On the home page of our website www.elegreen.com, there is a section dedicated for customer reviews. These are 100% from real customers and are their real thoughts. (Thank you all!) We did not pay anybody to write any of those reviews or tell them what to write for us. But we did try our best to make everything right and make every customer happy.

The most frequently mentioned reasons why our existing customers are happy with us are: fast, easy and reliable.

Our trade-in processing system is constantly being optimized to expedite the procedure. Our customers would like to get paid as soon as possible, so that is eleGreen’s goal. It’s very simple and straight forward, and each staff at eleGreen is committed to this goal.

If you have any questions, call 909-869-8864 Mon-Fri 9-6 and Sat 10-5 Pacific time or email us eleteam@elegreen.com. Emailing is better than calling when it’s not in business hours or during lunch time. The eleGreen customer service team consists of two people: Spencer and Roxane. Spencer is the primary and Roxane is the back up. I am Roxane. Both of us take our customer service tasks very serious. We are always ready to help. We answer every question from the customers as soon as we follow up each issue to the bottom.

eleGreen staff are passionate about making eleGreen the best and biggest used electronics trade-in service. We care about our reputation and we keep our words. The criteria and prices for trade-ins are clearly stated in our website and we stick to it.  eleGreen is free of fraud. And if your phone have got re-evaluated that you are not happy with, you have the freedom to cancel it any time and get the item returned to you for free.

Since we launched the eleGreen website and started providing the trade-in service, we’ve got many positive feedbacks from our customers (Thank you again!). These reviews mean a lot to us and are great encouragement for us to maintain the good service and keep improving.

With today’s rapidly evolving technology, new electronic devices grow out of fashion after a year or sooner. The market of used phones is more active today than any time in the past. Resell value has become an important factor to consider when choosing a cell phone.  Among all the big mobile phone brands such as Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, and etc., apple is on top of the list in regard to resell value.

Now you know that owning an iPhone is already a guarantee of good resell value, let’s talk about how to maximize the resell value of your iPhone.

When you purchase the iPhone, get the screen protector too. Do not remove the apple factory’s original protective films until you are ready to apply the screen protector you bought.  This will ensure the screen is free of dust, grease, touch or wear.

Apply protector to both sides of the iPhone EVEN IF you plan to use a case to protect the back. This is because a lot of the cases will “bite” iPhone surfaces and leave marks. This is not about the quality of the phone case, it just happens when the glass and certain materials are pressed tightly together for a long time. I have seen dotted marks on an iPhone left by a well-known brand case cost around $40. IPhone cases are great and necessary protecting iPhones from hit or fall. But screen protectors are better at keeping your iPhone free of marks and scratches. Use both of them to make sure your iPhone is flawless when you want to sell it.

We all know we probably should not swim with iPhone, but did you know taking iPhone to the bathroom might cause problems too? Warm air saturated with moisture can form droplets of water when in contact with the cold metal part of earphone jack. These droplets might not cause damage to the phone, but will trigger the liquid contact indicator (LCI). Once those LCIs are triggered, they turn red from white, and it’s not reversible. Red or missing LCIs reduce the iPhone’s value dramatically.

Prices of electronic devices keep dropping all the time, in a significant rate. A used iPhone 3GS was worth $275 back in summer 2010, and $50 in fall 2012, in the same condition. So sell your old iPhone as soon as you get a new one.

Consumers like to get the newer technology around them, in their houses, in their cars, and of course on their fingertips.  We hope our little tips here would help you get the best value from your old phone. After all, you deserve an upgrade.

The first move would be picking it up from the liquid immediately.  Then turn it off as quickly as you can. Do not turn it back on to see if it is still OK. Remember, curiosity kills iPhones.

If it’s a cup of soda or other solutions, you need to clean the liquid off before it dries out. Open the back cover and remove the battery if you know how and have the right tools. Apple has made its batteries so difficult to remove, that an iPhone’ chance of surviving a solution bath is slim.

If it’s just plain water, maybe your luck isn’t so bad. Some of you might have heard of the rice bag method. Wipe the surface and shake as much water out as you can. Then keep your iPhone in a zip-lop bag full of rice and seal it for overnight or 48 hours depending on how wet it’s got. I would use clean cat litter because it’s a more effective water absorbance.  Cat litter is a great alternative if you happen to have a cat.

When you turn it back on, keep your fingers crossed. Congratulations if all the functions are working properly. If something’s not right, turn the phone off and keep it in a bag of rice or cat litter or other absorbance for another day or night.

Even if your phone has been saved and back to normal by now, it is still possible that malfunctions will pop up time to time. The liquid contact indicators that have turned red will forever record this history as well.

Approximately 10% of all items we receive will go through the re-evaluation process. Re-evaluation can delay your payment and some of them are easy to avoid. Here are some top reasons why iPhones got re-evaluated here at eleGreen.

No.1 Not so perfect

The most re-evaluations are a downgrade from “perfect” condition to “good” condition. The criteria for perfect condition as we have stated on the eleGreen website is “Looks as if it has never been used; clean with no scratches/dents/cracks; the body never been opened for repair; All functions run perfectly; all parts are original.” We really stick to these criteria when inspecting devices. Less than 5% of all used iPhones will qualify for “perfect” condition.  Even if you have kept your iPhone in a case all the time, it still can get marks. Sometimes it’s the case itself leaving marks on surfaces of iPhones. The best way to prevent scratches is applying transparent films. And don’t forget to cover the metal middle frame which is also very common to get scratches.  If you have not covered all sides of your phone with transparent films since the day you bought it, you might want to check it under ample light and turn the surface slightly sideways to see for shallow scratches to avoid getting re-evaluated.

No.2 Water damage sensors (Liquid Contact Indicators, LCI)

A lot of iPhones we receive have got red LCIs. LCIs are small pieces of a special kind of paper which will turn red from white once it has contact with liquid. And it will stay that way even when it’s dry again. For iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S, you can find one at the bottom of the earphone jack, and another one at the center of the dock connector. With a flashlight, you should be able to see if they are white or red/pink. There are a couple more of them inside the iPhones too. Red LCIs make the value of a used iPhone drop dramatically with all the recyclers. Here at eleGreen, we deduct $20 for each red of missing LCI if the phone functions normally. If all LCIs are red, the phone will be consider poor or broken condition.

No.3 Wrong model

It’s been a while since you bought your iPhone and you are not sure if it is a 4, 4S, 3G or 3GS. Locate the model number on the back cover of your iPhone and looking it up in the below list.

iPhone 5:  A1428, A1429, A1442

iPhone 4S: A1387, A1431

iPhone 4: A1349, A1332

iPhone 3GS: A1325, A1303

iPhone 3G: A1324, A1241

The above three situations are easily avoidable. There are also scenarios when your iPhone has one minor problem that makes it somewhere between two conditions. We will be carefully inspecting your iPhone and give a fair offer.