesson learned for all of you. The Internet is a dangerous place, full of people ready to rip you off.
It’s just $24. No skin off my back. I don’t need that money to pay my mortgage. It does irritate me, but only because I feel like I’ve been “had”. On top of that I felt like I did decent research — I Googled “Sell Your Cell scam” and nothing jumped to the forefront.
Perhaps in the future when someone runs that search they’ll find this blog post, and they’ll avoid SellYourCell. I sure hope so.
(Of course if this is resolved in the future I’ll be sure to update the post for everyone. You know like if a check shows up in my mailbox, or I get a call or e-mail back. I just doubt that is going to happen.)
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
We’ll make sure it gets enough links, etc., to be a viable search… Companies like that disgust me as much as the vehicle warranty people…
You should remove this post as the company was purchased recently.
Cindy I find it slightly suspicious that you are posting so many positive comments about SellYourCell from a Columbus, Ohio IP address. Interesting in that SellYourCell has supposedly been sold to someone in the Columbus, Ohio area.
At the end of the day, SellYourCell was supposedly sold to someone with a known bad history. This post, these comments, this discussion, are part of that bad history. To say the company had some bad customer issues is laughable… it was a scam. The new owners should have done their due diligence (and probably did) before purchasing the company.
When a company does good things and is sold, it shows up on the balance sheet as “Goodwill”. Consider SellYourCell’s history as “Bad Reputation”.
I don’t know anything about this company. I do think you might be overreacting a little bit here. They tell you six weeks, it’s been eight. You don’t even give them 24 hours to return a phone call before you start talking about calling authorities and blogging about how you’ve been scammed?
I’m inclined to agree with you that it seems suspect. But I also have enough small business experience to not be surprised by a small delay. And if every person got return calls in 24 hours it would be a miracle. It’s my goal, business and personal, and I don’t always make it.
If they are scammy (no offense intended here), you can’t honestly be totally surprised. Your phones are 3 years old, no one else is offering more than a X for them, and his company offers 12X for them. You took a chance, and you’re not really out anything – I would de-stress a little on this one.
I have been in the same sitution with old phones that still work fine and have sold everyone of my old cell phones on ebay and have always gotten a great price for them without an issue. Some one breaks there’s, they are in the middle of a contract so the cell company wants a mint for a new phone so they look for a used one. Next time you might go that route instead.
Here in the Philippines you only need to walk to the nearest mall and there are plenty of buy and sell for cell shops
@Kimberly: I think you are off base here. I still haven’t received a call or response to my e-mails. They weren’t offering 12 times what other companies were offering. And they were supposed to reach out to me after 30 days. I’ve given them more than enough time. I’m not threatening legal action as in suing them, but I would like to get the authorities involved in the cyber crime departments in Florida. Crime is crime, fraud is fraud, regardless if it is $12 or $1,200.
@HisHersMoney: I thought about that, but I’ve also read a lot about people getting scammed for electronics on eBay — and eBay essentially says “Oops, sorry, we refunded the customers money. Good luck getting it back.”
@Jay: Here we have places where you can recycle them for free, but not many places that I know of offer money.
Thank you for this post.
I was seriously thinking about purchasing this company as it is advertised for sale and have begun my due-dilligence. Since there are so many companies out there that offer to do the same thing (purchase your cell phone) I thought this might be an option. I run a company doing something similar in Barrie, Ontario Canada except I don’t buy phones & thought this would be a good way to increase cashflow.
The way the cell recycling business works is that there are two ways your cell phone can be recycled – they can be either reprogrammed & reused or smelted (melted down) for recycling. The main company that buys phones for reuse pays 30 days after receiving the phones and smelters pay every 90 to 180 days. Sounds like SellYourCell.com is trying to extend the payment cycle to give themselves time to receive the money before issuing a check… but I guess they too ran out of money in this economy.
SellYourCell.com is for sale “due to health reasons” by Business Brokers of Florida.
Negative feedback like this is great & helps people like me to not waste money on bad businesses.
Thanks!
This is a sham website — First off, you feel safe that they have a toll free number, physical address and e-mail support — but the truth is much different!!. Their cell phone buy rates are higher than the typical buy-in rates and that’s where I got trapped. I was expecting approx. $30 from them but after 2 months, nothing!! Their toll-free numbers are never picked up by anyone, except the answering machine. So don’t waste your time and cell phone with these guys.
– Randy from Texas
Hello,
You may want to change the title of your blog to: “Is SellYourCell.com a Scam?” so it shows up in Google search alongside the actual website: http://www.sellyourcell.com
Randy
I am curiuos to know if this has been resolved yet. I too am interested in buying this business for a couple of reasons. 1. I have distribution outlets in SA, AP and Russia and think I can sell phones in bulk to these folks adn 2. I know the owner is running it part time while working a full-time job. She has experienced some personal harship over the past months – nothing financial – and is not spending the time required to run this business. I am very interested in understanding if this problem has been adressed properly. And, if not I will promise a speedy resolution should the company transfer to my ownership. Cheers.
I have to say that I had exactly the same experience with sellyourcell.com. They were supposed to send me 19$ for a Treo 700p. I never saw a dime. I sent the phone in February 09; tried to contact them multiple times since then. Nothing, nada, rien, niente. Looks like a scam operation to me.
They are a scam. I sent them working cell phones, they sent me nothing. I contacted them, they said the check was in the mail. A month later I contacted them again, they claimed the phones no longer worked. Total scam. They get bad marks from the BBB as well. I wish I had checked that first.
I haver a story to tell.I have a motorola phone thats worth 300.00 brand new.. nothing wrong with it,i dont use the carrier any longer,so i did a google research and of course http://www.sellyourcell.com poppeed up.they were going to give me $6.00 for it.well so i agreed and been waiting for the box in the mail,mean while i decided to call them. LOL there number has been disconected.ok so lets try email,and guess what,you got it,thats not correct .so need less to say since i did not send the phones out,i am revoking my order.so they shipped me a box.with a lable supposely… comapnys like this need to be reported to the better business burea.i am tired of seing people ripped off.
one last comment,guess what there web site shows year 2007 at the bnottom of it,come on people dont you know that if there is a web site that shows that many years ago,um means they are no longer affilated with anything.example any web site that you go to .always look on bottom of web page if it shows this year 2010..well that means there as been activity by there web site devolpers, but if not how can you trust them.? also when you click email them,there comes up an error LOL um cause they dont exsist.. and then when you click link contact us. number for 407 area code and when you call it, number does not exsist. seems fishy too me,sounds like a scam..anyhow good luck all,be acareful ,not everything on google is true..
I had the same experience. I sold them one phone with no problem, and when I sent a second phone in, I never heard from them again. I called and left a voicemail, phone always goes to voicemail during their “business hours.” its now been over two months since I was supposed to receive my check. AVOID this co.
to nw classic ..hey thanks for your reply..i found a new company that tardes in phones and gives you cash or amazon gift card.so far so good,im still waiting for them to send me a gift card number by email.i will re post and let everyone know the name of the company ..id rather do that after i get my money just in case i get scammed grr LOL
Just an update for everyone that is struggling to find a place to sell phones or other gadgets. I recently used Gazelle.com to sell an older camera.
They gave me $50 for it, plus I found a coupon for $10 more in bonuses. I don’t think I could have sold the camera on eBay for more than $20 — so I was very happy.
Im back to update what most people have been waiting for.I finally received my money for my cell phones it took about 1 month.here is the website.i would not be putting this on the internet if i did not trust this site nor this comapny that i just got through doing business with and there customer service is very good as well able to reach them in a timely manner…heres the web site http://flipswap.com
Eneter your brand of cell phone and look it up it will give you how much its worth.its in the midldle of the page,also just want to say if you wish to do it by anazon gift card,they do that as well,same company and when they recieve the phones they email you a gift card code with instuctions very easy to do,Thats what i chose to do.good luck all hope my information helped
Wow, sucks you got scammed! I’m from the UK and there is a lot of buzz around selling you “cell” or mobile here. I used a company called Mobile Phone Xchange and got £55 ($85?) for my old phone when I got an upgrade, and I got the money within a couple of weeks! Loads of other sites were offering similar amounts too. Maybe you should see if they accept phones from abroad next time you have a phone to sell?
Really grateful for reviews like this by real people, it definitely makes you think twice. Thanks Kevin!
I’ve used “CashOldPhone” w/o a hitch.
i would just like to ring in and say that i have sold several phones thou them and have had no problums i just wish they would buy all cell.
I’m sorry some people had a bad experience but the readers should know that SellYourCell.com is under new ownership since April, 2010. The site was never a “scam” but suffered at times from bad customer service. Great customer service, including good communication with customers on the status of their phones and prompt payment, are our number one priority now.
So…give us a chance….End of shameless plug (:
I have been using SellYourCell.com now for years and NEVER had a problem. Furthermore, I have done some shopping around, found better return rates with out shops and they have matched the pricing! I swear by them and have ALWAYS received what I was quoted!
Actually, i used to work there. back in 2007.
I was the head cellphone tech there and by no means is it a scam.
granted there where a few problems here and there, some of them where my fault and i take responsibility there.
They do pay up for good phones. but in order to pay all functions of the phone have to be perfect. the long wait time is due to the fact that they get a LOT of phones. I saw a few hundred phones a day on a good day. but i can only work on maybe 30 or 40 depending on the phones and their issues if any.
it actually takes that long to verify something is good or bad.
however in the past there have been some customer service issues. phone calls going missing. emails not being replied to. but thats mostly in the past i believe. also have to understand the volume at times can be ridiculous. they are bound to get backed up and hectic from time to time just like any other company.
their website has been updated, prices are recent, blog is being posted to. looks like everything is back in order.
dont be so quick to call foul people. keep in mind on the other end might just be people just like you trying to earn a living. dont assume they want to rip you off if they miss a phone call.
i just sold my black berry to them i hope is not a scam. the adress i got for them is sellyourphone.com 5195 hampsted village center way suite 127 new albany oh 43054
All, sorry to hear that there is scamming going on in an industry that already has a bad name (wireless business). I run a construction company in Houston, TX, We found a company a couple years back that recycled our phones, charges and manuals! We received a check in about 18 days. We’ve used them twice since then and have never had any issues. I have personally referred friends to their business and they have received their money in about the same time. It’s worth trying. The website is http://www.recellone.com Good Luck!
It is a fraud! The attorney general has a large file on all the fraud!
NOT true. I called the attorney general and they did NOT have record of complaints under the new owner. I sold several phones to this company and it was a positive experience.
Cindy I find it slightly suspicious that you are posting so many positive comments about SellYourCell from a Columbus, Ohio IP address. Interesting in that SellYourCell has supposedly been sold to someone in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Kevin. I find it odd that you still hold a grudge for a company that has been under new ownership for 1 1/2 years. Actually when I first bought the company I offered to pay you the $24 that you felt the old owner owed you. A goodwill gesture.
We have zero complaints to the Better Business Bureau under new ownership. We have zero complaints to the attorney general (despite Angela’s unsubstantiated claims). Plus, the company was never a scam despite some service issues that led to the prior owner’s sale.
Our company has and continues to buy thousands of phones a year and your site references a handful of complaints – none under new ownership. I’d hardly call that a scam.
It’s time to let go of your anger at an owner that hasn’t been involved in the business for some time. The $24 offer is still open. No strings attached. Keep the postings online, take the $24, take a deep breath and let go of your anger. Peace.
Hey look! You share the same IP address (76.221.156.76) as “Cindy” the “satisfied customer who has sold many phones to the company”. Interesting!
Who said I’m angry? I’m responding to ignorant comments. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read them.
Let me get this right…
1. SellYourCell is a scam
2. SellYourCell, for years, ripped off customers online by offering money for phones and never paying. This is *my* experience, which I wrote on *my* blog.
3. Other people with similar experiences commented saying they experienced the same thing.
4. The company was supposedly sold from someone in Florida to someone in Columbus, Ohio, who, if they were smart, did their research and knew they were buying a website/company with a, at best, damaged reputation.
5. The supposed new owners start fixing things — good, that’s probably why they bought the company. They saw value in the product and figured they could run it better.
6. This post becomes the #1 hit for “Sell Your Cell Scam”
7. Ultra-positive comments start appearing in this comment thread… all from a Columbus, OH IP address. These suspicious comments talk about how they have sold phones to the company.
8. I reply to one of these comments.
9. Miraculously, right after that (33 minutes from the time I replied to “Cindy”, I get a reply from “SellYourCell” about how I’m angry, blah blah blah. That comment comes from the exact same email address as Cindy, the supposed happy customer.
Well, color me shocked. What does SellYourCell have to hide? Why are you coming on my blog to leave fake comments lying about how awesome the service is? If you were as truthful and pro-customer as you mention, you wouldn’t come on here and straight up lie.
Yea, doesn’t sound like it is still a scam at all…
Edit: and now that I look at it, the comments from “Matt” on 7/16/2011 is from the same IP address, again, lying about being satisfied. Very, very interesting…
Sellyourcell.com is NOT a ripoff. When this report was written the company was under poor management. The company is now located in Columbus Ohio and was bought by a different person. It is very reliable and i have been fortunate enough to receive $1,000 for 13 high end blackberrys. I highly recommend sellyourcell.com!
This is a FAKE COMMENT by Sell Your Cell.
Buyer beware: http://www.nodebtplan.net/2009/05/13/is-sell-your-cell-a-scam/#comment-172369
Matt – thanks for your comment. Everything you said is true. The site was never a scam but the old owner did have customer service issues. We are now 100% dedicated to good customer service and hope that everyone is as happy as Matt!
Angela – I don’t know what you are talking about regarding the attorney general??? Post a link if you have really seen something. We currently have an A- rating with the Columbus, Ohio Better Business Bureau where we are located. The “-” is just because the company has only been under new ownership for less than a couple years. There are currently no complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau.
Give us a try and if you have any questions feel free to email at cs@sellyourcell.com.
This comment is in reply to a FAKE COMMENT at the same IP address as “Matt” above. More lies from Sell Your Cell.
Buyer beware: http://www.nodebtplan.net/2009/05/13/is-sell-your-cell-a-scam/#comment-172369
I communicated with the Attorney General myself and that is how I know. I do not know how the company is being ran now but I do know I have never been paid. I would think if you bought the company then you would have the records to fix the past problems. You just cant ignore customers because of the way it was being ran. I would rather throw my phones in the trash than deal with your company.
Congratulations kevin! You realized that my comments are from the same ip address as sellyourcell! I work for them, that’s why, and yes that post was true. They did buy my blackberrys for that much and I posted this to help get rid of the only bad reputation we have on the internet, which is your opinion. If you hate sellyourcell that much, then start your own company and run it your way. My boss bought this company while it was under ownership in Florida, and brought it to columbus. Since then, you’re the only complaint we’ve had, and guess what? It’s your opinion (which you’re entitled to) yet no facts to back it up. Im sorry if you had a bad experience, but humans are creatures of error. If your story is true (I don’t know, I wasn’t working here when it “happened”) then so be it. Bottom line: In our system, if you send in an order, you get a quote of what your phones cost IF they all work okay. If they don’t, we offer to ship them back to you, so either way, you can’t lose.
The fact that you don’t think is unethical or any kind of conflict of interest to leave comments acting as if you are some random customer rather than an employee of the organization tells everyone who finds this page everything they need to know about the organization. If you had come on here and said you were an employee before leaving positive comments, there wouldn’t be a problem. But you didn’t, of course, because you/SellYourCell are still trying to deceive people. And that’s fine, just like it’s fine that I leave this post up, with these comments up, that show the true colors.
Happy scamming!
Buyer beware:
http://www.nodebtplan.net/2009/05/13/is-sell-your-cell-a-scam/#comment-172369
They quoted $26 for my Blackberry Storm & 2 months later, l actually received more then they quoted of $34 for my phone.
glad i found this i was about 5 min from using this site before finding this blog. the reason i decided to not go with this company is not because the “reported bad customer service and not getting paid” but because the “new” owner is on this blog lashing out at people who have bad expierences and so are the employees. i do not want to deal with a company like that. i believe that if they did have bad experiences with the company me being the “new” owner would not open the offer for the money now, i would just send the money like it was suppose to be done, then you would not come on here and have to defend yourself and make you look unprofessional, he would simply update saying the company was supposably bought and i recieved the money i was promised by the new owner. i think its great that the new owner cares about the reputation enough to do that. that right there would have gave you great feedback instead of negative when you try to argue with a customer.
I agree wholeheartedly. There is a big difference between doing the right thing and offering to do the right thing. In fact I’d say they are opposites.
Good call Ricky.
My experience was that they did communicate thoroughly through automated emails however I was paid $0 for my 5 phones for various reasons.
I shipped to them 5 working phones that were supposed to be worth an estimated $212 according to their website invoice. They responded explaining that they could not give me any money for these phones.
I have asked for an explanation and am awaiting their response.
Update:
I was informed (same day response from John) that there was a misinterpretation by a technician. Some of my phones were of no value and another was water damaged. The rest were said to be OK and that I would be compensated.
Today I received paypal payment for my phones.
So, my experience turned out OK:
10/21 they received shipment
11/9 emailed me saying no $
11/10 emailed them for explanation
11/10 issue resolved
11/13 payment received
To be honest I’m impressed with how quickly they handled this issue. If they are hoping to improve customer satisfaction I’d say they are on the right track.