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I'm wondering if the quotes will stay the same or drop when the 5S is released. The current offers are really good compared to gazelle but who knows what will happen in a couple of weeks.
 
The pricing you get and the process you go through at http://www.apple.com/recycling/ is handled by PowerOn. You must send the phone to PowerOn and have your phone condition confirmed before you will get your Apple Store gift card mailed to you. That gift card can be used for anything at Apple Retail or the Apple Online Store. This program has been around for a while, and will continue as-is (for the foreseeable future).

The new in-store Reuse & Recycling that launched August 30 is handled by Brightstar. Your iPhone trade in will be evaluated in-store against a variety of consistent criteria, and once you accept the quoted offer, you cannot get your trade back. Your issued gift card must then be used to purchase a *connected* iPhone at the Apple Retail store - they must attach a phone number to it and activate in-store. If you buy a full price carrier phone or unlocked - no problem, as long as Apple activates it for you on a supported carrier before you leave.

The prices offered by PowerOn and Brightstar differ due to the differences in the processes. Don't confuse the two. You really have to go to the store to get the Brightstar pricing, because it will be volatile (just like all buyback programs).
 
Depends on how one values there time though. Gazelle you basically put it in a box and drop off. CL you have to post a message, filter out the fakers, respond to interested parties, wait for or meet buyer, hope the buyer shows up. All that takes more than an hour cumulatively. Unless one works at the mall for $15/hr, $70 for more than a cumulative hours work isn't worth that hassle.

Never been my experience with the process that it was anything short of simple.

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As I've seen elsewhere in this thread, I would be interested in this if I could pre-order and then use my credit in-store. I would be most interested if I could use this towards any apple device.

And I couldn't tell from the links: do they actually give you a gift card? Like a physical piece of plastic?
 
To clear the expectations here. You CAN buy an unlocked phone with the credit however it must be activated at the store. Meaning you can't just buy an unlocked phone and leave. It needs to be activated with one of the carriers even if it's unlocked.
 
…..…..Customers must use the money to purchase a new on-contract phone…..

…..customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned phone that they can use toward the purchase of a new iPhone…..

Article Link: Apple Confirms iPhone Trade-In Program Launching Today at U.S. Retail Stores [Updated]

To clear the expectations here. You CAN buy an unlocked phone with the credit however it must be activated at the store. Meaning you can't just buy an unlocked phone and leave. It needs to be activated with one of the carriers even if it's unlocked.

So as long as it's activated, you can use the credit, even if you want to buy your phone outright. That's good to know. And why should locked or unlocked make any difference, anyway ?
 
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I applaud you for having enough $ to buy all of your phones outright.. slowly in America as the business model of carriers change, this may start to make fiscal sense. Right now, with most major carriers, it is idiotic.. as you are charged the EXACT same monthly bill, whether you accepted their $450 subsidy or not. NOT taking the subsidy seems absurd, assuming you are satisfied with the service & not on the verge of canceling. In a nutshell... the answer to your question: to save a bunch of $ on the handset price.

I cannot agree more with you. I can't believe it when I see people still sporting an iphone 4, paying the same monthly bill as someone with a new phone and no plans to leave their carrier. I also tell these people they could sell their phone for the same $199 a new phone will cost them or just keep it as a backup. My wife is due for an upgrade already from her iPhone 4S, the only reason we are waiting is because of the 5S to be released soon.
 
...

for my iPhone 5 16gb AT*T

Orange Offer $385
Apple $335

not bad, but I do not want to extend my 2 year contract with AT&T past late June 2015 if I did this and bought a 5s through Apple in September/October.
 
why can't you use it to buy anything in the store?

This is sort of my question as well.

If I trade in my iphone 5, Ill have a gift card balance of approx. $150 after buying the subsidized iphone 5S.

What happens to this money if they only allow it to be used for a new phone purchase.

Some important details are missing here.:confused:
 
i just traded-in my iphone 4s and got $183 in return. iphone 5s isn't really a big upgrade so i decided not to wait for it and go for the iphone 5.:)
 
i just traded-in my iphone 4s and got $183 in return. iphone 5s isn't really a big upgrade so i decided not to wait for it and go for the iphone 5.:)
dont tell me that you used the money for a product that is a year old when a newer better product will come out in a few days for the same price. Someone give me a shotgun. :eek:
 
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Trade-ins are for fools.

Just buy your new phone, and sell the old one on eBay. You're guaranteed to break even, and possibly profit sightly.

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i just traded-in my iphone 4s and got $183 in return. iphone 5s isn't really a big upgrade so i decided not to wait for it and go for the iphone 5.:)

About the worst decision you could have made. Apple purposely started this program now to work the kinks out of it, and test it on the low volume of fools actually buying the iPhone 5 right now.
 
Depends on how one values there time though. Gazelle you basically put it in a box and drop off. CL you have to post a message, filter out the fakers, respond to interested parties, wait for or meet buyer, hope the buyer shows up. All that takes more than an hour cumulatively. Unless one works at the mall for $15/hr, $70 for more than a cumulative hours work isn't worth that hassle.

I was going to post a comment like this but this one says it all. I recently did a Gazelle sale on an iPhone 4 for $135 (plus a few extra bucks for getting it as an Amazon gift card). The Gazelle thing took total maybe 5-10 minutes including reading Gazelle policy stuff that I'll never need to do again. I suspect all told CL time would be over 2 hours (more if you have a no show or a low-baller "So your asking $200, I just have $80 cash with me take it or leave it.") - so for me Gazelle was a good deal.
 
I cannot agree more with you. I can't believe it when I see people still sporting an iphone 4, paying the same monthly bill as someone with a new phone and no plans to leave their carrier. I also tell these people they could sell their phone for the same $199 a new phone will cost them or just keep it as a backup. My wife is due for an upgrade already from her iPhone 4S, the only reason we are waiting is because of the 5S to be released soon.

Yup! Mine isn't getting TOO stale, just came eligible in July.. I had to buy my iPhone 5 outright. Looking fwd to my (well-deserved) subsidy!
 
I want to do this, but not until the 5S launch day. Do you guys think they'll be doing trade-ins with all the madness going on?
 
This is better than nothing...

Is any other smart phone manufacturer doing this? Is it the greatest deal? No. But at least it provides a path to an upgrade from your existing model. Would you get top dollar by trading in your car to the dealership? No. Do the leg work if you have the time and patience and you too can turn a better deal. But if you want it done for you, here you go! Thank you, Apple. That is a convenience that I appreciate.
 
It appears that those who choose to trade in their iPhone now are limited to the current models. If you want to trade for an iPhone 5S it will have to wait until the stores have them in stock. It should be interesting to see how this impacts launch day at the Apple store. If it is what it seems, I feel for the sales staff. Might be quite a tough few days.
 
dont tell me that you used the money for a product that is a year old when a newer better product will come out in a few days for the same price. Someone give me a shotgun. :eek:

ok, tell me what's so good about the iphone 5s?

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Trade-ins are for fools.

Just buy your new phone, and sell the old one on eBay. You're guaranteed to break even, and possibly profit sightly.

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About the worst decision you could have made. Apple purposely started this program now to work the kinks out of it, and test it on the low volume of fools actually buying the iPhone 5 right now.

we'll see whose a fool on 10th of Sep.
 
apple wants to sell as many iphone 5 as it can because they will discontinue the iphone 5 after 20th Sep (the iphone 5C rumored launch date)
 
When will the companies fool us around? The iPhone price is $649/$749/$849. Plain and simple!

By signing 2 years contract you're paying off the iPhone price by monthly dues.

So if they say they'd pay you 50% off our iPhone, that should be $325/$375/$425. Again .. plain and simple :confused:
 
ok, tell me what's so good about the iphone 5s?

That's not the point. The iphone 5s doesn't need to be the best thing since apple pie. Logic 101 tells you that, because the 5s will be an upgraded model of the iphone 5 (and that's a fact, not an opinion), any person with their right mind would wait for the upgraded version instead of purchasing an iphone 5 today. What you did was like buying a brand new 2012 car when you could buy the 2013 model in a few days for the same price. Additionally, your new iphone 5 will be devaluated drastically as soon as the 5s comes out. And that's assuming you did not get in a contract with the carriers, because if you did, that would make your decision much worst. But to each their own, just saying.
 
we'll see whose a fool on 10th of Sep.

Really? There is no logic here.

There are only two outcomes on September 10th. (which is only 10 days from now). And neither of them result in you having made a good decision.

1. The 5s is way the heck better than the 5. You could have chillaxed and got it at no extra cost.

2. The 5s isn't that great and for some some oddball reason you would prefer the 5. You could have just chillaxed a couple weeks and saved a $100.

You're within your return period. Take that sucker back
 
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