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Adelphos33

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 13, 2012
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I purchased a full priced, unlocked iPhone 6+ from Apple this past February. I had heard for years that it made more sense to buy full price and go off contract with carriers because you could always resell iPhones for close to what you bought them for. Unfortunately, Gazelle, eBay and Craigslist seem to be pricing my phone from $500 to $600 when i paid $850 for it. I plan on buying the 6S or 6S+ next week, so I will really just be funding my upgrade. In addition, AT&T doesn't have discounted plans for off contract users. I may even just do AT&T Next.
 
I've done the buying and selling iPhones game and honestly unless you are selling within a month or 2 of release, you'll never get the value back. $500 on a 16GB iPhone 6 has been pretty much consistent for months now. Another misconception is that more GBs will get a higher price, and you'll never get an extra $100 for more GBs. $50 if you're lucky on a 64GB device.
 
Lesson learned, also selling an iPhone now really isn't the best timing... Waiting even until Aug is a bad idea since Apple releases new devices every September.

I've enjoyed the 6+ and look forward to the new phone - I just think the benefit of going buying fully paid are a bit overstated, especially given the work required to get full value out of it. It essentially means you have to go two months every year with a substandard phone (if you sell your phone in July, for example, you have to use a backup until you get the new phone in September)
 
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I purchased a full priced, unlocked iPhone 6+ from Apple this past February. I had heard for years that it made more sense to buy full price and go off contract with carriers because you could always resell iPhones for close to what you bought them for. Unfortunately, Gazelle, eBay and Craigslist seem to be pricing my phone from $500 to $600 when i paid $850 for it. I plan on buying the 6S or 6S+ next week, so I will really just be funding my upgrade. In addition, AT&T doesn't have discounted plans for off contract users. I may even just do AT&T Next.

I've enjoyed the 6+ and look forward to the new phone - I just think the benefit of going buying fully paid are a bit overstated, especially given the work required to get full value out of it. It essentially means you have to go two months every year with a substandard phone (if you sell your phone in July, for example, you have to use a backup until you get the new phone in September)

I don't think anyone has ever said that if you buy a phone outright, you can get more when selling it. It is all about timing. Just like you are trying to fund your next phone with minimal loss, there are others trying to buy your old phone at a reasonable value. This is the way the market works. It's nobody's fault but a timing issue.
 
Ebay is your second best option. I always start my products at $0.99. 90% of the the time I get $100-$200 profit from what I originally purchased. I'm selling my 6 Plus to my friend for $1,200 compared to the 128GB full price of $1,026
 
I've enjoyed the 6+ and look forward to the new phone - I just think the benefit of going buying fully paid are a bit overstated, especially given the work required to get full value out of it. It essentially means you have to go two months every year with a substandard phone (if you sell your phone in July, for example, you have to use a backup until you get the new phone in September)
That's just it, you're never going to get full value on your phone. That idea is beyond silly. It doesn't happen. You'll never break even on a new device. I've stopped chasing the latest and greatest phones and just learned to enjoy them. I'm content with my iPhone 6 and won't be upgrading until next year!
 
They reduce the line cost by $25 for off-contract users. So it's $15/line. Same as it would be on AT&T Next.
It's reduced by $15 or by $25 depending on how much data is on the plan, and that only applies to the current plans essentially.
 
Ebay is your second best option. I always start my products at $0.99. 90% of the the time I get $100-$200 profit from what I originally purchased. I'm selling my 6 Plus to my friend for $1,200 compared to the 128GB full price of $1,026

Why would you deliberately con your friend, or anyone else for that matter? What kind of ethics are that?
 
Rule #1... The more money you spend... the more money you lose... If you would have paid $649 for a 6 16GB then the resale would only be $50 less but you paid $200 more.

The storage only nets about $25 for the $100 spent.

If you really want to cry... Go look at the Galaxy S6... 6 months newer than the Iphone 6 and the 32 GB S6 sells for at least $50-$100 less than even the 16GB.
 
It's a used iPhone a week before the new model is released. You probably should have sold it a month ago.
A month ago the resale value wasn't much better.

Since I always have a miminum of two iPhones and upgrade at each new release, I usually sell one of mine to Gazelle months in advance. Frankly I watch Gazelle and others monthly as I also have Androids and other smartphones I buy and sell year round.

The OP is correct.
Not only are iPhone resale values going soft, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there's a gradual decline from this point forward. No company, not even Apple can continue to increase in value forever. They've had a very good run. A downward trend is not disastrous.

In fact I'd welcome a drop in new iPhone sales soon. Reason why is Apples just too fat and happy, too profitable and their behind the scenes complacency is getting harder to hide. No amount of spin control, warm and fuzzy dialog or well hyped marketing stories can cover the truth forever.

Apple will be just fine.
 
If you really want to cry... Go look at the Galaxy S6... 6 months newer than the Iphone 6 and the 32 GB S6 sells for at least $50-$100 less than even the 16GB.
No crying here.

Galaxy and other top of the line Androids are far better values. Sold for hundreds less than the overpriced modestly equipped iPhone 6 and 6 Plus like I have, buying and selling frequently is part of the game. :D
 
I don't know what's worse, the person selling it for that amount or the person buying it at that amount :confused:

I think it's unimaginable for us that there are people out there who haven't a clue about gadgets and their costs. But the numbers are probably much higher than we can fathom. But yes, anyone buying something should at least do a small search on pricing, that's the least anyone can do. Basing a buying decision on "trust" doesn't seem like a good idea. At all. In any case, I have a tiny weeny bit of sympathy for naivety and absolutely zero for conning. :/
 
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Several things. One, trade-in price will always be low. You are paying for convenience. If you want top dollar, sell on Craigslist or your local equivalent with no fees.

Two, as mentioned, the only phones where this has ever really worked are the 16GB models. You basically get next to nothing for the added storage you paid a premium for.

Three, after playing this game for years, I've seen the last couple generations of phones get much more difficult to sell as the market is saturating and there are a lot more unlocked phones on the market. I traded my 5s in for the first time last time as Best Buy had a promotion when I went to buy the 6. It was hassle-free, and I got to keep my cable and charger. I'll be doing the same next time.
 
Honestly don't always go by what you see on Craigslist or eBay. When I was ready to sell my iphone 6 64Gb Most people had posted same phone for $500 and $550. I started mine at $700 which honestly it's a lot! but that way I would be able to negotiate without bringing the price too low and I knew my phone was in perfect condition, Just make sure you word your ad in a way that you make the buyer to feel safe about their purchase. There are ads for phones that sound too good to be true, like someone could be selling their phone for $400, but then the way the ad is posted sounds kinda fishy. I always tell people I'm willing to meet at the Verizon store that way they can make sure IMEI is clean, that my phone comes with original box and accessories and give them as much info as I can about the phone I'm selling. A lot of people rather pay a little bit more as long as they feel confortable with the person their buying it from and with their purchase. I ended up selling mine for $650 (iphone 6 64Gb space gray). it's been a week since I sold it.
 
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