Say you’re trading in an old phone, or buying a refurbished one, to put toward a birthday present, and you go looking for the birthday deal. There isn’t one. Across the eight refurbished, used and trade-in sites checked in late September 2026, against their own pages or archived copies of them, none lists a birthday reward, and one, Decluttr, says on its home page that its website has closed. What these sites do publish is fine print that decides what you actually get: who backs a device if it fails, who decides whether you can send it back, how long a trade-in quote lasts, and who carries the risk if the box is lost on its way to the buyer. TopCashback lists 8% at both ecoATM and Gizmogo, but neither page says what that rate is calculated on when the company is the one paying you, and eBay’s phones, laptops and cameras sit in a 0.5% tier under a headline that reads “up to 1.5%.” Back Market, the refurbished marketplace, has its own post. Terms change, so check each brand’s page before you order.
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Buying used or refurbished: who backs the device and who decides on returns
Gazelle: no birthday reward turned up, but military, responders, medical staff, teachers and students get an extra 5% off through ID Discount, and the code is good for one day of use, so you verify again for each day you buy. Gazelle’s own pages disagree about shipping: the home page says “Free shipping” and the terms say “Shipping is not free.” Returns run 30 days from delivery. If you sell to Gazelle, the terms give you 30 days after accepting an offer to get the device to them, and a recalculated offer counts as accepted if you don’t answer within 15 days. No cashback route turned up.
MPB: no birthday reward turned up. MPB publishes a $20 credit for you and a friend and discount codes for healthcare workers, military and first responders, and students and education staff, though the copy of the page read doesn’t list the codes. Most used gear carries a free 6-month warranty, but it’s tied to the original buyer’s account and can’t be passed to a new owner, so a camera bought as a gift is covered only through the account that placed the order. Returns run 14 days from delivery, and you pay the shipping if you just changed your mind. TopCashback lists 3% on purchases and Price.com up to 1.5%, and neither rate covers selling or trading gear to MPB. MPB’s pages were read from archived copies dated July to September 2026.
Reebelo: no birthday reward turned up. The one published code is BULKORDER3, for 3% off an order of 10 or more units, so it doesn’t help with a single purchase. The 12-month warranty comes from the manufacturer or from the vendor, depending on the device, and Reebelo’s terms say it isn’t responsible for guaranteeing the quality of seller goods. A device can go back within 30 days of delivery if it’s in the condition it shipped in, and one showing obvious signs of use gets no refund. The battery promise is at least 80% capacity, with a full refund if it drains more than 10% below the tier you chose in the first 3 months. No cashback route turned up.
Swappa: no birthday reward turned up. You buy from another user, and each side pays a flat 3% fee, so a $100 ask becomes a $103 listing price. Returns for a changed mind are the seller’s call, the one-year warranty applies only to listings that offer it and comes from the seller, and if the carrier confirms delivery to the right address, Swappa’s stance is that the buyer should take it up with local law enforcement. Its Trade-In page hands you to a partner, and partners commonly lock a quote for 14 days. No cashback route turned up.
eBay: no birthday reward turned up, and the “up to 1.5%” cashback headline doesn’t reach electronics: phones, computers, cameras and game consoles earn 0.5% at TopCashback and Price.com, and TopCashback caps cash back at $50 an item. On a $400 phone that’s $2 back. The Money Back Guarantee lets a buyer report a missing item up to 30 calendar days after delivery, but the policy says it isn’t a product warranty, and an item listed for parts from a seller who offers no returns gives you 3 calendar days. eBay’s own refurbished pages returned errors, so the refurbished warranty claims in the post are TopCashback’s description only.
Selling or trading in: how long the quote lasts and who carries the box
ecoATM: it’s a kiosk in a store, so it’s for selling a phone, not shopping, and no birthday reward turned up. An online offer locks for 7 days, the kiosk scans your ID and takes a photo, and every sale is final with no returns or refunds except as required by law. The terms also let ecoATM decide whether to make an offer or take a device without paying for it, and ecoATM says it tries to wipe phones but can’t guarantee your data is erased, so reset yours before you go. TopCashback lists 8% for a completed trade-in and doesn’t say what that’s calculated on, and Price.com says cash back isn’t available for ecoATM.
Gizmogo: no birthday reward turned up. It buys phones, laptops, cameras and consoles online and locks a quote for 15 days. Its pages start the payout clock at two different moments: the FAQ says within 1 business day of your accepting the final offer, and the home page says within 1 business day of Gizmogo receiving the device. The shipping policy leaves the risk of loss with you until Gizmogo accepts the device, and free insurance is offered only on a device quoted at $500 or more and only if you use the insured label. TopCashback lists 8% and Price.com 4%, and neither says what the rate is calculated on when Gizmogo is paying you.
A store that has closed
Decluttr: the home page reads “DECLUTTR IS NOW CLOSED,” and the four addresses tried on its site all returned that notice, which says Customer Service is still helping with active orders and gives no date, link or contact details. Price.com and Fluz still describe the store as working, including a 12-month warranty, a 30-day return window and a 28-day quote lock on Price.com that nothing on Decluttr’s own site confirms, and TopCashback has no Decluttr offer. No birthday reward or cashback turned up.
