Is musicMagpie any good? Warranty, grades and prices
Yes: it refurbishes its own phones, with a free 12-month warranty and 80% battery minimum (read 27/09/2026). What Good condition means, and live prices.
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musicMagpie buys old phones, CDs and games from the public, and it also sells refurbished phones. Those are what the searches are about: is it legit, what does Good condition mean, and how long is the warranty? On 27/09/2026 we read musicMagpie's own UK pages and the listings for the phones we compare. The short answer is yes, with two things to watch: the grade behind the price, and the screen.
Is musicMagpie legit?
Yes. The shop is run by Entertainment Magpie Limited, trading as musicMagpie, a company registered in England and Wales with its registered office in Stockport, and your contract is with that company. The Financial Conduct Authority authorises it as a credit broker for the finance it offers at checkout.
Unlike Back Market, musicMagpie is not a marketplace. It buys used phones, refurbishes them in its own workshop and sells them itself, so one company grades the phone, sells it and handles the warranty. Its stock also sells on eBay: on 26/09/2026 one of the eBay listings in our price tables came from its eBay shop.
What does Good condition mean at musicMagpie?
It is the lowest of musicMagpie's three grades: a fully working phone with visible wear. These are musicMagpie's own descriptions, read on 27/09/2026, from the top:
- Pristine: little to no visible signs of use; the closest to new.
- Very Good: light signs of wear, usually minor, and less noticeable in a case.
- Good: more noticeable wear and tear, which may still show when the phone is in a case.
All three describe looks only. musicMagpie says every phone is fully tested and works as intended whatever its grade. The words do not carry across shops: Good is the bottom rung here and the second of four at Back Market, which our musicMagpie or Back Market guide lines up side by side.
The grade moves the price more than anything else. On 27/09/2026 musicMagpie had a 256 GB iPhone 16 at £619.99 in Good, £689.99 in Very Good and £779.99 in Pristine. That Good phone was the lowest refurbished price in our box for it:
Show 1 more listing (out of stock or no price)
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How long is the musicMagpie warranty?
Twelve months, free on every phone, and it starts on the day you place the order, not the day the phone arrives. It covers technical faults and faults in workmanship or materials. musicMagpie repairs a covered fault; if it cannot, it sends a replacement of the same description, and if neither is possible, it refunds you. Its warranty page says the repaired or replacement phone goes back within 2 to 3 working days of the faulty one arriving, with free recorded Royal Mail postage for the return. To claim, email musicMagpie with your order number.
Screens are the big exception. The warranty does not cover damage to the screen or casing, including fading and discolouration, and musicMagpie's help centre lists dead pixels among what is not covered, alongside cracks, liquid, accidental damage and repairs by anyone else. A phone sent back with any of those comes back unrepaired. So look at the screen closely in the first 14 days, while you can still return the phone for any reason. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 sit underneath the warranty either way, as our grades guide explains.
What does musicMagpie guarantee?
| What musicMagpie says | |
|---|---|
| Who sells | Entertainment Magpie Limited, trading as musicMagpie, registered in England and Wales; it refurbishes and sells its own stock |
| Grades | Pristine, Very Good and Good describe looks only; every phone is fully tested and working |
| Parts | Replacement parts may be fitted, and tested; it cannot guarantee that an Apple device holds only genuine Apple parts |
| Battery | At least 80% battery health on every phone; some phones are sold with a new battery, for more |
| Warranty | 12 months, free, from the day you order: a repair, then a replacement of the same description, then a refund |
| Not covered | Accidental damage, the screen and casing, liquid, dead pixels, repairs by anyone else |
| Change of mind | 14-day money-back guarantee; return free by taking a QR code to a Post Office |
| Delivery | Free by Royal Mail within 2 working days; next working day for £3.99 if you order by 10pm; Special Delivery on orders over £750 |
Two details sit behind that table. The 14 days: the help centre counts them from purchase, while the store's terms of sale give 14 working days from the day after delivery, so decide within 14 days of ordering and you are inside both. And the parts: musicMagpie says it may fit replacement parts, and that some phones may have been repaired by a previous owner before it bought them. On an iPhone that can bring up a message about a replaced or unverified part, which musicMagpie says does not mean a fault; our refurbished iPhone guide shows where to read the parts history.
A new battery is sold as its own line: on 27/09/2026 a 128 GB iPhone 16 in Pristine was £649.99 with a new battery and £619.99 without.
Is musicMagpie cheaper than Back Market?
Not often, on the phones we compare. Here are seven phones with a refurbished price at both, live:
| Product | musicMagpie | Back Market | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro 256GB | Out of stock, checked 08/10 01:14 | £891.00 | Only Back Market in stock |
| Apple iPhone 15 Pro 256GB | £529.99 | £510.00 | Back Market by £19.99 |
| Apple iPhone 16 Pro 256GB | £679.99 | £569.00 | Back Market by £110.99 |
| Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max 512GB | £789.99 | £739.00 | Back Market by £50.99 |
| Apple iPhone Air 256GB | Out of stock, checked 07/10 01:08 | £606.00 | Only Back Market in stock |
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 512GB | £769.99 | £666.00 | Back Market by £103.99 |
Of 4 products with a refurbished price at both shops today, musicMagpie is cheaper on 0, Back Market on 4. 2 are in stock only at Back Market.
1 product in this list has no refurbished offer in stock at either shop today
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When we wrote this on 27/09/2026, the table had Back Market cheaper on most of them. Read it with the grades in mind, because each cell is the cheapest phone that shop had in stock, whatever its grade. In our table Back Market's price is usually for a Fair phone, its bottom grade. musicMagpie's cheapest was a Good phone, its own bottom grade, on five of the seven; on the iPhone Air and the Galaxy S25 Ultra it had no Good phones left, so its cheapest was Very Good, a rung higher. Where both had a bottom-grade phone the gap could be small: musicMagpie's Good iPhone 17 Pro was £909.99, a few pounds above Back Market's Fair one in our table.
How the two compare on warranty, returns and grades is in our musicMagpie or Back Market guide. In short, both give a year of warranty, and Back Market gives 30 days to change your mind against musicMagpie's 14.
Whichever you choose, check the new price first. musicMagpie's Good iPhone 17 Pro at £909.99 was £89.01 under the £999 that Amazon, Currys and Argos charged for a new one on 27/09/2026:
Show 2 more listings (out of stock or no price)
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What to do
- Choose the grade from musicMagpie's own descriptions, and remember that Good is its lowest and shows wear even in a case.
- Look at the grade above before you buy: on 27/09/2026 a 512 GB iPhone 16 Pro Max cost £799.99 in both Good and Very Good.
- Compare grade with grade at Back Market and eBay, then with the new price in our price box.
- When the phone arrives, check the screen closely and the battery health (80% or more) within 14 days of ordering, because screen damage, fading and dead pixels are not covered by the warranty.
- For a fault after that, email musicMagpie with your order number for a free return under the 12-month warranty.