So you’re getting an iPhone 4S, you’ve chosen the carrier and decided on the storage size, and now you need to figure out the ins and outs of how to sell your old iPhone (or other smartphone) before upgrading? If you don’t want to keep it around as a spare, or as an iPod touch, or hand it down to a family member or friend — if you’re looking to get some cash back — then there are a few things you can do, and a few things you need to know before getting started.
Today we’re going to show you how to cash out the old and bring in the new using a number of great services!
Before you sell your old iPhone, there are a few things you can do to make sure you get the best selling price possible.
Now that we’re passed the basics and you’re ready to put your iPhone up for sale, it’s important to weigh all the options you have before making a decision on which service to use.
There are a ton of great online services out there to help you sell your old iPhone and we won’t be able to go through them all, so we’ve filtered down the list of services for you. We’ll start with the most familiar of them all…
Selling your iPhone on eBay is a pretty simple process. If you’ve
ever used eBay for selling things in the past then you know the
selling process isn’t all that tricky, however there are still some things
to keep in mind when using eBay to sell your iPhone. For instance, eBay charges
fees for each auction based on the item you’re selling and how much it
sells for, among other things, so here are five quick tips to help you get the most out of
your auction:
You may also want to consider insuring your item in case anything goes
wrong during shipping. Watch out for low-feedback buyers and also
keep in mind that Paypal charges processing fees as well.
Selling on craigslist is locally based, so you’ll be making a face-to-face exchange with someone in your area. I’ve used Craigslist to sell a number of things around the house, and always follow a few basic rules:
It’s always a good idea to use caution when dealing with Craigslist. I’ve heard some pretty crazy stories of people getting robbed or worse when meeting with people for a transaction, so bring a friend and meet in an open, public area to avoid those types of situations.
Gazelle offers a service that lets you easily turn most electronic devices into cash. Simply send in your iPhone and Gazelle will send you money after confirming the item condition. The first thing you’ll need to do is tell Gazelle what you’re selling and what condition the item is in. You can choose from poor, fair, good or excellent condition, and it’s important to be honest when rating the condition so there’s no hiccups or snags along the way. It also helps if you have the box and original documentation and cables with your item, and the service will check for any water damages before giving you a quote.
An average-conditioned 16gb iPhone 4 will currently grab you about $215 where a perfect-conditioned iPhone 4 will get you as much as $250. The process takes about a week, and although you’re not getting as much money in the end it’s a great service if you don’t want to deal with a lot of hassle. You can have your payment delivered through Paypal among other methods, and you can also submit multiple items if you’re looking to get rid of a few more things while you’re at it.
SellYourMac.com offers a similar service to Gazelle by letting you send in your old iPhone for payment with little to no hassle involved. In a nutshell, they’ll buy your old Mac or iOS device. You’re required to provide pictures along with a serial number next to your item description and condition. Once SellYourMac.com receives your iPhone they clean it, inspect it and verify that it’s in working condition before they turn around and sell it on eBay. Users can receive payment via Paypal and SellYourMac.com even says they give higher quotes than competing services like Gazelle, so you’ll definitely want to compare before making any final decisions.
If selling your old iPhone on any of the services mentioned above doesn’t sound appealing, Apple has set up a new iPod and Mobile Phone Recycling Program. As of this writing, Apple will give up to $200 for your used perfect-conditioned 32GB White iPhone 4 in the form of an Apple Gift card, which you can then turn around and use to purchase the iPhone 4S. In this case, you’re basically getting the iPhone 4S at no charge (with a 2-year contract, of course). If you have a black model, they’ll give you up to $180.
Apple is even including the iPhone 3GS in the Recycle Program, giving a $105 gift card if your 3GS is in perfect condition. They also offer to give you a new 8GB model of the same iPhone to swap out provided you sign a 2-year contract.
Just because all these online services are available, it doesn’t mean you can’t still sell your old iPhone the old fashioned way — person to person, likely to a friend or acquaintance. Just be sure to follow all the tips suggested above, and remember that accessories like Square can even let you take credit cards right on your own device now, if cash isn’t as convenient.
Include all packaging, cables and adapters if possible. If you have any extra cases or accessories you want to throw in the deal it can usually net you a higher selling price as a bundle instead of trying to sell them individually.
Whether it’s eBay, Criagslist or any other method for selling your old iPhone we hope this article will help you along the way. As always, let us know if you have any questions or additional suggestions in the comments below!
You can also check out our Marketplace Forum for more iPhone buying/selling action.
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