How much is a donated cell phone worth?
One thing decides most of a donated phone's value, and it is not the screen. It is whether the next person can actually activate it.
- Typical value, good condition
- $65
- Published range, good condition
- $50 to $80
What a donated cell phone is generally worth
Fair market value is a range, so these are ranges. The suggested figure sits inside the band the source guide published for that condition.
| Item | Like new | Good | Fair | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cell phone | $80 to $100 | $50 to $80 | $25 to $50 | Source 1 for Cell phone |
| Tablet | $115 to $150 | $70 to $115 | $25 to $70 | Source 1 for Tablet |
| E-reader | $38 to $50 | $24 to $38 | $10 to $24 | Source 1 for E-reader |
| Cordless / landline telephone | $31 to $40 | $21 to $31 | $10 to $21 | Source 3 for Cordless / landline telephone |
Values are per item, in 2026 dollars, from the DeductiBee valuation dataset, edition 2026.1. A range is what the source guide published; the suggested figure is the point inside it we prefill, not a price.
How this range was derived
Published range: Salvation Army 'Cell Phone' $25-100. Single primary. The published label is generic, so this leaf covers smartphones and feature phones alike; it is not split, because splitting would require assigning the upper part of the range to smartphones on our own authority. CORROBORATION 2026-08-04 (registry pass, no values changed): beacon-house-donation-value-guide "Cell Phone" $10.00-$60.00. All registered corroborating, so per CITATIONS.md 3.3 they do not enter the L*/H* consolidation and the published range above is unchanged.
- Like new
- Unworn or barely used, with tags or as good as. The top of the published range.
- Good
- Used, complete, clean, and working, with no notable damage. The middle of the range.
- Fair
- Visible wear but still usable and saleable. The bottom of the range, and generally the lowest condition that can be claimed at all.
What drives the value of a donated cell phone
The tier you pick is the biggest lever on this page. Here is what actually decides it.
A phone still signed into its owner's account, still locked to a carrier contract, or reported lost is effectively unsellable, and a device nobody can activate has little or no fair market value however good it looks. Signing out, disabling the activation lock, removing the SIM, and erasing the device is therefore the step that creates the value rather than merely protecting your data. It is also the step charities most often find undone at intake.
After that it is the physical trio: the screen, the back glass, and the battery. Hairline cracks and shatter are visible; battery health is not, and a phone that no longer lasts a morning is a Fair device at best. Storage capacity separates otherwise identical handsets, and so does whether the charger, cable, and original box came along, since a device donated bare resells lower.
Model age does the rest, and it moves faster here than anywhere else in a donation load. A handset that no longer receives security updates loses access to apps and banking over time, which caps what anyone will pay for it. The published guides publish one band for a used phone rather than tracking model turnover, so a recent handset generally needs recent comparable sales of the same model as its support rather than the row alone.
What evidence supports the condition you claimed
A number you can trace and defend is worth more in an audit than a generous one you cannot.
Erase the device, then photograph it powered on at the welcome or setup screen, front and back, with the accessories beside it. Record the make, model, storage, and color on your own list before it goes, and note that the activation lock was removed. Ask the charity's receipt to describe it as a used smartphone with the model named, and keep any comparable listings you relied on for the value.
Like new generally means a recent handset with no marks, healthy battery, box and cable included. Good means it works and shows light wear on the frame, with an intact screen. Fair means it works but the glass is scuffed, the battery is tired, or the accessories are gone. Cracked glass, a locked device, or a handset with no charger of any kind is generally not deductible.
Items people log as a cell phone by mistake
Filing an item under the wrong line is the quietest way to end up with a number you cannot support.
Tablet
A separate row with its own band, generally above a phone, and the same activation-lock rule applies. A tablet with a cracked digitizer is worth less than the row suggests, because the whole front assembly is the repair.
E-reader
Priced on its own line and well below a tablet. Battery life and whether the store account can be deregistered are what matter, and a device still tied to an account resells poorly.
Cordless home phone
A different item entirely, with its own low row. Base station, handsets, and a working rechargeable pack are what make it usable, and a set missing its base is not worth listing.
Up, sideways, and out
Every value on this page comes out of the electronics section of the donation value guide, which shows the rest of the category with the same sourcing.
Also in Phones and Tablets
- Answering machine$21, good
Full ranges, all three tiers, and the sources for each are in the electronics valuation guide.
- ValuesElectronics donation valuesThe whole category, item by item, with the published range and the source behind every line.
- ValuesHow much is a donated TV worth?What a donated television is generally worth by condition, why older CRT and projection sets carry no published value, and what to photograph before it leaves.
- ValuesWhat is a donated laptop worth for taxes?Donation values for used laptops, desktops, monitors, and printers by condition, plus why a recent machine usually needs comparable sales rather than a guide range.
- ValuesHow much is a donated pair of jeans worth?What a donated pair of jeans is generally worth, why denim is priced above other pants, and how to tell like new from good on a pair you actually wore.
- ValuesWhat is a donated winter coat worth for taxes?Fair market value for a donated winter coat, why a coat and a jacket are priced on different lines, and what evidence supports the condition you claim.
- LookupLook up any other itemSearch the whole catalog, pick a condition, and read the range with its citation.
- CalculatorWhat the deduction is worth to youTurn a documented total into a range of tax effect, with the marginal-rate assumption stated on screen.
Questions about donating a cell phone
Is a locked phone still worth something?
Do I have to wipe the phone before donating?
How do I value a phone that is only a year old?
Where these values come from
Every range on this page traces to one of these. Values are derived from the published ranges, never copied from another product’s valuation database, and never invented where no source covers an item.
- Donation Value Guide (The Salvation Army Thrift Stores | Donation Valuation Guide)
The Salvation Army (Thrift Stores / Adult Rehabilitation Centers)
Primary value source. A published range from this guide can set the low or high end of an item's band. Fetched and read .
- Donation Value Guide
The Beacon House Association of San Pedro (Beacon House Thrift Shop, San Pedro, CA)
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read .
- Valuation Guide
Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read .
- Donation Value Guide - What is my donation worth?
Goodwill Greater Milwaukee & Chicago (Goodwill Retail Services, Inc., Tax ID# 39-2040239)
Corroborating check. Used to sanity-check a band. Never moves a figure on its own. Fetched and read .
The rules behind the thresholds
- Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated PropertyIRS, IRS publication
- Publication 526, Charitable ContributionsIRS, IRS publication
- Instructions for Form 8283IRS, IRS form
A value is evidence, not a ruling. Deductibility depends on your own facts, including whether the organization is qualified and what records you kept. This is record-keeping software, not tax advice.
A cell phone is rarely the only thing in the car.
DeductiBee carries this same dataset on your iPhone, so the rest of the load gets valued and photographed at the drop-off instead of reconstructed in April.
Same numbers, offline
Edition 2026.1 ships inside the app, so a value never depends on a server being up in January.
Condition on the record
The tier you picked and the photo that supports it stay attached to the item, on your device.
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