Today, it’s the turn of Money For Your Phone to get tested.

This company has a slight variation on what some of the other companies in this crowded space have to offer. Sure, you can return your phone for some cash, but you can also swap your phone. For this, you send off you old phones, select a new phone, and pay the difference.

For this review, we’re not testing out their trade -in service, as we’re doing a like-by-like comparison with the other providers out there.

Sending your phone back with MFYP

For this review, we’re looking to sell on our old Amoi WP-S1 Skypephone. We picked this up a few years back on PAYG from 3. We used our Sell Your Old Mobile comparison tool, to be told that Money For Your Phone would give us £1.50 for the handset, which was enough for us to make it worth a test.

The Amoi Skypephone, and the office cat

Entering the details in the site is very straightforward. It’s a case of entering the make and model into their website, then entering the serial number (the IMEI). Next, comes setting up the account – requiring name, address, date-of-birth and phone number.

Selling a mobile at Money For Your Phone

The options for payment are more limited than some of the services we’ve reviewed, but perfectly fine for most. You can be paid by bank transfer or into a PayPal account. There is no option for a payment by cheque, which is a little odd, as their website’s “How it Works” section shows what looks a little like a cheque as one of the steps.

Money For Your Phone - To cheque, or not to cheque?

Once all of the steps are complete, it comes to returning the phone. The site recommends sending back using Royal Mail Recorded Delivery for less than £30, or Special Delivery for more expensive mobile phones. There is an option to request a Freepost envelope when your order is nearly complete. As our phone is only worth £1.50. This appeared within 2 days.

We posted our phone off on the 20th July 2011 using the Freepost envelope (2nd class), and we’ll wait to see what happens next.

Packaging up the phone for Money For Your Phone

Two days aftyer posting, we got an email confirming that the phone had arrived safely. It took them six days to test the phone and report that a payment was authorised. Then, a further week for the payment to be transferred to our bank account (arriving on the 4th August).

Summary

The service from Money For Your Mobile was fine. No problems with the transaction. In our test, they were one of the slowest of the services we reviewed as it took almost two weeks from them getting the phone, to us getting paid. Still, the process worked, and we’re not complaining.

Money For Your Mobile were slower than most and don’t offer a payment by cheque option. They also weren’t offering the best prices out there, but the service worked.

If you want to try them for yourself, the address is moneyforyourphone.com

This service is keen to push the benefits of using their recycling service to ensure that your phone is recycled in an environmentally friendly way, and rewarding you with a cash payment.

Using RPC Recycle

For this test, we used a fairly old phone, the Nokia 6100. Being quite an old phone with no special features, such as a camera or web browser, our hopes weren’t high, but RPC Recycle offered to take it off our hands, and out of our dusty phone draw, for £1.50. Not exactly a fortune, but it’s enough to allow us to try a test with this company to see how well it performs compared with the other “make cash from your phone” services out there.

Nokia 6100 tested and ready to be recycled

Signing up and getting the details registered was a quick process. No need to enter the phone’s serial number, and we got through process in about a minute – faster than Mazuma, Fonebank and Top Dollar.

RPC also seems to offer the greatest flexibility of the few services we’ve tested so far:

• Payment: They can pay you by BACS (bank transfer), Paypal or cheque. Note that there is a 3.9% charge if you opt for PayPal
• Phone return: You can pack and return the phone yourself, get a Recorded Delivery pack (which will cost approx £2 to return), or get a Freepost pack, which is handy for low-value phones.

Entering our phone at RPC Recycle's site

We’ve opted for a cheque payment, and to be sent a Freepost pack. This turned up quickly, within 2 days, and we packaged up our handset. It was posted off, in the supplied first class padded bag on the 20th July 2011.

Packaging up our phone for RPC Recycle

After posting, four working days later, we got an email confirming receipt of the phone, and later on the same day, confirmation that a cheque had been posted. The cheque arrived two days later

Cheque in from RPC Mobile

Summary

RPC Recycle works a treat. Comparing this company against some of the others shows that they’re not the fastest, nor are they the slowest. The level of communication was good, and it was a no-hassle service.

If you want to try them for yourselves, the address is www.rpcrecycle.com

If you’ve used their services, we’d love to know. Please let us know in the comments below.

If you’re considering using this service, you’ll be pleased to know that they pay in good old pounds sterling, and not in US dollars. Just for the avoidance of doubt!

This firm is one of the lesser-known names in the cash-for-phones market, but seems to come up top when we use our mobile phone comparison tool – they tend to be offering more money than many of the more common names in the market, such as Envirofone and Mazuma.

Recycling with Top Dollar Mobile

For our test, we’re parting with an old faithful… an old Symbian OS phone, the Nokia 6680.

Testing our Nokia 6680, ready to go on a journey

Putting in the make and model on the Top Dollar Phone site was easy, and we were quoted £6.65, which at the time of writing was the best price for this phone.

Once we’d put in the make and model, we were asked for the phone’s serial number (the IMEI). We were next asked to add our name, address and contact details, with the option to add a password for repeat visits.

Next, we were told that we could get our payment by cheque, or by an electronic BACS payment to our bank account. Unlike the other companies we’ve tested, we note that payment by cheque incurs a £1 fee, meaning that electronic payment is a better bet to get the maximum payout.

Recycling a phone with Top Dollar Mobile

Once we entered our bank account details and finished the transaction, we were expecting to see details of how to get the phone sent back. Instead, we got a message telling us to expect an email with further instructions once our transaction has been approved.

In the end, we didn’t get an email, but within two days, we got a package, containing an envelope to the return the phone in, plus a leaflet with instructions. The envelope was platic, and only lightly padded. The guidance in the leaflet is to “wrap delicate handset screen with bubble or tissue. We popped ours into a small Jiffy back, just to be safe. The envelope is a Freepost one.

Top Dollar Mobile Package

Our mobile was sent odff via our local Post Office, and for safekeeping, we got a Certificate of Posting.

By the next working day, we’d got an “Order Update” email, confirming receipt. The payment of £6.65 arrived in our bank account four working days later.

Summary

The transaction with Top Dollar mobile went very smoothly, and we’re happy with the outcome. Happy to recommend their service.

Top Dollar Mobile’s website can be found at: www.topdollarmobile.co.uk

Any experiences to share? Please comment below.

Chances are, you’ve seen their advertising – the little orange chappy bouncing around your TV screen, pictured here on the left.

Mazuma appears to have a good name in the phone recycling industry, so we’re hopeful our little test goes well.

Using Mazuma Mobile

For this test, we selected an old trusty Windows Mobile phone that we used to use many years back, the Qtek S200. This was, in its day, a top-of-the-range Windows Mobile touchscreen phone costing several hundred pounds. We checked this model in our Phone Recyclers Comparison Tool, to see that we could get £7 with Mazuma, just pipping Envirofone.

Testing our Qtek S200 Windows handset

We went on to the Mazuma website at www.mazumamobile.com, and entered our details. It seems we could get £7 cash, or £7.70 in Argos vouchers. Mazuma can send a cheque, make a BACS transfer into your bank account, or give you Argos vouchers. Keen to make an extra 10%, we opted for the Argos option. We were then required to enter the phone’s serial number, known as the IMEI.

Here’s a screenshot of the online process we went through:

Entering phone details in the Mazuma Mobile website

Once we’d entered our details, we next had to create a user account, supplying name, address, phone number and date of birth.

The next step is to send off the phone. You have two options – get Mazuma to send you a Sales Pack, which includes a Freepost envelope. They aim to do this within 24 hours. The alternative is to print out your own pack, which is obviously a faster way of doing things..

We asked for our pack on Thursday the 14th of July 2011, and it turned up in the post two days later. We packaged up out phone and off it went, prepaid with first class postage

Packaging our phone for Mazuma Mobile

Impressively, next day we got an email confirmation that the phone has been received and that payment had been authorised. Two days later, our Argos voucher appeared.

The voucher takes the form of a credit card that is pre-loaded with the value offered by Mazuma. Before you can use the voucher, you need to call an 0845 number to get it activated. It’s an automated process and took us less than a minute. You need the voucher number, and a special activation code that’s emailed out.

Argos Voucher from Mazuma Mobile

Summary

A smooth and very fast transaction. Nice touch is the first class post envelope for fast free return, plus the option to get a better deal by opting for an Argos voucher as opposed to cash.

We’re happy to recommend Mazuma Mobile. Try them for yourself at www.mazumamobile.com

Returning a phone to Fonebank

For this review, we’re returning an old Nokia 6600. The phone is working and undamaged. Fonebank offered us just £4.00 for the phone. At the time of writing, our phone comparison tool told us that we could have got £6.65 from Top Dollar Mobile, but we settled for the £4 to allow us to test Fonebank’s service.

Our Nokia 6600, tested and working OK

From the Fonebank website, we entered the model of phone, and added the phone’s IMEI number (optional). We then had to create an account, which took less than a minute.

Entering our Nokia 6600 details into the FoneBank site

We were next asked how we wanted to be paid – cheque or BACS bank transfer. We opted for Cheque.

Next, we’re prompted to print an order sheet. This sheet of A4 goes inside the envelope.

Sending the Phone

Once the order sheet is printed, you need to pop it in a padded envelope. There are three options for returning it:

• Send it Special Delivery to an address in London
• Send it Freepost with a certificate of posting, which offers up to £41 of cover
• If you have ten or more phones, Fonebank will arrange for a courier to collect them

Packing our Nokia 6600 for FoneBank

We’ve opted for the Freepost option, and our phone was posted on the 14th of July.

Next, we got an email on the 18th of July, confirming receipt, followed next day, by first class post, a cheque for £4, as promised. And here it is:

The cheque arrives from Fonebank

To date, this is the fastest turnaround we’ve seen. Freepost is normally 2nd class post, so the cheque was dispatched the day the phone made it to Fonebank.

Off to the bank, to cash the massive £4 cheque, but on the strength of our test, we’re happy to recommend Fonebank, for their fast turnaround.

FoneBank’s website: www.fonebank.com

The process is pretty simple:

1. Find the best price for your old phone (Using our Comparison Table you can find the best price)
2. Pick the recycler that offers the best price for your make and model
3. Fill in the details on that site, and follow their instructions
4. Post the phone back
5. Wait for the cheque

Most firms will send out a special padded envelope for you to return the phone.

The phone doesn’t have to be in working order (although this affects the price), and you don’t need to send the charger or manual.