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matthewskyle

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 23, 2011
49
0
I'm looking to upgrade my wife from the 3GS -> 4 and I see a lot of phones selling for $350-$400 and personally thought it was outrageous (these were also only 16GB models). Correct me if I am wrong, but these are used phones, that are now a generation old and only cost ~$600 retail when launched...over a year ago.... To me, it would be the equivalent of taking a PS3 and looking up the retail price of one at launch(~$500) and trying to sell it for $300 used when they are $199 now...Am I waaayy off base on this? Or is it price gouging so that people can buy out their ETF's? I was expecting to see $150 prices...But I see 3GS iPhone ad's for that price...
 

LinksAwakener

macrumors regular
May 31, 2011
114
0
I'm looking to upgrade my wife from the 3GS -> 4 and I see a lot of phones selling for $350-$400 and personally thought it was outrageous (these were also only 16GB models). Correct me if I am wrong, but these are used phones, that are now a generation old and only cost ~$600 retail when launched...over a year ago.... To me, it would be the equivalent of taking a PS3 and looking up the retail price of one at launch(~$500) and trying to sell it for $300 used when they are $199 now...Am I waaayy off base on this? Or is it price gouging so that people can buy out their ETF's? I was expecting to see $150 prices...But I see 3GS iPhone ad's for that price...

If iPhone 4's indeed sold for $199 your analogy would be accurate. But they're currently selling for $550 new. And that's only 8GB. Supply and demand: if they weren't being bought at that price, people wouldn't be selling them at that price.
 

doctapeppa

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2008
289
0
I'm looking to upgrade my wife from the 3GS -> 4 and I see a lot of phones selling for $350-$400 and personally thought it was outrageous (these were also only 16GB models). Correct me if I am wrong, but these are used phones, that are now a generation old and only cost ~$600 retail when launched...over a year ago.... To me, it would be the equivalent of taking a PS3 and looking up the retail price of one at launch(~$500) and trying to sell it for $300 used when they are $199 now...Am I waaayy off base on this? Or is it price gouging so that people can buy out their ETF's? I was expecting to see $150 prices...But I see 3GS iPhone ad's for that price...

This is common for apple products in general. They hold their value very well.
 

chdwil

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2009
174
1
iPhones hold their value. I am going to sell a 32g 3gs for practically the same price i just bought the 4s for. it is market value.

If you were savvy you would have your 3gs for sale now to get a large amount of the money you would need to buy a 4.
 

zmulleni

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2010
216
0
I just sold my 32GB iPhone 4 which I bought at launch for $560. Granted I didn't upgrade specifically to be able to sell my phone to a T-mobile user; which until they get the iPhone will always pay premiums to get a device that their carrier doesn't offer. You just have to know your market and do some research on just how well these phones hold there value. I make on average $200 to $240 every time I upgrade.
 
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