Phone Grading Explained: What A+ to C Mean for Buyers

Grade A, A-, B, C: every wholesale used phone supplier uses some version of these labels, but the criteria behind them aren't standardized across the industry. Before you place your first order with any supplier, you need to know exactly what their grades mean in practice, not just the label.

There's no universal grading standard

Back Market, Swappie, Refurbed, and wholesale distributors each publish their own grading criteria. A Grade B unit from one supplier can be equivalent to a Grade A- from another. That's not a minor inconsistency. It's the single biggest source of disputes between wholesale buyers and sellers.

The fix isn't picking a "correct" standard, because there isn't one. It's confirming the actual criteria in writing before you order, and re-checking that criteria matches what arrives.

For the complete grading system, including every criterion, battery-health threshold and cosmetic reference in one place, see our full smartphone grading standards guide. This post covers the narrower problem: how to line one supplier's grades up against another's when the labels look identical and the criteria are not.

A baseline to compare against

Pick one published standard as your reference point, then map every other supplier onto it. Ours in short form:

• A+ / A: no visible scratches under standard lighting, no dents or cracks, battery 85%+.
• A-: light scratches invisible when the display is on, battery 82%+.
• B / B+: light scratches visible in normal use, no cracks, battery 78%+.
• C / C+: multiple visible scratches, no structural damage, battery 73%+.

Every grade requires a 100% functional pass. The full criteria, covering body condition, dents, touch-detectable wear and completeness alongside the cosmetic reference photos for each grade, are on the smartphone grading standards page.

Cosmetic grade and functionality are independent. A Grade C unit looks worn but passes the exact same diagnostic checklist as a Grade A+ unit. Anything that fails the diagnostic isn't graded at all. It's separated into a parts/repair category and priced accordingly.

Why Grade A is scarce, and priced like it

Grade A+ and A units make up only 18 to 27% of typical trade-in supply, the smallest share of any grade band. A- accounts for 28 to 32%, and B/B+ is the largest band at 30 to 35%. The structural scarcity of top-grade stock shows up directly in price: the wholesale premium for Grade A over Grade B on an iPhone 13 128GB averaged €28 to €35 in Q1 2026.

This matters for sourcing strategy. If your target market doesn't actually need Grade A cosmetics (see our Poland sourcing guide for a market where B outperforms on margin), paying the A-grade premium is money spent on cosmetic headroom your customers won't notice.

What to ask before you order

The questions that surface a real standard, rather than a label:

• Is grading done unit by unit, or sampled from the batch?
• Under what lighting and at what distance is cosmetic inspection carried out?
• Is battery capacity read from OEM diagnostics or from the handset's own settings screen?
• What happens to a unit that fails inspection: is it downgraded transparently, or does it risk shipping at a grade it doesn't meet?

A supplier who answers all four with specifics is grading against a standard you can hold them to. Our own four-stage process, from intake through diagnostics, cosmetic inspection and factory reset, is documented step by step on the grading standards page.

FAQ

What's the difference between Grade A and Grade A-?

Grade A allows no visible scratches under standard lighting and requires 85%+ battery health. Grade A- allows light scratches that are invisible when the display is on, with a slightly lower 82%+ battery threshold.

Does a lower cosmetic grade mean the phone works worse?

No. Every grade requires the same 100% functionality pass. Cosmetic grade and functionality are graded independently, and units that fail functionality aren't given a cosmetic grade at all.

Why is Grade A more expensive than Grade B for the same model?

Grade A and A+ units make up only 18 to 27% of typical trade-in supply, the smallest share of any grade. That scarcity adds €28 to €35 to the wholesale price of a Grade A iPhone 13 128GB over the equivalent Grade B unit.

Where can I see the full grading criteria with cosmetic reference tables?

Our complete grading standards guide covers the full cosmetic reference table by component, grade-by-grade photos, and pricing benchmarks across iPhone and Samsung models. The same material is available as a PDF download if you need it offline.

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Read the full grading standards guide or take it offline as a PDF, register as a reseller at shop.smartchoice.ee/register, or view current stock at shop.smartchoice.ee/stock.

Related guides

• Full smartphone grading standards: every grade criterion, battery threshold and cosmetic reference, plus the arrival inspection checklist.
• Grade A vs Grade A+ iPhones: what the EUR 5-15 premium between the top two grades actually buys.
• Grade B vs Grade C used phones: which resale platform accepts which grade, and how returns change the margin.
• Cosmetic grading by component: screen, frame and back glass criteria broken out grade by grade.