Trade-In and Buyback Software for Phone Shops
Gadgets POS is trade-in software for phone shops. Value the customer's old device at the till, take that value off the price of the new one, and the traded-in IMEI goes straight into your stock to be sold again. In the UK this is often called part exchange. It all happens on one order, with one receipt.
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Trade-in software for phone shops: at the till, netted off the order
A trade-in is an action on an order, like a sale or a return, not a separate transaction you have to reconcile by hand. At the till you add the customer's old phone as a trade-in line with the value you are giving them, add the phone they are buying, and the order shows the difference to pay. If the customer pays the difference partly in cash and partly by card, the payment can be split.
The customer gets one receipt that shows the new phone, the trade-in value taken off and what they paid. Your staff do not need to run two sales and net them off in their heads. If you want to control who can take trade-ins, the right to do so is a privilege you give to individual staff roles.
The traded-in IMEI becomes sellable stock
When you take in a phone, you record its IMEI. If the system has never seen that IMEI before, it creates a new unit in stock. If it is one you have sold before, the existing unit is reactivated. Either way, the phone appears in your stock as something you can sell, with the value you paid for it as its cost.
Because stock is costed first in, first out and the margin on a sale is worked out from the purchase each unit came from, a traded-in handset resold at a later date shows its own profit, based on what the trade-in cost you. Stock records are never deleted, so every movement of that IMEI stays visible. See IMEI inventory software for how units are searched.
VAT on traded-in and used phones
VAT margin scheme support for second-hand goods: Used and refurbished products are kept VAT-free at the till, VAT applies to products marked new, and VAT can be switched on or off for your business. A phone you take in as a trade-in and resell as used therefore carries no VAT line at the till.
When VAT is on, receipts and A4 invoices show the VAT charged and your VAT number once you have added it. When VAT is off, no VAT is added to sales and no VAT amounts are printed.
Gadgets POS does not work out the VAT due on your margin, print margin-scheme invoice wording or keep a margin-scheme stock book, so ask your accountant how to record and report it.
Returns, replacements and trade-ins together
Gadgets POS treats sale, return, replace, trade-in and repair as the five things that can happen on an order. That matters in a phone shop because they often happen together: a customer returns a faulty phone, takes a replacement and trades in an old tablet against the upgrade. The order handles that in one go, rather than three separate records.
Returns ask whether the unit is faulty or not faulty and let you decide whether it goes back into sellable stock. See the POS system for mobile phone shops page for how the other order actions fit with it.
Trade-in reports by order, product and category
Three trade-in reports show what you have taken in: by order, by product and by category. You can see how many trade-ins you take, which models, and what you paid for them. Combined with the sales reports, that shows whether trade-ins are bringing profitable stock or just tying up cash. Reports can be exported to PDF or CSV.
The guide to pricing phone trade-ins and buybacks sets out a simple method for the value you offer, with a worked example clearly labelled as an illustration.
Take trade-ins online with a sell-your-phone website
Not every trade-in has to start at the counter. Gadgets POS can run a sell-your-device section on your web shop, where customers get a quote on your own pages, choose how to send the device, and are paid by voucher, PayPal, bank transfer or cash. That flow is covered on phone buyback website, and used phones you collect can then be sold through the shop and web shop, as described in POS for second hand phones.
Part exchange wording for UK shops
UK customers usually say part exchange, trade-in or trade-up, and some shops call the whole thing a buyback. They all mean the same in Gadgets POS: taking a device in, valuing it, and either netting it off a sale or paying the customer out. If you want to read about the till around it, see the page on EPOS for UK phone shops.
Questions about trade-ins and buybacks
Can a trade-in be taken off the price of a sale?
Yes. A trade-in is an action on the same order as the sale. You add the old device with the value you are giving, add the new one, and the order shows the difference to pay. The customer can pay that difference with split payments, and gets a single receipt showing the trade-in value taken off.
Does a traded-in phone go into stock automatically?
Yes. When you record the IMEI on a trade-in, the phone becomes a unit in your stock that you can sell. A new IMEI creates a new unit, and a known IMEI reactivates the existing one. The value you gave becomes its cost, so the profit on the later resale is worked out from it.
Does Gadgets POS support the VAT margin scheme for second-hand goods?
Yes, in part. Used and refurbished products are kept VAT-free at the till, VAT applies to products marked new, and VAT can be switched on or off for your business. Gadgets POS does not work out the VAT due on your margin, print margin-scheme invoice wording or keep a margin-scheme stock book, so ask your accountant how to record and report it.
Does it check whether a phone is blacklisted or locked?
No. Gadgets POS does not check IMEIs against blacklists, iCloud locks or carrier locks, and it does not grade devices or capture ID. Checks like those are done outside the system, before you pay. What it does is record the IMEI, the value you gave and the customer, so you can search them later.
Can I take trade-ins on my website?
Yes, with a web shop. The Sell section lets customers get a quote, choose a postage method and pick how they are paid: voucher, PayPal, bank transfer or cash. You can change the price after inspecting the device, with a reason and photos. The web shop is set up for you by our team.