Eighty smartphones in a cupboard at your Zurich office, another thirty at the Lyon subsidiary, a box of spares nobody has touched since the last refresh. Every month they lose value, and every one of them still holds emails, client contacts and saved credentials. Selling them one by one is not a realistic option for an IT or procurement team.
In short: to sell company phones in Switzerland, choose a buyer that quotes the whole fleet in one go, records every device by IMEI and issues an erasure certificate in your company's name. Consumer trade-in sites are built for single handsets. Carrier programmes such as Swisscom Buyback Business cover phones and tablets. An independent B2B buyer such as Everlink takes the entire fleet, laptops and broken devices included, with a fast offer.
Why selling a corporate fleet is different from selling a personal phone
A private seller cares about one number: the price. A company has three more constraints.
Data protection. A business phone contains personal data about colleagues and customers. The Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, often called the revised FADP or nFADP since it came into force in September 2023) requires that personal data be "destroyed or anonymised as soon as they are no longer required", according to Article 6(4) of the official English translation. A factory reset performed by an employee is not evidence that this happened. EU subsidiaries fall under the GDPR, which sets the same expectation.
Volume. Entering two hundred devices into an online form, packing them individually and reconciling two hundred payments costs internal hours that quickly eat into the proceeds.
Accounting. Finance needs a clean trail: one invoice, one inventory, one payment, so the disposal of the assets can be booked correctly. In Switzerland that usually means a QR-bill, the standard payment slip that definitively replaced the old orange and red slips on 1 October 2022.
The best unit price is worth little if your IT team then spends two days labelling parcels and answering queries.
Where can a company sell its phones?
Consumer trade-in sites and shops
Retail buyback sites let you enter a model, post the handset and receive a payment. They are fast and simple for one device. They are designed for private individuals, however, and generally do not produce a company inventory or an erasure certificate addressed to your organisation.
Carrier programmes
Swiss carriers run their own business buyback schemes. According to its public page, Swisscom Buyback Business values devices within 48 hours, collects them free of charge via Swiss Post and pays within 30 days of receiving your bill. The same page states that the programme "is only available for the return of mobiles and tablets": computers are excluded. For a straightforward phone refresh with an existing Swisscom contract, it is a sensible option. We compare the two models in more depth in independent vs carrier phone fleet buyback and in our Swisscom buyback alternative guide.
Selling to employees
Some companies offer retired handsets to staff. It is popular, but it means setting prices, proving erasure device by device, collecting payments and handling complaints. It works for a dozen phones, rarely for a fleet.
Independent B2B buyers
Specialist buyers focus on company fleets: one quote for the whole batch, organised collection, per-device tracking, a certificate and a single transfer.
The channels side by side
| Criterion | Consumer trade-in site | Carrier programme (e.g. Swisscom Business) | Independent B2B buyer (Everlink) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Designed for | Individual handsets | Company fleets | Company fleets |
| Phones and tablets | Phones | Yes | Yes |
| Laptops and computers | Varies | No (Swisscom, per its public page) | Yes |
| Smartwatches | Varies | Not mentioned | Yes |
| Broken devices | Varies | Varies | Yes, valued for parts |
| Offer | Instant online estimate | Within 48 h (Swisscom) | Fast, no fixed deadline |
| Erasure certificate for the company | Not usually | Per programme terms | Yes, per batch |
| Internal workload | High at volume | Moderate | Low |
What sets the value of a company phone fleet?
Valuation is done model by model, never as a flat rate. Four factors matter most:
- Model and storage: newer generations and larger capacities fetch more on the refurbished market.
- Functional and cosmetic condition: screen, frame, back, buttons and cameras.
- Battery health: the remaining capacity affects how much refurbishment work a device needs.
- Locks: a phone still tied to an Apple or Google account, or enrolled in your MDM (mobile device management) platform, cannot be resold until it is released.
Timing matters too. Smartphones lose market value steadily, and faster when a new generation launches. A fleet sold soon after a refresh almost always fetches more than one left in storage for a year.
Broken devices are not worthless: Everlink accepts them in the same batch and values them for parts. The offer, sent promptly, is itemised line by line and becomes firm after the devices have been physically inspected on arrival.
How a fleet sale works with Everlink
Everlink is an independent Swiss B2B partner, with logistics and dispatch run from Zug and an office, after-sales team and fleet intake in Basel. Only the first step is yours:
- Describe your fleet: models, quantities and rough condition, via the contact form, by email or on WhatsApp. An incomplete list is enough to start.
- Receive a fast offer, itemised and with no commitment.
- Collection, erasure and sorting: packing and transport are arranged for you, by on-site pickup or inbound logistics. You do not need to sort or reset anything; administrative unlocking (accounts, MDM) is worked through with you.
- Payment: once the devices are checked, the final offer is confirmed and the transfer goes out, in Swiss francs or euros, with a Swiss QR invoice, a full inventory and an erasure certificate.
Pickups cover Switzerland and Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Benelux, so subsidiaries can be handled in the same operation with the same contact. Every device is tracked by IMEI or serial number; our article on IMEI tracking for trade-in inventories explains how to reconcile that list with your MDM export.
What your security officer will ask for
Under Article 9(2) FADP, a company that entrusts data processing to a third party "must satisfy itself in particular that the processor is able to guarantee data security". Handing a buyer phones that still hold data is arguably such a case. Before choosing a buyer, ask two questions: how are the devices erased, and what document do we receive?
With Everlink, every device is wiped in compliance with the GDPR and the Swiss nFADP, and your company receives a certificate per batch together with the IMEI inventory. That is the document your data protection officer or auditor will want to see. Our guide to certified data erasure for mobile fleets goes into more detail.
Sell the old fleet, re-equip the teams
Selling rarely happens in isolation: new devices usually arrive the same month. Everlink also supplies refurbished smartphones for business, in consistent batches tested unit by unit. You offload the old hardware and bring in the new with the same contact, to the same standards, without tying the hardware to a telecom contract.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum number of phones?
The contact form covers volumes from 1 to 20 devices up to 500 and more. Describe what you have: the offer is built model by model, whatever the size of the batch.
Is a factory reset enough before selling company phones?
Not as evidence. A reset leaves you with no document to show an auditor. Ask for an erasure certificate and an inventory by IMEI or serial number, so you can demonstrate compliance with the FADP and, for EU entities, the GDPR.
Do we have to prepare the devices?
Not with Everlink. Hand the devices over as they are. Resets and certified erasure are handled for you, and administrative unlocking is worked through with your IT team.
Can the offer change after inspection?
The initial offer is based on your description. It is confirmed after physical inspection, and a line is adjusted if the actual condition differs from what was described.
Does Everlink also buy tablets and laptops?
Yes. Smartphones, tablets, computers and smartwatches of all brands can go in the same batch. See our guide on how to sell company laptops and IT equipment.
Get a fast offer for your phone fleet
Two lines are enough: which models and how many. Write to us via the contact form, at info@everlink.ch or on WhatsApp at +41 78 220 72 80. You quickly receive an itemised offer, with no commitment. More about the process on the Everlink home page.