Broken iPhone Camera: Repair or Sell? Benefit and Cost Analysis

Is your iPhone camera broken? Flipsy.com lists selling and repairing options.

If your iPhone has a broken camera you're probably wondering whether you should sell it or repair it. The good news is you have options: you can sell it as-is, repair it and keep it, or repair it and sell it. Here's a breakdown of each option, plus how to decide what to do with your broken iPhone.

What's your broken iPhone worth?

Find out how much your broken iPhone is worth at Flipsy.com. Here's how:

1. Search or browse for your iPhone model
2. On the listing page, select “broken” under the condition dropdown box
3. Flipsy will show you how much the top-paying buyers are willing to pay for your damaged iPhone

Next, find out how much your iPhone would be worth if you fixed it:

1. Search or browse for your iPhone model on Flipsy
2. Select “good’ under the condition dropdown box
3. Flipsy will show you much you’d get for your iPhone in good condition

Now, subtract the "broken" value from the "good" value to determine the difference.

[GOOD IPHONE VALUE] – [BROKEN IPHONE VALUE] = DIFFERENCE

Want to Fix It Yourself? How to make any iPhone repair

Here's an example: Let's say you have an iPhone 6 (16GB Verizon gray) with a broken camera. You check Flipsy and find your device is worth $120 in its broken condition, but $283 if it was in good condition.

$283 – $120 = $163

So, if your iPhone was in good condition you could sell it for $163 more than you can sell it in its broken condition. The point of this exercise is to help you decide whether you should fix your iPhone before you sell it.

Broken iPhone: Sell it or fix it?

Before you decide whether to sell or fix your broken iPhone, consider the following:

• The cost of the repair
• The difficulty of the repair and your ability to make it
• The net difference in payout

If you can make the repair yourself, all you need to do is find the cost of repair parts and estimate your time. For both front and rear iPhone cameras, you can expect to spend around an hour on repair. Check iPhone replacement parts stores to find pricing; examples include iFixit and Repairs Universe, but there are many others.

In our example, a replacement rear-facing iPhone 6 camera would cost around $60 and a replacement front-facing camera would cost around $30.

What if you can't do the repair yourself? Find out what third-party repair services will charge. iFixYouri, for example, charges $80 to repair either front-facing or rear-facing cameras.

Online Phone Repair: How it works & what it costs

Now, you can determine the net difference in payout:

[VALUE IN GOOD CONDITION – VALUE IN BROKEN CONDITION] – [REPAIR COST] = [NET DIFFERENCE IN PAYOUT]

Again using our iPhone 6 example, here's how it breaks down:

• DIY front-facing camera repair: $163 – $30 = $133
• DIY rear-facing camera repair: $163 – $60 = $103
• Third-party camera repair: $163 – $80 = $83

As you can see, if you repair your iPhone camera you'll be able to sell it for between $83 and $133 more than you could sell it broken. For the DIY repair options, you'll make $103 to $133 for an hour of your time – not too bad! Your total payout [VALUE IN GOOD CONDITION – REPAIR COST] would be:

• DIY front-facing camera repair: $283 – $30 = $253
• DIY rear-facing camera repair: $283 – $60 = $223
• Third-party camera repair: $283 – $80 = $203
• Sell broken, as-is: $120

In this case, it probably makes more sense to repair your iPhone and either keep it or sell it in good condition, as a repair increases its value significantly. However, this isn't always the case.

Let's say you have an iPhone 4 with a broken camera. Here's how the math breaks down:

• An iPhone 4 in broken condition will sell for $5
• In good condition, it will sell for $17
• Third-party camera repair would cost $50, leaving you with a net of -$33
• DIY front-facing camera repair would cost $15, leaving you with a net of $2
• DIY rear-facing camera repair would cost $18, leaving you with a net of negative $1

Only the DIY front-facing camera repair would net positive money, at a rate of $2 per hour – $3 less than you could sell it for broken. The repair simply isn't worth it.

Here's a good formula to help you decide whether it's worth fixing your broken iPhone camera before selling it; but keep in mind the value on the left should be significantly greater than the value on the right to make the repair worthwhile.

PAYOUT IN "GOOD" CONDITION – REPAIR COSTS > PAYOUT IN "BROKEN" CONDITION

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