Nah.
I’d rather play the saftey card of just trading in with Apple direct. No hassles, straight-forward and not dealing with shady tactics from unknown buyers. I don’t need to make ‘top dollar’ for my electronic products.
I mean, Swappa is great for getting scammed, if that’s your thing.
Here’s how Apple took me for a ride magnitudes worse than any buyer has given me in over a decade and hundreds of sales on eBay, Swappa, Amazon, and others.
I’m in the iPhone upgrade program. Apple sent me a box to trade in my old iPhone 12 mini after I got my 13 Pro. I packaged it as instructed, and put my iPhone in the indent which was definitely larger than my phone.
I figured — as one might — this is Apple. They do millions of these monthly. Sure, the phone is a little loose, but there’s still lots of padding surrounding it. I took pictures before sealing the box.
About a week later, I get an email from Apple saying my trade-in was rejected, providing little other info, other than that it would be returned to me in the condition it was received.
Soon after, I got my old iPhone back
in the same box that I sent it in, and it is shattered front and back. The display panel itself was cracked too.
After this, it was about a two month process for me to work with Apple to arrange a new “trade in” where they would basically ignore the damages.
I think it’s particularly important to note that they sent it back in the same box that I sent it in — so I have no clue which damages occurred en route to them as opposed to en route back to me. Also, when I sent it, it was in a thin styrofoam sleeve, which wasn’t there when they sent it back. So, technically, my packing job was more secure than theirs.
Overall:
- I spent about five hours on the phone with Apple Support, never getting promised callbacks, which led me to calling the main AppleCare line and starting from scratch several times because nobody could get me to the right department.
- Paid an extra $35 monthly payment because my phone wasn’t returned on time (because they broke it and sent it
back to me). Apple Support told me to contact IUP/Citizens bank to try to get that refunded. I never bothered because I was so done with the situation and if they have me one bit of hassle, I would’ve screamed at somebody.
Anyway… Looking forward to upgrading to the 14 Pro this year and sending my phone back to Apple!

