Good Amazon Trade-In Experience

[aristobrat]

Had a great experience trading-in my white Verizon 16GB iPhone 4s to Amazon.

I never had a case on it, so it had some scuffs on the metal bezel, as well as on the back glass. Front had no scuffs. According to their system, that qualified as "good", but I was a little worried.

On 9/11 (the day before the iPhone 5 was announced), they were offering $348.50 for a phone in this condition, so I went ahead with it.

The only thing that sucked was that I had to mail it by a week later (9/18), which meant I had to find another phone to use for 3.5 days, until my iPhone 5 pre-order arrived.

Got email confirmation today that they accepted the phone, and deposited the $348.50 in my Amazon.com account. I know a lot of people don't use Amazon, so a credit balance of that much is essentially worthless to them, but I'm always ordering from there, so this is as good as cash for me.

I've seen a few threads of people unhappy with Amazon Trade-In, so wanted to post my experience.

 

[vegastime]

I had good luck with Amazon a few weeks ago on my iPhone4. They gave me more than originally quoted. I told them the phone was in good condition, but, they rated it like new. Probably use them on my 4S.

 

[Neil22]

Waiting on them to credit me for both of my iPhone 4S's. They've had it for a few days now, I guess I'll wait until the end of the week before I call.

 

[catalyst6]

I actually just got my confirmation the process is complete (64GB iPhone 4S). I indicated 'Like New' and received the same designation from Amazon when they processed it.

I was getting nervous, as I sent it on September 18th and hadn't heard anything. I don't know why I was worried, Amazon has the best customer service on the planet.

 

[ps45]

I had a bad experience. I think they're dishonest.

I set up a trade-in of my 4 the day before the iPhone was announced. I sent it off to Amazon on the last day permitted. I chose 'Good' simply because I didn't have the packaging, but the phone itself was excellent. No scratches, less than a year old, factory unlocked.

But then I got a notification that it was rejected due to 'Heavy scratches'

Total BS. If you ask me, they just didn't want to honor the offer they made after the value dropped straight after.

If I get that phone back and find they have added a scratch I will be releasing the hounds.

 

[saberahul]

If I get that phone back and find they have added a scratch I will be releasing the hounds.

In all practicality, that would get you no where and will only result in waste of time. Ask nicely when you speak to CS. If they don’t help, well, bad luck.

 

[ltb7]

where is the best place to go for an unlocked iPhone 4? amazon didn't care that it was unlocked...

 

[Advil]

Wow that's pretty awesome. I need to check this out.

 

[mrskullfreak]

Never heard of this.

 

[RotaryP7]

Can I buy an iPhone 5 from Amazon? lol.

 

[bogatyr]

where is the best place to go for an unlocked iPhone 4? amazon didn't care that it was unlocked...

Considering it costs $10 to get an unlock off eBay, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a place that considers that a high value over stock now.

 

[jfrancis04]

Amazon has some of the best customer service I've experienced. 90% of the time...I've had good experiences with the trade-in system.

The few times I haven't....I've called and complained and said there's no way my item was in the condition they described (only if I truly felt this way, not trying to cheat them). EVERY time I've done this, they've credited my account for the difference.

 

[AVonGauss]

Deleted.

 

[Mark Scheuern]

My iPhone 4 had some scuffs typical of what you get from a bumper rubbing on the sides and I didn't send in the box and accessories, so I claimed acceptable condition. I got an email today saying they're calling it good condition so I got more for it than I was expecting. Very satisfied with their honesty.

 

[bwhitta]

I was going to do the Amazon trade in for my iPhone 4, but decided to list it in the Amazon Marketplace. I listed it at $275 before the iPhone 5 announcement and it sold in about eight hours. I was worried that I was going to be scammed, but the transaction was smooth.

I had previously sold a perfect phone on eBay, only to have the buyer make a claim that the phone was broken. eBay/PayPal took the money out of my account and refunded the buyer with no questions asked. The jerk sent back a broken phone with a completely different serial number. I fought and fought, but buyers usually win eBay disputes easily.

 

[ps45]

In all practicality, that would get you no where and will only result in waste of time. Ask nicely when you speak to CS. If they don’t help, well, bad luck.

Really? You think if a company purposefully damaged your property so that they could back out of an offer that your only practical recourse if to ask nicely and hope they apologize? And if not, you're just out of luck? Not where I'm from. I took pictures of it before I sent it, and I can prove it wasn't scratched. If you let companies treat you like that then, well, bad luck. [Unless for some reason you took 'release the hounds' literally - that really would get me nowhere.]

 

[Mobster1983]

I did something similar. Got a quote for my white 64GB Verizon iPhone 4S two days before the 5 was announced. Shipped it the Friday before launch and indicated Like New condition. Amazon agreed once they got my phone and I got the promised $500 for it. Not bad considering the phone only cost me $399. So my new iPhone 5 64 Gb only cost my $350 without having to sign a new two year contract.

Thank you Amazon!

 

[Hrothgar]

Do they really expect original packaging and the chargers? How much will they cut off if I just send back the phone?

 

[Applejuiced]

Do they really expect original packaging and the chargers? How much will they cut off if I just send back the phone?

That's a good question.
I was looking into trading in an old iphone 4 but on their site it doesn't state that you have to send it the box and all accessories.
I don't have any of that.
Anyone else know for sure?

 

[sillywabbit]

I had previously sold a perfect phone on eBay, only to have the buyer make a claim that the phone was broken. eBay/PayPal took the money out of my account and refunded the buyer with no questions asked. The jerk sent back a broken phone with a completely different serial number. I fought and fought, but buyers usually win eBay disputes easily.

Report it stolen.