Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Has anyone ever been denied or paid less than expected? In other words, have any of these places said your phone was in worse condition (worth less) than you believed?

Yes, Amazon did it to me with my iPhone 5s. I was surprised because I had sold two previous phones with them with no issues. I'll admit there may have been a small nick or two, but there's no way an unlocked 32 GB one year old phone was only worth $100. I should have protected myself by selecting the option to have it returned if they graded it lower, but I'd had good experiences in the past so I let my guard down. Lesson learned.
 
If you meant to say AMOLED you must be joking. That technology (favored by Samsung) is garbage for any display meant to display high quality photos. The color balance is completely off, rewiring the user to switch to different modes to view different types of content. The only way Apple will every use such a display on an iPhone or iPad is if a future iteration resolves the current color issues.

This is false. See here and here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9146/the-samsung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge-review/4

http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S6_ShootOut_1.htm
 
  • Like
Reactions: dampfnudel
this orchard app I found seems to be paying a lot, just over $500 for a 6+ 64 gb if you're willing to wait 3 weeks. I dont know how legit they are though
 
I sold my iPhone 4 on Craigslist for $225 9 months ago. Carriers were offering $20-50. Anyone on Craigslist will buy a 6 for $500 or more, it might take a day or two to get a bite, but someone will buy it. Sold my 5S for $450 and it was more than a year old. Seriously, don't use these mail-in places, they are a hassle and most times will "re-evaluate" their offer once they receive it.
Yup! I got a great price on an old 2010 MacBook Air (don't remember exactly). It helps that I have a way to automatically post to CL every hour or so though. Makes things very quick. :)
I've found it makes more sense to keep the old phones than getting rid of them.
How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?
I used to think that, but the only reason was that I was being lazy. :D
 
$250 - 10% (Ebay fees) - 2.9% (PayPal fees) - $20 (shipping + insurance + required signature on delivery) = $197

...and then there's the work you put into taking pictures, creating a listing, waiting, responding to buyers who want you to do shady things, and running the risk of having buyers complaining after the sale and dinging your rating.

The buyer pays for shipping costs.
 
Sure, with eBay you have the "hassle" of having to take a few pictures of your phone. With craigslist you have the risk of being mugged.

There's also the risk of getting scammed out of your money on eBay. However, there are steps you can take to minimize risks with any venues, including CL and eBay. It's usually the inexperienced sellers who are most at risk.
 

Samsung dramatically improved the color accuracy of their AMOLED displays with the S6, which is good since all their previous models were awful.

But even the S6 models lag behind the iPhone.

Greyscale Accuracy (lower is better)
iPhone 6 1.9683
Galaxy S6 Edge 3.1000
Galaxy S6 3.8800

Saturation Accuracy (lower is better)
iPhone 6 1.1929
Galaxy S6 Edge 1.3600
Galaxy S6 1.8400

GMB Accuracy (lower is better)
iPhone 6 1.7645
Galaxy S6 Edge 2.0200
Galaxy S6 2.3500​

"However while the S6 edge seems to be without any issues, the S6 does have some odd display issues that can be seen in direct sunlight as seen in the photo above. To be clear about this the photo above is a simple white screen, which should make the image completely homogeneous, but instead there are two visible vertical lines and another jagged horizontal line that appear across the display. Inspection under a light microscope doesn’t really reveal what’s causing this, but the defect is quite visible in practice as seen in the photo above."

"As far as I can tell, it looks like the green subpixels have a bit more variance than what we’re used to as they tend towards oblong shapes rather than circles, which is likely due to the much tighter pixel density. It seems that this variance may cause some color shifting in certain units, which seems to remain a potential problem with Samsung's AMOLED displays."

"Due to the subpixel arrangement and some other differences in the display design, color shifting also remains higher than one would expect from LCD displays that are found in phones like the iPhone 6."

"Issues like purple smearing have been resolved, but there are still some problems with the display such as color shifting with changes to viewing angles and some variability in display quality from unit to unit."
 
There is a lot more risk to eBay than that. There are risks of fraud, chargebacks, negative feedback, etc...

If you limit sales to North American buyers with positive feedback and PayPal payments - and assuming you're not misrepresenting the item - you are unlikely to have problems. I've been selling stuff on eBay for many years and never had any issues.
 
From what you guys have seen, is there a big disparity b/t resale values of the 16GB vs 64GB vs 128GB on eBay? Is one more sought after than another year-after-year regardless of model?
 
What wrong with iPhone 6 (which was so awesome not long before)?

This trade in mentality must stop. Apple is supporting these iPhones 4 years with iOS updates, and if you pay $650 and more, it is better to keep it for at least two years...
Some of us need to know what our customers have in their hands. iPhones easily outnumber any other mobile device among my viewers. I was able to hold out until December or January last year (before buying the 6 and 6 Plus), but now a large percentage of iPhone owners have the larger screens. So I'll probably need to acquire one of the new models again soon, rather than waiting so long after launch like last year.


I'm actually glad many iPhone users upgrade so quickly. It means many people have the latest technology. It's wonderful to see so many people anxiously paying for these devices and data service on their own, without any inkling that I need them to have it just as much as they want it.

In my case it makes more sense to have the latest iPhone with whatever changes/improvements it has, rather than continue paying (either through depreciation, lease payments, or device payments) for the redundant older technology.
 
Last edited:
If you meant to say AMOLED you must be joking. That technology (favored by Samsung) is garbage for any display meant to display high quality photos. The color balance is completely off, rewiring the user to switch to different modes to view different types of content. The only way Apple will every use such a display on an iPhone or iPad is if a future iteration resolves the current color issues.

No, I'm talking about the improved version of OLED that Apple has been working on for over a year now called microLED or mLED. It's more efficient and brighter than AMOLED.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/making-a-case-microled-display-in-iphone-6s.1910264/
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: scapegoat81
If you limit sales to North American buyers with positive feedback and PayPal payments - and assuming you're not misrepresenting the item - you are unlikely to have problems. I've been selling stuff on eBay for many years and never had any issues.

Well then the same can be said of Craigslist. If you limit your sales to buyers that can form complete sentences in their emails, can carry on an intelligent conversation, will speak on the phone, will meet in a public place, and display cash before touching the item then you are unlikely to have problems. I have been selling stuff on Craigslist for many years without issues using these methods.

My point was that there is more risk in selling on eBay than you were implying and I was supporting the OP who said that both services have pros and cons.
 
The problem with craigslist is having to meet some stranger in person, with the associated risks and potential hassles thereof. You can get just as much on eBay without the hassle or risk.

This is faulty reasoning, and a fear-tactic retailers don't want you to overlook when reselling a device; obviously, as a business, they want your profit.

You can arrange a Craigslist meeting anywhere - I always choose a nearby Walmart or Safeway parking lot, somewhere well-populated during the day. I often agree to meet only at the entrance, because there are flurries of people.

I really don't think you can earn back as much using eBay. You have to pay to list, a portion of what you sell, and then to cash out through PayPal, take a percentage. If you get a scam buyer, you have to relist and do the auction all over again, so really there is the potential for hassles there as well. Issues with shipping, buyer receiving and then wanting to send it back. Craigslist avoids of all of that. All in the perspective.
 
The buyer pays for shipping costs.

Most items on Ebay sell with free shipping in which the seller pays. The seller then also gets hit with Ebay fees for that (Ebay charges the final value fee on shipping charges, too).
 
eBay is THE WORST WAY to resell your device. Just from a pure business perspective, it's horrible. You're taking chunks off the final profit 3 or 4 times before you see it. Why would anyone willingly do this?
 
Well then the same can be said of Craigslist. If you limit your sales to buyers that can form complete sentences in their emails, can carry on an intelligent conversation, will speak on the phone, will meet in a public place, and display cash before touching the item then you are unlikely to have problems. I have been selling stuff on Craigslist for many years without issues using these methods.

My point was that there is more risk in selling on eBay than you were implying and I was supporting the OP who said that both services have pros and cons.

I sold two iPhones this weekend through craigslist. Just old phones that I'd never gotten around to selling. Both were a bit wonky in one way or another. First buyer was quite odd. But he paid up without a fuss after he confirmed he could swap his sim card into the phone and it would work. Second buyer drove to my house and did the deal with no hassle. He barely checked out the phone before paying for it. I priced the phones to move, and they sold within four hours of me posting them on craigslist. I still got more than I would have gotten through any of these services even though each phone had an issue (crack in screen and touchID doesn't work for the 5s; power button doesn't work for the 5).

I like your methods though. I didn't ask to see the cash up front, for example. But I'm a big dude so they'd probably be more nervous flashing cash to me than I am in the situation. So this is probably a method I can't use as easily without turning off my counterparty.

Funny coincidence. Since I'm participating in the Samsung Test Drive, I had a "burner" phone number to use with the guys to arrange the meet up. I really don't want to hear from the first guy again; and coincidentally in three weeks the number he has will be moved on to someone else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DustinLH00
If you limit sales to North American buyers with positive feedback and PayPal payments - and assuming you're not misrepresenting the item - you are unlikely to have problems. I've been selling stuff on eBay for many years and never had any issues.

You can't really restrict buyers with 0 feedback from bidding on your item, and positive feedbacks are meaningless since they can't get negative feedbacks anymore. You can, however, go in and remove their bids after the fact.

From what you guys have seen, is there a big disparity b/t resale values of the 16GB vs 64GB vs 128GB on eBay? Is one more sought after than another year-after-year regardless of model?

You'll always recoup more of your cost selling the base model, but rather than worry about this, just get the capacity you personally need as there are always buyers for each capacity.
 
Last edited:
eBay is THE WORST WAY to resell your device. Just from a pure business perspective, it's horrible. You're taking chunks off the final profit 3 or 4 times before you see it. Why would anyone willingly do this?

You'll still get more than many of the sites listed in the OP, especially for unlocked devices.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.