How to check used iPhones before you buy them wholesale: a 9-point checklist
Photo: Yutaka Tsutano, CC BY 2.0
The short answer: before you pay for used iPhones, check every phone for nine things: a clean IMEI, Activation Lock off, no remote management, carrier-lock status, battery health, parts history, model number and market, a full function test, and the cosmetic grade against your written spec. Most of these are visible in the iPhone's own Settings app. Do them on every phone, not a sample.
1. IMEI: not reported lost or stolen
Check each IMEI against a blacklist database. A blacklisted phone may be blocked from networks in many countries, and selling it can drag your shop into a police matter. Reject any that come back reported.
2. Activation Lock: off
If Find My was left on, the phone is tied to the previous owner's Apple Account and cannot be set up by anyone else after a reset. There is no legitimate workaround. A locked phone is worth its parts, at best.
3. Remote management (MDM): none
Phones and iPads from companies and schools can be enrolled in device management. After a reset they show a Remote Management screen during setup and stay under the organisation's control. Reject any that show it.
4. Carrier lock: declared
In Settings, General, About, the Carrier Lock line shows "No SIM restrictions" on an unlocked iPhone. Locked phones only work on one network; know which you are buying.
5. Battery health: above your minimum
Settings, Battery shows the maximum capacity. Apple designs iPhone 14 and earlier to keep 80% at 500 full cycles, and iPhone 15 and later at 1,000. Set a minimum per grade and record the reading per phone.
6. Parts and Service History: known
On iOS 15.2 and later, Settings, General, About shows any replaced battery, display or camera as genuine, Unknown Part or, on newer models, Used. Decide in advance what you accept and at what price.
7. Model number and market: as ordered
Settings, General, About, Model Number. The first letter tells you what kind of unit it is: M for a retail unit, F for Apple refurbished, N for a replacement unit from Apple, P for a personalised (engraved) one. The letters before the slash show the market, for example LL for the US, B for the UK and Ireland, J for Japan, ZP for Hong Kong, CH for mainland China and X for Australia. That decides SIM type, shutter sound and more.
8. Full function test
Screen and touch edge to edge, Face ID or Touch ID, True Tone, front and rear cameras, every microphone, earpiece and speaker, charging port, wireless charging, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SIM, buttons, vibration and the proximity sensor. A few minutes per phone, and every check matters to the person who buys it.
9. Cosmetic grade: against your written spec
Grade under good light against the definitions you agreed, and photograph anything borderline. If you haven't written the definitions yet, start with our guide to used iPhone grades.
Or let us do it on the floor
This is exactly what our buyer and our bench do in Shenzhen, on every phone, before you pay the balance. You get the IMEI list, the test record and a video of your batch. See wholesale used iPhones.
Questions
How can I tell if a used iPhone is unlocked?
Go to Settings, General, About and look at Carrier Lock. An unlocked iPhone shows No SIM restrictions.
How can I tell which country an iPhone was made for?
Check the Model Number in Settings, General, About. The letters before the slash show the market, for example LL for the US, B for the UK and Ireland, J for Japan, ZP for Hong Kong and CH for mainland China.
Can Activation Lock be removed from a used iPhone?
Only by the owner of the Apple Account it is tied to, or by Apple with proof of purchase. A wholesale buyer cannot remove it, so locked phones should be rejected.
Want us to do the checking?
Our buyer works the Huaqiangbei floors full time and every unit is tested in Shenzhen. You see your batch on video before you pay the balance. Wholesale orders by the batch.