Selling a phone with a warranty

What does this tour show?

It shows a complete phone sale at eleven in the morning. A customer wants the silver 256 GB phone, a clear case and two years of cover. Priya scans the handset, picks the 24 month extended warranty, adds the case and the customer, takes payment and hands over a warranty card, all within about six minutes.

Phone sales are higher value and longer lived than most retail sales. The customer may come back in eighteen months with a fault, and at that point the only things that matter are which handset it was, when it was sold and what cover was bought. The Electronics POS is built to capture those three facts at the moment of sale, when they are easy to get right.

What does the sale come to?

These are the sample prices, which include VAT at the standard 20% rate.

The VAT inside a VAT-inclusive price is the price divided by six at the 20% rate, so £560 contains £93.33 of VAT and £466.67 net. The till works this out per line, so you never do it by hand. The warranty is a separate line, which keeps the phone's own price clear and shows the customer what the cover cost.

Step by step

1. Open the Electronics POS. The till's search defaults to IMEI, with SKU and name as alternatives. The keyboard shortcuts F1, F2 and F3 switch between them, which is quicker than a mouse at a busy counter.
2. Scan the IMEI. The till finds the exact handset in stock with its price. It is not "a silver phone", it is this silver phone, and only this one leaves stock.
3. Choose the warranty. The options run from No Warranty up to 24 Months (Extended). The extended option is charged as its own line on the sale.
4. Add to Sale. The phone appears under Current Sale marked IMEI tracked, with the warranty line beneath it.
5. Add the accessory. Find the clear case by name or scan its barcode. Accessories do not need IMEIs; they are sold like any other product.
6. Add the customer. A warranty needs the customer's name and phone, so choose them or create them now. Walk-in is fine for a case on its own, but not for a phone with cover.
7. Check the totals. Subtotal, the extended warranty, tax and total. Read the total to the customer before taking payment.
8. Checkout. F12 is the shortcut. Take payment in the usual way.
9. Hand over the warranty card. Sale Complete! shows the reference (ES-202610-0148 in the tour) and a warranty certificate with its number and expiry date, 03 Oct 2028 for a 24 month cover. Send it on WhatsApp, print it, or save it.
10. Done: a paid invoice is made. The sale is recorded as a paid invoice, the handset leaves stock, and the warranty is now searchable by IMEI or certificate number.

Why send the warranty card on WhatsApp?

Paper receipts get lost; a message on the customer's own phone does not. When they come back with a fault, the certificate number is in their chat history, and the lookup takes seconds. It also looks professional, which matters when you have just sold someone an extended warranty. Printing is still there for customers who prefer paper.

Why is the warranty a separate line?

Three reasons. First, the customer sees exactly what the extra cover cost, which builds trust in a product that is easy to be suspicious of. Second, your own figures stay honest: the phone's selling price and margin are not inflated by the warranty, and you can see how much warranty revenue the shop earns over a month. Third, it keeps refunds simple. If a customer changes their mind about the cover, or returns the phone, the warranty line is clearly identified rather than buried inside a single bundled price. Many shops find that extended warranties and accessories are where a good share of their profit comes from, so being able to see them on their own lines is worth a great deal when you review the week.

Tips at the counter

• Always scan the IMEI from the actual handset you are handing over, not from a display box.
• Offer the warranty before the case. Customers decide about cover more calmly before they start choosing colours.
• Spell the customer's name back and check their phone number. Those details are the key to every future claim.
• If you sell a lot of cases and screen protectors, keep them as barcoded products so they scan in one beep.
• Show the customer the expiry date on the certificate. It sets expectations and avoids arguments later.

Common mistakes

• Selling a phone as Walk-in with a warranty. The warranty then has no owner you can contact.
• Scanning the display model by accident. The wrong IMEI leaves stock and the customer's warranty points at a phone they do not have.
• Adding the warranty price to the phone price. The customer cannot see what they paid for cover, and your reports cannot either.
• Skipping the certificate because the customer is in a hurry. Send it on WhatsApp; it takes one tap.
• Using a generic product for the phone. The handset stays "in stock" in the system while it is in someone's pocket.

What should you do next?

The warranty you just sold is now on record. The next tour, a warranty question at the counter, shows the other end of that promise: a customer comes back with a phone that will not charge, and the warranty is found by IMEI in seconds. If you are choosing a till for a phone shop, the how to choose a POS system guide lists what to look for, and the VAT invoice requirements guide explains what a VAT invoice must show. For the profit on each handset, see markup vs margin.

How EasyTaskr helps

EasyTaskr's Electronics POS finds the exact handset by IMEI, sells a warranty as its own line, keeps the customer on the sale, and produces a warranty certificate that can be sent on WhatsApp, printed or saved. A paid invoice is made for every sale, with VAT worked out on each line.