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I'm looking for some advice on iphone resale value. Please Help!

K

know-it-all5

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 28, 2006
275
0
USA
Here is the general situation. My dad and i both have iphones, mine is a 3g, my dads an original. The original is about a year old, but in good condition. It is the 8gb model.

My dad wants the 3g, but can't see spending 200 bucks on it right now. My thought is that we sell his original, and get him the 3g with some of the money made from the original's sale.

One of my best friends desperately wants an iphone, but in april he bought a curve, and he is no longer eligible for the subsidy. He wants me to sell my dads original to him. I looked on ebay, and saw people selling them for well over 350. I even saw a few unlocked for over 450. I cant bare to sell it to him for more than 350. I was thinking 300 or a bit more was reasonable. He was hoping more along the lines of 250. What do you guys think?
 
How good of a friend is he? Sell him the phone for $250 and you can buy a 3G 8gig. The extra $50 should cover taxes.

There isn't much profit this way but everybody gets what they want. Plus, you don't have to deal with eBay, PayPal and shipping it out.
 
TonyMil said:
How good of a friend is he? Sell him the phone for $250 and you can buy a 3G 8gig. The extra $50 should cover taxes.

There isn't much profit this way but everybody gets what they want. Plus, you don't have to deal with eBay, PayPal and shipping it out.
Click to expand...

Truth is, he's one of my best friends, but I would love a little profit.

Would this be fair:

$250 and absolutely no refunds etc. no matter what happens to the phone, (hardware malfunction etc.)

or...

300$ and you get $150 back if the phone has a hardware failure, and you wish to give it back to me.

Either way... the deal is final with no full refunds.
 
250 I think is reasonable, but your dad bought that phone for well over 300 a year ago, and it is still selling for more than 300 on ebay. You may want to consider whether you Dad can get a 3G for the subsidized price. If he can get the 8g for 200, than I say you pull the trigger at 250. If he can't get the subsidized price, then I say get as much as you can for it.
 
It's a used phone. Make sure your friend understands that there is no warranty from you, Apple or AT&T. As long as it's working at time of purchase you have met your obligation.
 
ohh.. and you may want to consider NOT doing business with a friend... this can lead to some sore feelings if something goes wrong either way
 
dwykstra said:
250 I think is reasonable, but your dad bought that phone for well over 300 a year ago, and it is still selling for more than 300 on ebay. You may want to consider whether you Dad can get a 3G for the subsidized price. If he can get the 8g for 200, than I say you pull the trigger at 250. If he can't get the subsidized price, then I say get as much as you can for it.
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He is eligible for the subsidized price of 199. (and just so you know, that phone was actually not even bought by my dad... my brother got it for free from work, and gave it to me when he got a 3g, cause he no longer had any use for it... I decided I wanted a 3g, so i gave the original one to my dad. Now i want him to have a 3g.)
 
dwykstra said:
ohh.. and you may want to consider NOT doing business with a friend... this can lead to some sore feelings if something goes wrong either way
Click to expand...

I know. believe me, that is why i am asking you guys for advice. I dont wanna do this deal at all, cause to be honest it really doesnt benefit me all that much. I just want my dad to have a 3g, and my friend to have an iphone. The dilemma is that i dont wanna make two people happy, but then get fudged out of a ton of money i could have made selling it elsewhere.
 
The dilemma is that i dont wanna make two people happy, but then get fudged out of a ton of money i could have made selling it elsewhere.
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eBay it. Pay for your dad's subsidized phone and pocket the profit. Your friend will just have to wait a paycheck or two and buy one on eBay.
 
TonyMil said:
eBay it. Pay for your dad's subsidized phone and pocket the profit. Your friend will just have to wait a paycheck or two and buy one on eBay.
Click to expand...

Assuming i am gonna sell it to the friend... what would you make the price and terms TonyMil?
 
I would sell it for $250. If your friend will go as high as $300 (remind him he's avoiding the eBay hassle) then do it. Just make it clear to him the phone is sold as-is / no warranty. Let your friend see it work, make a call or two, listen to a couple of songs / vids if you want. This way everything is out in the open.
 
TonyMil said:
I would sell it for $250. If your friend will go as high as $300 (remind him he's avoiding the eBay hassle) then do it. Just make it clear to him the phone is sold as-is / no warranty. Let your friend see it work, make a call or two, listen to a couple of songs / vids if you want. This way everything is out in the open.
Click to expand...

Then $250 as is, no warranty... PERIOD.

Does anybody disagree with this idea, or does it sound fair?
 
given the fact that you said you got the phone for free... anything you make is a profit. sell it for 250, pocket the 25 and the thought you've made two people happy, and call it a day... If you're really want to maximize your profit, just go to ebay, and not try to upsell your friend
 
know-it-all5 said:
I know. believe me, that is why i am asking you guys for advice. I dont wanna do this deal at all, cause to be honest it really doesnt benefit me all that much. I just want my dad to have a 3g, and my friend to have an iphone. The dilemma is that i dont wanna make two people happy, but then get fudged out of a ton of money i could have made selling it elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Just sell it to him for $250. You get Cash upfront. Do you want to deal with craigslist or ebay. Personally I would take the $250.

I sold a 4 month old current generation Macbook for $1250 to a friend. Lady on craigslist offered my $1300 for it. (I supped it up with a 320GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM) in case you are wondering why I sold it for a high resell price. Selling to my friend made more since I wouldn't be dealing with the uncertainty of the internet, bonus scams, chance of getting robbed.
 
Thank you soo much for the responses. I think its fair. Anybody, has their own opinions that haven't been brought up, I insist... Please shoot. I am more than open to suggestions.
 
When I sell something to a friend, it's always for cash, and my price is lower than what I could sell it for after going through considerable hassle.

Time is money. Ebay takes time. And there are countless noobs there who think payment is optional after they've won an auction. And there's Nigerians, tire kickers, repeated buyer's remorse "victims", post office headaches, Ebay fees, Paypal fees, etc. etc. This is not to say that Ebay isn't great, for rare, unusual or hard to find items, or for repeat selling in bulk at a fixed price. But when you are one dude selling one item that tons of others are selling for the exact same price, other options might be better.

If you can sell your iPhone for cash to someone and avoid all that nonsense, even if you "lose" $50 to $75, you come out on top.

As for "as is", don't say as is, just kindly remind them that you are not a store, you're an individual selling one item, at a nice discount, and that it works fine as far as you know. Give them a 24 hour lemon period, after which you will be happy to help them get service if there is an issue. Also mention that the money you get from them will go directly towards a new phone and thus a refund will not be possible.

All this said, I think $275-$300 is a fair price. I sold mine to a shop in NYC for $380...they flip them for $500 all day. Ebay prices are in the $300-$400 range for 8GB, condition dependent. If yours is in nice shape, you should ask for $300.
 
eBay median

Sell it for the average (median) of the last dozen or so closing prices on eBay for units sold in the same condition. That should be fair to both parties. And your friend doesn't even need to pay shipping.
 
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