Water Damage, Dead Boards, Cracked Frames: How Buyers Actually Price Faulty Lots

Faulty Does Not Mean One Price

Sellers sometimes treat 'faulty' as a single category. To a bulk buyer, faulty stock spans an enormous range of values. A batch of iPhones with charging port faults is very different from a batch with liquid damage indicators triggered and corroded boards. Understanding how buyers think about fault types helps you present your stock accurately.

Fault Categories That Affect Pricing

Charging and battery faults — Some of the most recoverable faulty devices. A charging port replacement or battery swap restores the device to working condition cheaply. Buyers price these close to working Grade D.

Screen faults — Dead screens, touch issues, and cracked glass are common. If the underlying device is intact, screen faults are repairable. Value depends heavily on whether the rest of the device is functional.

Water damage — Liquid Damage Indicators (LDI) triggered does not always mean total loss, but it introduces significant uncertainty. Buyers apply a risk discount. Devices with active corrosion on boards are typically priced as BER.

Motherboard faults — Logic board failures, baseband issues, Face ID failures — these push devices toward BER territory because repair costs are high and outcomes uncertain.

Mixed Faulty Lots

When you have a mixed faulty lot, the best approach is to describe each fault type as a percentage of the total. '40% charging faults, 30% screen faults, 20% water damage, 10% unknown' gives a buyer far more to work with than 'mixed faulty'. This transparency leads to faster, more accurate pricing.

Get a Quote for Your Faulty Stock

HK Saitong buys faulty lots at all fault levels. Send your stocklist with fault descriptions via WhatsApp and receive a same-day offer. We buy from 100 units with no upper limit.