UK consumers spend over £2bn per year to upgrade their mobile phones, with the average British individual upgrading their device once every two years, a new survey revealed.
According to a new survey by sellmymobile.com, an average Brit consumer would fork out £2,688 over their life span on upgrading their mobile phones, with an average £77 being spent for each upgrade.
In addition, consumers also spend an additional £2,381 to dodge the current phone contracts per lifetime, with several of them willing to pay minimum £69 to end their contract.
sellmymobile.com MD Colin White said that they are a country of mobile phone lovers – obsessed with getting a shiny new device whenever brands like Apple and Samsung put something new onto the market.
"But while it’s great to have the latest gadget, make sure you don’t get stung with high fees if you need to break your contract," White said.
"There are tariffs which enable you to upgrade your phone whenever you want, and recycling your old phone will give you some extra cash to put towards the new device.
"While the average handset now fetches a trade in value of £102, if you trade in newer devices you could get up to £435."
About 74% of Brits were not interested in taking contracts that facilitate upgrading their device for free, such as O2 Refresh and EE Swap.
However, more than a tenth of them were not aware of tariffs, and 14% not having previously heard of them.
