What to record when buying a phone from a customer
Last updated: 30 September 2026
Record who you bought from, when, what the handset is including its IMEI, what condition it was in, and what you paid. You need the purchase evidenced for the VAT Margin Scheme, tied to the individual unit for your stock, and traceable to a person if the handset later turns out to be stolen.
- Seller name and contact details, and how you verified them.
- Date, IMEI, make, model, storage and condition grade.
- The price you paid, and how you paid it.
- A signed declaration that the seller owns the handset.
Three different reasons, one record
The same entry serves three purposes, which is why it is worth doing properly once. For VAT it evidences your purchase price under the Margin Scheme. For stock it is the cost attached to that specific handset. And if the police ask about a device six months later, it is the difference between an awkward conversation and a serious one.
On identity checks
There is no single UK-wide statute that obliges a phone shop to take ID when buying a used handset in the way the Scrap Metal Dealers Act does for metal. Plenty of shops take it anyway, some local police schemes ask for it, and some councils attach conditions to licences — so what applies to you depends on where and how you trade.
Taking it is generally the sensible commercial choice regardless: it deters someone selling a handset they do not own, and it means you can show you acted reasonably.
If you do take a copy of an identity document, that is personal data and you are responsible for it. Be able to say why you hold it and for how long, and do not keep it longer than you need.
Checking the handset itself
Before you hand over money, check the IMEI against a blacklist service so you do not buy a device reported lost or stolen, and check that activation locks are removed. A handset you cannot resell is worth nothing regardless of its condition.
Record the condition at the point of purchase, with the grade you used. It settles arguments later about what you took in, and it feeds the price you can ask.
Making it fast enough to actually do
A checklist only works if it takes less time than the customer will stand still for. If it means opening a separate book and copying details by hand, it will be skipped on a busy Saturday.
Mobile POS captures the seller, the handset, the condition grade and the price as one transaction at the till, and turns it into IMEI-tracked stock in the same step.
This is general information, not legal advice. Obligations vary with how you trade and where, so take proper advice before relying on it.