Is BuyBackWorld Legit? How Does It Work

BuyBackWorld is a legitimate online business for selling and buying smartphones, cell phones, and other electronic items.

It offers services to retail and business clients online. Customers can buy and sell items through this platform, although the company mainly controls the pricing.

Let’s discuss what BuyBackWorld is, how it works, and what are the pros and cons of using this platform.

What is BuyBackWorld?

BuyBackWorld is an online platform to buy and sell used (and preowned) electronic items, including smartphones, cell phones, watches, laptops, etc.

Officially, the company states itself as a business as an online place that pays customers to buy their household electronic items.

BuyBackWorld was founded in 2009 by Andreas Leptourgos and Steven J. Francess. It is still a privately owned company and its head office location is in Edgewood New York, USA.

The company has dedicated platforms for different categories, including retail, enterprise, franchise, and subscription items. Customers looking for business deals can use one of these platforms to conduct business with the company.

BuyBackWorld acts as a middle-man when trading mostly used items. Sellers cannot place items directly on the platform. Both retail and business clients can use the platform for online buying or selling of items.

How Does BuyBackWorld Work?

Unlike other online sites, BuyBackWorld quotes the prices of items sold by customers. Then, it places these items on the site for sale to buyers.

The first step is to contact the company online and get a price quote for an item you want to sell. Visit the home page and locate the link “Sell Smarter”.

Provide details about the item you want to sell, including brand, model, make year, and conditions. You’ll get an instant quote which is an estimated offer to you at the moment.

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If you find the quote reasonable, the next step is to accept it and ship your device to BuyBackWorld. Once the company receives the item, one of its staff members will scan it thoroughly.

Then, the company will make you a final offer that may be different from the quoted price earlier. You must respond to the offer within five days or the company will send you a paper check for the lowest quote made by the company.

Business clients selling bulk items will have to use one of the dedicated platforms available with BuyBackWorld. They can then get a quote for their listed items and decide on the payment terms with the company.

Generally, the workflow is the same for both retail and business clients.

Is BuyBackWorld Legit?

BuyBackWorld is a safe and legitimate business as far as its legal side is concerned. The company makes itself available online and with a physical head office address.

Although there is no official record available for its company registration with the regulatory authorities in the US, it must be a licensed entity to have an office and a working website.

The company has a working history of around 12 years now. We did not find any legitimate concerns about the company’s legal status yet.

How Does BuyBackWorld Make Money?

There is no official disclaimer about how BuyBackWorld makes money. We analyzed its business model and gathered information available on its website.

The main source of income for the company comes from taking a chunk of the price difference between items bought and sold on its platform. The company makes independent quotes for used and pre-owned items.

It then adds a profit margin on top of the price paid to a seller. The item is then listed at a new price to buyers.

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Then, a major source of income comes through business deals. The company offers dedicated business platforms, including franchise, subscription, enterprise, and retail platforms.

Then, the company has a partnership program that offers commissions to its partners and promotes its platform. The company may earn directly from different brands for selling their used/pre-owned items in bulk too.

What Does BuyBackWorld Offer to Business Clients?

Business clients can buy or sell in bulk using the BuyBackWorld online portal. Then, the company has created dedicated platforms for specific business deals.

The enterprise platform offers dedicated support to business clients interested in buying/selling used or pre-owned electronic items in bulk.

Similarly, there are other dedicated platforms for business clients depending on the type of deal you want to finalize with BuyBackWorld.

The process of placing bulk buy or bulk sale orders is similar. Business clients can contact BuyBackWorld for business quotes to buy or sell items in bulk.

Then, if you are selling the items, ship them to BuyBackWorld and wait for the inspection. Then, get the final quote from the company and finalize the deal.

Criticism on BuyBackWorld

We observed a growing trend of negative reviews about BuyBackWorld on popular review sites like Trustpilot and SiteJabber.

One of the main criticisms of the company is its price quoting process. Customers cannot list products directly on this platform or offer an item for a price of their choice.

BuyBackWorld controls the pricing process, as it can change the quoted price after inspecting an item. For low-priced items, customers are at a disadvantage in paying for the shipping costs or delays.

Business clients face the same challenge of getting the right price quotes from the company as the process is heavily tilted in favor of the company itself.

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Then, the prices for used or pre-owned items listed on this platform are usually higher than their competitors.

BuyBackWorld Competitors

BuyBackWorld has a few competitors using the same business model. Most of them have a better pricing mechanism for buyers and sellers.

For instance, Swappa offers direct selling and buying opportunities to its clients. It does not control the pricing or offer quotes to both sides.

BuyBackWorld competitors include:

  • Swappa
  • Gazelle
  • Decluttr
  • EcoATM
  • Gizmogul

Things We Like in BuyBackWorld

Here are a few things we liked in BuyBackWorld.

  • It offers a unique online platform to sell and buy used electronic items, including smartphones.
  • Clients get dedicated services for retail and business deals separately.
  • The company offers a money-back guarantee and free shipping if the product doesn’t meet customers’ expectations.
  • The company has an affiliate program for retail and business clients.
  • The company enjoys positive reviews overall, with no serious litigation concerns so far.

Things We Wish to See from BuyBackWorld  

There are a few things where we feel BuyBackWorld can improve a lot.

  • It can vastly improve its website for an online commerce platform. Visitors cannot directly view listings on the site with its current version.
  • The company controls the pricing mechanism, and the sellers have no say in it. The quoted prices can change when the company receives shipped items from potential sellers.
  • The company’s website is slow, and its dedicated sections often do not load quickly. Thus, business clients may face difficulties.
  • It can provide more information about the business model it uses. More transparency means higher credibility for the company.
  • It should provide more information about its pricing methodology to retail and business clients through its website.
  • There is a growing number of dissatisfied customers and negative reviews on popular review sites like Trustpilot.