Remove what is on the phone
On an iPhone, Erase All Content and Settings does not just hide your files: according to Apple, erasing destroys the device’s encryption keys, which makes all user data unreadable. On Android, recent phones are encrypted by default, and a factory data reset has the same effect. The traces that remain are mostly on old unencrypted Android models and on memory cards, which a reset does not always erase.
Remove what the phone is connected to
- Your Apple ID or Google account: sign out on the phone, then remove it from your devices on iCloud.com or in your Google account.
- Your Samsung account on a Galaxy, which has its own lock.
- Your bank: some apps make the phone a “trusted device”; remove it in the app or on the bank’s website.
- Your two-factor codes: move the authenticator app before you erase.
- Your Apple Pay or Google Wallet cards: remove them; they also go when you sign out and erase.
- WhatsApp and your messaging apps: back up your chats before you erase, so they come back on the new phone.
What SubSell does on top
You keep control of your accounts
Back up, then sign out of iCloud or Google and turn off Find My before you sell. If you are unsure how, the counter walks you through it in front of you: you type your own password, on your own phone.
The phone is checked
Model, condition and IMEI: every phone is checked against stolen-phone databases before we buy it, and you show photo ID as the law requires for used goods.
Professional erasure, not just a reset
Before any resale, the phone goes through professional data-erasure software. The software wipes every user file, account and setting, the same way on every phone, whoever is at the counter that day.
Checked again before it goes back on sale
A phone only goes back on sale once it starts on the first setup screen, with no account and none of your data on it.
Unsellable? Destroyed, not resold
A device we cannot put back in circulation goes to recycling, where its storage is physically destroyed by our partners, recyclers compliant with Québec standards.
Is a reset enough?
Done properly on a recent phone, a reset makes your data unreadable. The risks are human: resetting before signing out (the phone stays locked to your account), forgetting a memory card, or an old Android model. That is why we erase every phone again with professional software, the same way every time. Too old to resell? It is recycled, with its storage physically destroyed.