The Best Ways to Sell or Trade-In Your Old Iphone

If you are thinking of selling your used phone, then you may be thinking about the best way to go about it. With the 11 Pro Max, the 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 having recently launched, you may be thinking of upgrading to the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer.

However, you may have also recently purchased an iPhone, and, as such, may not have the funds necessary to purchase a new one or upgrade to a new plan. The good news is selling your used phone may allow you to have enough money to upgrade. Here, we will delve into the best ways to sell or trade-in your old iPhone.

Use a Service

First, you can trade-in your old phone for some gift cards, store credit, or money. Now, while some may argue that trading in your phone may not yield a large amount, it is also a near surefire way to get something back for your old iPhone.

In fact, some companies will still take your old phone if it is in bad condition or even if it doesn’t turn on. Hence, using a service is a convenient, easy, and fast way to get something in return for your old phone. Albeit, you will have to give up a decent amount of profit in exchange for the speed and peace of mind.

As for where you can trade-in your old phone, some people will opt for a conventional option, such as taking advantage of the trade-in services provided by Best Buy or even Apple themselves. There are also services like Flipsy that will allow people to compare trade-in values for several buyback outlets, which will save you some time.

SellCell is yet another service that can be used for people who want to make quick price comparisons to try and get as much as possible for their old phone. If you would prefer to explore individual marketplaces on your own, there are many to choose from, including, but not limited to, Swappa, Gazelle, Glyde, NextWorth, and BuyBackBoss.

Trade for Credit

Another option is to go straight to the source in order to eliminate the middleman. For example, Apple offers a trade-in program of its own that iPhone owners can take advantage of. This means you can trade-in your old iPhone for credit that can be put towards purchases made at the Apple Store.

You will get more store credit if your old phone is in good condition, with current store credit estimates for the iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 8 being $120 and $220, respectively. In addition, a used iPhone X that is in good working condition may get up to $400 in Apple Store credit, according to current estimates.

Also, please note that the estimates above are on the conservative end, as Apple doesn’t allow users to specify how much storage their old iPhone has. That is, used iPhones with more storage will yield more credit.

For example, according to Flipsy, a used 64 GB iPhone 8 that has been unlocked may net its owner up to $300 from a buyback service, which is significantly more than the $220 estimate we provided earlier.

What’s more, Best Buy also offers trade-in programs as well, but they do not accept unlocked trade-ins. This means that they will only accept used phones that were provided by one of the Big Four carriers.

We should also mention that trade-ins at Best Buy and Apple will yield brand-specific gift cards from each respective retailer. This is fine if you plan on buying your new iPhone from either outlet but may cause issues if you wish to purchase it elsewhere.

Sell your Old iPhone Yourself

The third option will likely yield the greatest profit margin, provided you are successful. In other words, trying to sell your phone yourself carries certain hassles and risks that you should be aware of. For instance, you can turn to a local classified website, such as Kijiji or Craigslist, in order to try and sell your phone.

The chief benefit of local classified sites is that you can get fast cash for your old iPhone. However, you run the risk of dealing with tire kickers and lowballers, which may lead to lost profits as well as time wasted waiting for no-shows.

Fortunately, you can avoid some of the issues above by specifying in great detail the condition and price of your used phone before you agree to meet with the buyer. You should also notify them of the wireless carrier of the device, especially if the unit is unlocked, and you should only meet them in a public, well-lit area.

For instance, many local police stations allow people to meet at their parking lots to perform legal transactions.

Another option for those who want to sell their old iPhones, but don’t want to deal with buyers in person, is to sell their phones on eBay. However, you will need to put in more work on eBay, as you will need to create a listing with full details of the phone, as well as images of the device.

You will also need to physically ship the phone to the buyer’s address, which will involve shipping labels and packaging. You will also need to pay a sales fee if you are successful in selling your phone on the site.

Finally, while eBay does offer purchase protection for both sellers and buyers, they tend to side with buyers in the event of a dispute, such as claiming that the item was lost or damaged during shipping.

Still, if you are willing to risk potential buyer’s remorse and other such issues, then eBay may be a good option, as people are more willing to buy items from strangers online thanks to eBay’s buyer protection policy.

eCycle Solutions

If you would like to sell your used phone in order to buy a new iPhone, then please visit our website. You can also call us, toll-free, at 888-945-2611 to learn more about our electronic recycling, asset disposition, and decommissioning services.