iPhone 5 64GB resale value?

SuperMatt

SuperMatt

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Just pontificating a bit here: had iPhones 5 - a 32GB and a 64GB. I replaced them with iPhones 6. Initially listed both on CL with the 32 at $250 and the 64 at $330. Got tons of offers for the 32gb at that price, but cannot even get an offer of $300 for the 64gb model. So, it seems like when it comes to resale value, there's little to be gained if you buy the top-of-the-line model. Looks like I'll be selling it for maybe $20 above the price of the 32GB model.
 
SuperMatt said:
Just pontificating a bit here: had iPhones 5 - 32GB and a 64GB. I replaced them with iPhones 6. Initially listed both on CL with the 32 at $250 and the 64 at $330. Got tons of offers for the 32gb at that price, but cannot even get an offer of $300 of the 64gb model. So, it seems like when it comes to resale value, there's little to be gained if you buy the top-of-the-line model. Looks like I'll be selling it for maybe $20 above the price of the 32GB model.
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If it still have iOS 6, it will go for A LOT more. Keep that in mind. iOS 8 does not run too well on the 5.
 
That has always been true. The highest capacity is the worse in terms of recouping the cost and the lowest capacity is best (although it might be more difficult to sell). Really no different from selling a used car fully decked vs the base model.

Get the capacity that you personally need but don't get the highest thinking you'll recoup more of the costs.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
That has always been true. The highest capacity is the worse in terms of recouping the cost and the lowest capacity is best (although it might be more difficult to sell). Really no different from selling a used car fully decked vs the base model.

Get the capacity that you personally need but don't get the highest thinking you'll recoup more of the costs.
Click to expand...

Well I did need the 64GB for my photos, videos, and (most importantly) music. So it was very useful for me. I'm glad the iPhone 6 has 64GB as the mid-tier. It's still enough for me since my needs are the same and I will recoup a higher percentage of my cost when I upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone.
 
SuperMatt said:
Just pontificating a bit here: had iPhones 5 - a 32GB and a 64GB. I replaced them with iPhones 6. Initially listed both on CL with the 32 at $250 and the 64 at $330. Got tons of offers for the 32gb at that price, but cannot even get an offer of $300 for the 64gb model. So, it seems like when it comes to resale value, there's little to be gained if you buy the top-of-the-line model. Looks like I'll be selling it for maybe $20 above the price of the 32GB model.
Click to expand...

Try swappa. IME of flipping iPhones, the 16GB sell the quickest and have the highest profit margin.

Is the phone carrier unlocked?

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SuperMatt said:
I will recoup a higher percentage of my cost when I upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone.
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IME you don't recoup a higher percentage of your costs. The 16GB have the highest profit margin.

Check out swappa and ebay and see what the phones sell for - you rarely see someone get $100+tax more for the 64GB than for the $16GB or $200+tax more for the 128GB than for the 16GB.

And believe it or not, people want that stupid box. So save the box!
 
JulesJam said:
Try swappa. IME of flipping iPhones, the 16GB sell the quickest and have the highest profit margin.

Is the phone carrier unlocked?

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IME you don't recoup a higher percentage of your costs. The 16GB have the highest profit margin.

Check out swappa and ebay and see what the phones sell for - you rarely see someone get $100+tax more for the 64GB than for the $16GB or $200+tax more for the 128GB than for the 16GB.

And believe it or not, people want that stupid box. So save the box!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I created a Swappa account and have listed it there. I had AT&T unlock it. We'll see if that works out any better for me. Also, just wanted to point out that those out there saying "16GB phones are useless, and Apple shouldn't sell them" are dead wrong. I work with regular people (read: non-techies) and they all just get the 16GB iPhones and are very happy with them. Now, seeing the way used 16GB ones sell so quickly, it's obvious they're more than good enough for most people.
 
SuperMatt said:
Also, just wanted to point out that those out there saying "16GB phones are useless, and Apple shouldn't sell them" are dead wrong. I work with regular people (read: non-techies) and they all just get the 16GB iPhones and are very happy with them. Now, seeing the way used 16GB ones sell so quickly, it's obvious they're more than good enough for most people.
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ITA. I wouldn't have one but obviously, people on these boards are techies or at least more like techies than people who aren't on these boards.

An unlocked phone will sell for more b/c of all of the people who want to either ship them overseas or use them when they travel internationally.

During the Apple glitch when we could create Verizon UDP lines, I sold about 10 iP6 that were brand new. Never once did I get $100+tax more for a 64GB phone than I got for a 16GB so I only bought the 16GB. Less risk, higher profit.

Lots of people use their phones as phones not as media players and don't need to have every picture they have ever taken in their life on their phone. Plus iCloud only gives you 5GB of free storage and you have to pay more if you are going to store many pics on your phone and want to use iCloud b/u.
 
SuperMatt said:
Well I did need the 64GB for my photos, videos, and (most importantly) music. So it was very useful for me. I'm glad the iPhone 6 has 64GB as the mid-tier. It's still enough for me since my needs are the same and I will recoup a higher percentage of my cost when I upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone.
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If you mean compared to the 128 gigs you're correct.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
That has always been true. The highest capacity is the worse in terms of recouping the cost and the lowest capacity is best (although it might be more difficult to sell). Really no different from selling a used car fully decked vs the base model.

Get the capacity that you personally need but don't get the highest thinking you'll recoup more of the costs.
Click to expand...

This. The same is true for macs. The base models sold in store carry a better resale value than the ultimate configurations you can order online. .

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JulesJam said:
yeah, the 128GB have the lowest profit margins. People who can afford the 128GB phones can afford to buy them new so there isn't a big market for them used.
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The 128gb cost $200 more than the 16gb, but in terms of resale you will be lucky to get $75 more.
 
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mattopotamus said:
This. The same is true for macs. The base models sold in store carry a better resale value than the ultimate configurations you can order online. It will probably be even more apparent when people go to sell their iphone 6's b.c the base is now 32.
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The base is 16GB on the iP6 yet you STILL can't get $100 more for the 64GB! It's crazy but it is true.
 
I haven't even bothered to sell my iPhone 5 64GB because of this. It's worth more to me as a spare than the money I'd get from selling it.
 
mattopotamus said:
No argument there, but 16gb may actually be harder to sell this go around. If supply is any indication, people want the 64 and 128. Those were out of stock regularly until a few weeks ago.
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But they make less of those so being out of stock is as much a supply factor as it is a demand factor. They make the most 16GB, then 64GB then the least 128GB.

IME the 64GB sold the fastest and the 128GB sold the slowest. But to sell the 64GB, I still did not make a full $100+tax over the 16GB models.

This is just my experience selling new unactivated iPhones.
 
JulesJam said:
But they make less of those so being out of stock is as much a supply factor as it is a demand factor. They make the most 16GB, then 64GB then the least 128GB.

IME the 64GB sold the fastest and the 128GB sold the slowest. But to sell the 64GB, I still did not make a full $100+tax over the 16GB models.

This is just my experience selling new unactivated iPhones.
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good to know. I currently have the 64 for my phone, but 128 for my ipad since I will probably keep that a few years. Hopefully 32 becomes the base next year. They want people do buy into icloud drive, but that pushes everything to your devices versus typical cloud storage.
 
I wanted to thank the people that suggested swappa.com to sell the phone. I got $50 more than I was offered on craigslist - so $320 for 64GB iPhone 5. Not bad considering it was $399 new. (yes I know the cost was subsidized by my crazy high AT&T bills...)
 
JulesJam said:
Try swappa. IME of flipping iPhones, the 16GB sell the quickest and have the highest profit margin.

Is the phone carrier unlocked?

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IME you don't recoup a higher percentage of your costs. The 16GB have the highest profit margin.

Check out swappa and ebay and see what the phones sell for - you rarely see someone get $100+tax more for the 64GB than for the $16GB or $200+tax more for the 128GB than for the 16GB.

And believe it or not, people want that stupid box. So save the box!
Click to expand...

What do you think a Factory Unlocked Gold 5S 16GB can sell for? It's in mint condition, meaning no scratches or nicks.
 
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