This is the one we genuinely cannot buy.
A Galaxy still tied to a Samsung or Google account cannot be reset by anyone. Here is how to fix it, in order.
Everywhere else on this site the answer is that we will buy it anyway and the fault just lowers the price. This page is the exception, and it is worth being straight about why rather than hiding it in terms and conditions.
Factory Reset Protection means a phone that has been reset while still signed into a Google or Samsung account will demand those credentials on the next setup, forever. Not a workaround, not a fee, not a specialist. Nobody can use the phone, so nobody can resell it, so it is worth close to nothing to us regardless of what model it is.
The good news is that it is almost always fixable in ten minutes by the person who owns the account, and it costs nothing. If that person is you, follow the steps below and then price the phone normally.
Clear the lock first, in this order.
Do these on the phone while you still know the account password. Then get your offer as normal.
Sign out of your Samsung account
Settings, Accounts and backup, Manage accounts
Remove the Google account
Settings, Accounts and backup, Manage accounts, Remove
Turn off Find My Mobile
Settings, Security and privacy, Find My Mobile
Then factory reset
Settings, General management, Reset, Factory data reset
Check it boots to the welcome screen
No account prompt means it is clear
If you are upgrading, you are not selling. You are part-paying.
There is no upgrade to talk about until the lock is cleared, because until then the phone has no value to trade with. Clear it first, then come back and price it properly.
Take the payout as EpicDeals.co.za credit instead of cash and we add 12% on top. That is us paying you for not needing the money in your account today, and it costs you nothing if you were going to spend it here anyway.
The 12% is only worth taking if you were going to spend it. If you need the cash, take the cash, and we will not make the voucher hard to refuse.
What affects your offer.
Doing it in the right order
Remove the accounts first, then reset. Resetting while still signed in is exactly what triggers the lock, and it is the single most common way a phone becomes unsellable.
Knowing whose account it is
If the phone was second-hand, the lock may belong to somebody you have never met. Only they can clear it. This is worth checking before you plan on the money.
Work phones and Knox
A phone enrolled in a company's device management is locked in a different way and only the employer's IT can release it. Ask them before doing anything else.
Verifying it worked
After the reset, take it through the first setup screen. If it asks for a previous Google account, it is still locked and the reset did not help.
We still buy it with these.
Choose the closest condition in the calculator and mention anything that is wrong. Your offer already takes it into account.
- Cracked or shattered screen, front or back glass
- Burn-in or a green line down the AMOLED panel
- A battery that swells, dies at 30% or will not hold a day
- Fingerprint sensor under the screen that has stopped reading
- USB-C port that only charges if you hold the cable just so
- Camera with dust, haze or a rattling stabiliser
- Charging port worn, loose or full of pocket lint
- Will not switch on at all
Three ways to take the money.
Cash
Instant offer
Assessed within 1-3 working days of arriving, paid within 5 working days of your offer being confirmed.
+12%
Trade-in voucher
Take it as credit on EpicDeals.co.za instead and we add 12%. Useful if the plan was always to upgrade.
+10%
Consignment
We list it, we sell it, you get 10% more than the instant offer. Most sell within 13 days.
Trading since 2013 as Epic Deals, with 2,800+ reviews and 30 people who answer the phone. Not a stranger with a bakkie and a WhatsApp number.