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Was thinking about trading in my M1 Mac Mini that had a value ~$310 or so few weeks ago since I got the 14" MBP but when I checked yesterday it was down to $210. At that value, I'll just keep it around.
 
Smart people use eBay to sell their stuff and THEN upgrade. Dumb people use Apple (or Verizon or any corporate entity that sells new stuff) to "trade-in", to upgrade. No room for complaining. The amount you can get for your hardware/device cannot be compared. You will always get more via eBay than through Apple/Verizon, etc. I only wish my wife had let us sell her old MS surface Pro 7 on eBay... but we have a church friend that wanted it, so he got dibs on it for $500, instead of the $600+ we could have gotten for it on eBay. Of course, with eBay's fees and such... might have been close to the same price. :rolleyes:

I have sold 2 iPhones on ebay, and it's been a huge PITA*, AND the shipping destination has been a 'freight forwarder' in both cases.

Researching freight forwarders I found out that they iPhones entered a dark zone of shady shippers that are able to obfuscate the type of product and destination. It is likely that they both ended up in countries that were barred from receiving 'high technology'. I was rather shocked, and apparently it's extremely common. So, would I sell my iPhones to a member of a terrorist organization? HECK NO! By selling on ebay, am I essentially doing just that? It seems highly likely.

Once that iPhone hit the freight forwarder, it 'disappears'. Who knows where it will turn up.

I remember the story of the Toyota truck with the plumbing company logo on the side being used by Al-Qaida, and the company wondering how that truck, which they traded in on a new on, ended up there, with their logo still on it! Easy apparently. All too easy. Wow...

*I was swamped by people DEMANDING the IMEI! Over and over again, with one person in particular apparently using multiple accounts demanded the IMEI. I was hounded, harangued, threatened, lectured over giving that number out. Who would give a number that could very well end up on a cloned phone? Yeah, I get that they don't trust the sellers (due to Apple's protections against theft) but I am not an uneducated seller. But the BS was crazy. It was like a feeding frenzy, and I just got tired of it. NEVER AGAIN! I take it to Apple, get a gift card, and am on my way. The device is likely recycled, or parted out, but it's (hopefully) way less likely to end up in a questionable person's hands. Stuff travels fast. (I traded in a pickup truck in MN years ago, and within a coupe of years, it was in the Yucatan area of Mexico. Quite a travel for that truck)
 
My Mac's trade-in value dropped $700 since May 15...:oops:
Speaking of which... it looks like the prescient Michael Burry is shorting Apple

People short sell tons of companies. It's not unusual. Eventually they have to pay for the short, but they can write it off as a loss. There was an article of a really rich guy repeatedly shorting his former employer. He hated them so much, he was hoping that the idea that a former insider would short that company would help him 'bring them down'. In the past, rumors of short selling spiking would ding a stock, but now, that king of attack is so common I don't think there are that many who really care. Plus how much is behind his short selling, if he is indeed taking that stand? 10 shares? 100? To me, it's a cheesy and cowardly way to throw a tantrum, and can be very expensive.
 
I have sold 2 iPhones on ebay, and it's been a huge PITA*, AND the shipping destination has been a 'freight forwarder' in both cases.

Researching freight forwarders I found out that they iPhones entered a dark zone of shady shippers that are able to obfuscate the type of product and destination. It is likely that they both ended up in countries that were barred from receiving 'high technology'. I was rather shocked, and apparently it's extremely common. So, would I sell my iPhones to a member of a terrorist organization? HECK NO! By selling on ebay, am I essentially doing just that? It seems highly likely.

Once that iPhone hit the freight forwarder, it 'disappears'. Who knows where it will turn up.

I remember the story of the Toyota truck with the plumbing company logo on the side being used by Al-Qaida, and the company wondering how that truck, which they traded in on a new on, ended up there, with their logo still on it! Easy apparently. All too easy. Wow...

*I was swamped by people DEMANDING the IMEI! Over and over again, with one person in particular apparently using multiple accounts demanded the IMEI. I was hounded, harangued, threatened, lectured over giving that number out. Who would give a number that could very well end up on a cloned phone? Yeah, I get that they don't trust the sellers (due to Apple's protections against theft) but I am not an uneducated seller. But the BS was crazy. It was like a feeding frenzy, and I just got tired of it. NEVER AGAIN! I take it to Apple, get a gift card, and am on my way. The device is likely recycled, or parted out, but it's (hopefully) way less likely to end up in a questionable person's hands. Stuff travels fast. (I traded in a pickup truck in MN years ago, and within a coupe of years, it was in the Yucatan area of Mexico. Quite a travel for that truck)
I've sold several iPhones on eBay... never had a problem. Maybe becaue I only sell inside the USA? Dunno. YMMV.
 
I've sold several iPhones on eBay... never had a problem. Maybe becaue I only sell inside the USA? Dunno. YMMV.

Mine have always been 'No foreign sales, shipping'. Both addresses tracked to an address associated with a freight forwarder. It's sometimes so easy to tell too. Do I know they went to a foreign country? No, but that is the reason a lot of people use freight forwarders, to 'facilitate' the easy delivery of anything sent to that address.
 
Mine have always been 'No foreign sales, shipping'. Both addresses tracked to an address associated with a freight forwarder. It's sometimes so easy to tell too. Do I know they went to a foreign country? No, but that is the reason a lot of people use freight forwarders, to 'facilitate' the easy delivery of anything sent to that address.
I only ship to known US addresses, never to a 3rd party shipping company (or eBay, etc.). I've had a couple people, from other countries, try and buy my stuff, but I decline and cancel the sale. I ain't got time for the hassle of shipping outside of the USA. As well, I only use Flat Rate USPS Priority boxes. Nothing else. That way I don't shoot myself in the foot (which I've done a few times) underestimating the shipping cost on something. :)
 
that’s why I have like 5 iPhones, 2 MBP and an iPad laying around because mentally I can’t get myself to sell them back to Apple considering how much I initially paid for it ?

I think the same way! So i hold onto them for years and years until their worth comes closer to 0 and then i throw it out ?
 
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