The Best Time to Sell Your Used iPhone Is RIGHT NOW
It’s the worst-kept secret on the planet. We now know that Apple is announcing something on Sept. 9, and the smart money is that it will unveil a new iPhone (or possibly two new iPhones and a wearable, watch-like device).
As a result, prices for used
Apple smartphones are steadily dropping — just like they always do prior
to a new iPhone-palooza. In fact, according to gadget recommerce site Gazelle, over the past three years, prices for used iPhones have dropped roughly 20 percent in value during the month before a launch. NextWorth, which tracks average eBay sale prices for iPhones, says the drop is closer to 25 percent.
(NextWorth)
If you have an aging iPhone
and you want to get the most for it before you inevitably upgrade to
the latest and greatest, the time to sell is now.
Like, right now.
And yesterday would be even better.
Buy here nowNot everyone agrees that used iPhone prices are tanking. Nik Raman, co-founder of uSell,
says prices on his buying marketplace may actually rise slightly before
the launch, because he’s temporarily dropping the commission his site
makes on each sale. But he also notes that prices traditionally drop
another 15 to 20 percentage points after the announcement. So that’s a
potential 40 percent drop in how much you can get for your iPhone if you
wait too long.
Gazelle, NextWorth, and uSell
offer 30-day price guarantees, so you can lock in a buyback price and
then hold onto your old handset until you have the new one safely in
hand.
Here’s a snapshot of how prices
among the leading gadget resellers compared as of Tuesday afternoon. All
prices are for base model 16 GB white or silver iPhones in good
condition.
There are several obvious conclusions you can draw from this data.
• If you’ve got a Verizon iPhone,
you’ll get more for it. The reason? They’re easier to unlock in bulk,
making them more attractive to buyers who make their money selling them
to overseas markets, Raman says.
• If you’ve got a Sprint handset,
you won’t get very much. That’s because Sprint phones rely on CDMA
technology that isn’t widely used abroad, Raman adds.
• Want to sell an older iPhone,
like the 4s? You won’t make much. And you might as well give models
older than the iPhone 4 to your kids or a recycling center — most
resellers won’t accept them. (Though uSell will take your iPhone 3GS off
your hands for $2.40.)
A big haulGazelle
expects to take in 25 percent more iPhone trade-ins than it did before
last fall’s launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c. That may possibly be due to
rumors surrounding the iPhone 6’s allegedly larger screen, says Gazelle
senior tech analyst Alyssa Voorhis.
Pent-up demand could make the
iPhone 6 launch the biggest one in years, says Ramon Llamas, mobile
phone research manager for IDC.
“I know way too many people who
have been holding onto their smartphones for two years or more, waiting
for this announcement,” he says. “Their screens are cracked, their
batteries are dying quickly, but they’re still waiting. That’s the kind
of devotion Apple users have in anticipation of the next iPhone.”
Don’t sell yourself shortIt’s
clear you’ll get far more money selling your old handset to individual
buyers on sites like eBay and Amazon. But, as NextWorth Chief Marketing
Officer Jeff Trachsel notes, that extra cash comes at its own price.
You’ll also have to invest time in creating ads for the products,
managing inquiries or bids, shipping the items, and dealing with
potentially unhappy customers later.
There’s also a huge variation in
the buyback prices online resellers advertise. The same iPhone 5s that
Gazelle is offering to buy for $260 will fetch only $219 at NextWorth.
The reason, says Trachsel, is that the prices some sites quote may end
up being significantly more than what sellers actually receive, once
buyers have had a chance to inspect the handsets and determine their
real value. He says NextWorth tries to price phones closer to the amount
buyers are likely to get.
Your options don’t end there. You
can also take your aging phone in to your wireless carrier and get a
healthy credit — up to $300 for a basic Verizon iPhone 5s, with current
promotional prices. The downside? You’re getting store credit, not cash,
which you can spend only with the carrier. (Best Buy, Target, and
Walmart offer similar buyback deals.) And the stores get the chance to
upsell you and lure you into new contracts, adds Voorhis.
“We also buy back broken phones, something not all carriers or retailers do,” she adds.
Even owners of Samsung
smartphones are not immune to the New iPhone Effect, though it’s less
dramatic. According to Gazelle, prices for Samsung handsets drop around
10 percent on average during the months before and after an Apple
launch.
There’s never been a better time to sell.
Questions, complaints, kudos? Email Dan Tynan at ModFamily1@yahoo.com.
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