A phone refresh rarely ends cleanly. The new handsets go out, and the old ones end up in a drawer at headquarters, in a box at the German subsidiary and in the pockets of people who left months ago. Each of those phones is losing resale value and still holds mailboxes, contacts and authenticator apps.
In short: to sell business smartphones without tying up your IT team, send Everlink a list of models and quantities. You promptly receive an itemised offer. Collection is organised for you, every handset is wiped in compliance with the GDPR and the Swiss data protection act, and you are paid with an IMEI inventory, an erasure certificate and a Swiss QR invoice. Broken phones go in the same batch and are valued for parts.
Which smartphones we buy
Everlink buys company smartphones of all brands: iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and other Android handsets, recent flagships as well as older generations kept as spares. Mixed fleets are the norm, not the exception, so there is no need to split the batch by brand or by country.
Condition does not decide whether a phone is accepted, only how it is valued:
| Condition on arrival | What happens |
|---|---|
| Working, good cosmetic condition | Valued model by model at refurbished market level, based on storage and battery health |
| Working, visible wear (scratches, dents) | Accepted and valued with the grade reflected line by line |
| Cracked screen or back glass | Accepted, valued with the repair taken into account |
| Does not power on, water damage | Accepted and valued for parts |
| Still tied to an Apple or Google account, or enrolled in your MDM | Accepted; the administrative unlocking is worked through with your IT team before the value is confirmed |
The offer is built from your description and becomes firm after each phone has been physically inspected on arrival. If a line differs from what was declared, you see the adjustment on that line, not a revised lump sum.
How the buyback works
Only the first step is yours:
- Describe your fleet. Models, storage, quantities and rough condition, by email, on WhatsApp or through the form on this page. An MDM export or a rough spreadsheet is enough to start.
- Receive a fast offer. A line-by-line valuation, with no commitment on your side.
- Collection, erasure and payment. Packing and transport are arranged by Everlink, by on-site pickup or inbound logistics, in Switzerland and across Europe. Each handset is tested, wiped and recorded by IMEI. Once the batch has been checked, the final offer is confirmed and the transfer goes out, in Swiss francs or euros.
For finance teams outside Switzerland: the QR invoice is the standard Swiss payment slip, which replaced the old orange and red slips on 1 October 2022. EU subsidiaries can be settled in euros instead.
Preparing smartphones before collection
You do not have to prepare anything: phones can be handed over as they are, and resets and erasure are handled by Everlink. The one thing only your company can do is release the locks it controls, because a phone still tied to an account or a management console cannot be put back into service. Here is what the manufacturers say.
iPhone. Apple's checklist for selling or trading in an iPhone or iPad asks the user to unpair any Apple Watch, sign out of iCloud and the App Store, then use Erase All Content and Settings. Apple states that erasing the device this way also turns off Find My and Activation Lock. For devices using an eSIM, Apple recommends erasing the eSIM profile as well.
Company-owned iPhones in Apple Business. When phones are enrolled through Apple Business (formerly Apple Business Manager), Activation Lock can be linked to the organisation, and a user with the right privileges can turn it off for devices the organisation owns. Order matters: Apple warns that once a device is released from Apple Business, managing its Activation Lock there is no longer possible, and the release cannot be undone.
Android phones. Google's factory reset protection means that after a reset, a protected phone asks for the screen lock or the Google Account password; without it, Google says "you won't be able to use the device at all". Removing the Google Account before the reset avoids this. On company-owned Android Enterprise phones managed with Intune, Microsoft notes that whether credentials are required after a reset depends on ownership mode, reset method and FRP settings, and that an Intune admin wipe does not preserve FRP data by default.
In practice, a shared list of IMEI numbers between your IT administrator and Everlink is enough to coordinate these steps remotely, without anyone handling phones one by one.
Data erasure and traceability
Every smartphone taken back by Everlink is wiped in compliance with the GDPR and the Swiss revised Federal Act on Data Protection (revFADP, also written nFADP), in force since September 2023. For readers outside Switzerland: it plays a role similar to the GDPR and requires personal data to be destroyed or anonymised once it is no longer needed (Article 6(4)).
What you receive:
- An erasure certificate per batch, issued to your company.
- An inventory by IMEI, so each departing phone can be matched against your MDM export and fixed asset register.
- Tracking from buyback to resale, so no unit disappears between your office and the refurbishment line.
A factory reset done by an employee is not evidence an auditor can check. A certificate tied to a list of IMEI numbers is. Our guide to IMEI tracking for trade-in inventories explains how to reconcile the two lists.
Why Everlink
One buyer for the whole estate. Phones rarely leave alone. Everlink also buys business tablets, laptops and smartwatches, so a refresh can close with one collection, one inventory and one certificate. Carrier programmes are a sensible option for straightforward phone swaps, and we compare both models in independent vs carrier phone fleet buyback.
No workload for IT or procurement. No portal to configure, no MDM integration to set up. You deal with a direct contact reachable by email or WhatsApp, and packing and transport are organised for you.
Buy and re-equip with the same partner. Everlink also supplies tested refurbished smartphones with warranty included, in consistent batches. You offload the old fleet and bring in the replacement without tying the hardware to a mobile contract.
Frequently asked questions
Can we sell business smartphones that are still enrolled in our MDM?
Yes. Hand them over as they are and tell us which MDM or Apple Business account they belong to. The release from your console is coordinated with your administrator, since only your team holds those rights.
Do broken iPhones and Galaxy phones have any value?
Yes. Phones with cracked screens, failed batteries or no power are accepted in the same batch and valued for parts. You avoid a separate disposal route for them.
Is there a minimum quantity?
The contact form covers volumes from 1 to 20 devices up to 500 and more. The offer is built model by model, whatever the size of the batch.
Can phones from our EU subsidiaries be included?
Yes. Pickups and inbound logistics cover Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Benelux and beyond, with settlement in Swiss francs or euros.
How is the value of each phone decided?
By model, storage capacity, functional and cosmetic condition and battery health. The initial offer arrives quickly and is confirmed after physical inspection. Our guide to selling a company phone fleet in Switzerland explains what moves the price.
Who do we contact?
Write to info@everlink.ch or use WhatsApp. You deal with the same person from the first list to the final payment.