Phone Shop: Repair & Resell

You run a tiny used-phone stall in an Istanbul arcade, fixing, buying and reselling phones. Borrowed money in the till, one old keypad phone on the shelf. Everyone who walks in says the same thing: "Box and receipt, mate. Spotless."

It isn't.

CHECK THE PHONE Look it over, open the settings, match the IMEI against the box, run it through the registry. Battery at 71%. Replaced screen. Somebody else's box. Sometimes it isn't even a Pear: the pear on the back is a little crooked.

TURN THE LIE INTO LEVERAGE Every flaw you find becomes a red tag. Tap it to put the evidence on the table and a lying seller's price drops. Do it to an honest seller and they take offence, and their patience runs out fast. "Cemo across the road offers 15 grand for it" — believe it, or call the bluff.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO LIE (OR NOT) Tell the buyer about the flaws, or call it spotless. Some buyers check for themselves. Unregistered phones come back in the evening; stolen ones bring the police.

REPAIR, AND KEEP YOUR PROMISE (OR DON'T) Original, pulled or aftermarket parts. Promise original, fit the cheap one, and hope the "unknown part" warning never shows. Heat the screen, lift it with a suction cup, peel the battery strip slowly.

GROW THE SHOP Shelves, a UV lamp, a tea stove, a lit-up sign, Emre the apprentice. From an arcade stall to a high-street shop to a second branch.

A STORY, THEN A SHOP THAT NEVER CLOSES Four weeks of story: Cemo opening across the street, a stolen-phone ring, Ferhat the parts man swearing it's all original, and Mom calling every evening. Five endings. Then the shop is yours: new customers every day, new phones, currency jumps, holidays, downpours, a new Pear model. Or skip the story and start straight in the free shop.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD NEVER GETS DULL A "deal of the century" on the morning you forgot your glasses, a cat that stands up mid-reel and asks for food, the cobbler's "five minutes" that last all day, and a moustached uncle at the back of the holiday queue.

• A whole world knitted from yarn
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• In English, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Azerbaijani

All phone brands are made up. So is everyone who lies to you.