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How to Get the Best Resale Price for Your iPhone 6, 6 Plus or 5s

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With the "iPhone 6s" and "iPhone 6s Plus" expected to be announced at Apple's September 9th media event, and released a few weeks later, now is the time for prospective upgraders to begin exploring trade-in and resale options for their current iPhone or Android-based smartphone.

iphone_lineup_2014.jpg

Getting the best value for your iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s or other current smartphone can help offset a significant portion of your next iPhone purchase, but resale and trade-in prices will drop significantly between now and the launch of new iPhones, so it is best to move fast.

MacRumors compared iPhone trade-in prices from various services using a 16GB iPhone 6 from AT&T as a baseline.

Trade-In Programs

gazelle_logo_lrg-250x129.jpg
Gazelle announced today that it is offering a Best Price Guarantee on iPhone 6, 6 Plus and 5s trade-ins until September 9th, promising to beat the trade-in values offered by Apple and carriers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Gazelle's Best Price Guarantee covers all storage sizes and colors and includes a 30-day grace period, meaning that you can lock in your trade-in price now and wait until you have your new iPhone before sending in your current one.

Average Price (16GB/AT&T): $301 (iPhone 6), $326 (iPhone 6 Plus), $166 (iPhone 5s)
Payment Method: Check by Mail, Amazon Gift Card, PayPal or Charitable Donation
Resale Method: Ship iPhone to Gazelle (Free)

nextworth_logo_-250x167.jpg
NextWorth offers a similar trade-in service as Gazelle for the iPhone 4 through iPhone 6 Plus. NextWorth quotes are valid for 30 days, allowing you to lock in a trade-in price on your current iPhone and ship it after receiving your new iPhone.

NextWorth offers higher prices on average for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus than Gazelle, with trade-in values up to $480, although it depends on the specific model and condition of the smartphone. Completing a checklist about the condition of the smartphone is required.

Average Price (16GB/AT&T): $320 (iPhone 6), $360 (iPhone 6 Plus), $160 (iPhone 5s)
Payment Method: Check by Mail, Discover Prepaid Card, PayPal or Target Gift Card
Payment Process: Ship iPhone to NextWorth (Free)

amazon-1.png
Amazon runs a trade-in store where you can search for the iPhone model that you want to trade in and receive a price quote. After answering a few questions about the condition of the smartphone and entering your shipping address, you can print off a shipping label to mail the iPhone for free in exchange for an Amazon Gift Card.

Average Price (16GB/AT&T): $360 (iPhone 6), $389 (iPhone 6 Plus), $175 (iPhone 5s)
Payment Method: Amazon Gift Card
Payment Process: Ship iPhone to Amazon (Free)

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Article Link: How to Get the Best Resale Price for Your iPhone 6, 6 Plus or 5s
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/02/iphone-6-trade-in-options-2015/
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BeSweeet

BeSweeet

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No mention of Swappa?

eBay's fine if you want to deal with their horrendous fees in addition to what PayPal will take. Almost into Gazelle territory at that point.
 
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TouchMint.com

TouchMint.com

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May 25, 2012
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T-Mobile had a pretty good deal going on last year around launch. You could trade in as old as an iPhone 4 / 3gs? (in any condition i believe) and get $200 so keep an eye out for that.
 
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
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Let me remind everyone that this is also a great time to find that family member or friend who is stuck with a crap phone, and make their day with the best early Christmas present ever.

If you're not really hurting for money and want to do some good, giving your old phone to someone you care about when you upgrade is a wonderful thing. :) I just did this with my previous iPhone 5 myself.
 
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Joe Rossignol

Joe Rossignol

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Sloppy.Joe

Sloppy.Joe

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I would give mine away but the battery is very poor and i may have to turn it in if i decide to try Sprint's "cut your bill in half" promotion. Still on the fence though.
 
T

TEBnewyork

macrumors regular
Jun 13, 2009
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rkieru said:
Gazelle at this point is a joke. They offer less money than you can get on eBay even allowing for all the fees between eBay and PayPal. They are the EB Games of mobile trade-ins; ripping you off so they can maximize their own profits on resale.
Click to expand...

Gazelle is really messed up on pricing right now.

128GB flawless 6 plus

Unlocked $390
Verizon $481

Cust service was no help.
 
S

Sasparilla

macrumors 68000
Jul 6, 2012
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Gotta have a phone to get by with in the mean time for this to work.

Important to remember on eBay if you do auction eBay takes 20%, if you do buy it now (only) they take 10%.
 
Mlrollin91

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
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NextWorth is offering $405. I locked in the offer for my iPhone 6. Beats the $300 AT&T will give me on Next. Might as well do that and just ship it in. Don't have the time to deal with selling the device this year. So the extra $105 for nothing is nice.

Has anyone used Nextworth? Any experiences? Do you need to include box and accessories?
 
6

639051

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Nov 8, 2011
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I'll just sell on swappa or the like later on. Not giving it away to one of these services.
 
W

wkadamsjr

macrumors 6502
Jun 29, 2010
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rkieru said:
Gazelle at this point is a joke. They offer less money than you can get on eBay even allowing for all the fees between eBay and PayPal. They are the EB Games of mobile trade-ins; ripping you off so they can maximize their own profits on resale.
Click to expand...

Of course they offer less than eBay. People who use them do so because they don't want to deal with the hassle of eBay or Craigslist. They want to sell their device at a (somewhat) fair price and be done with it. The extra $50 or so doesn't make a difference to those people.

Just because it isn't for you, doesn't mean it's not for anyone.

EDIT: And yes, I know other sites pay more. Gazelle is more well-known (due to advertising, etc.), so they can get away with paying less.
 
BeSweeet

BeSweeet

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Apr 2, 2009
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Sasparilla said:
Gotta have a phone to get by with in the mean time for this to work.

Important to remember on eBay if you do auction eBay takes 20%, if you do buy it now (only) they take 10%.
Click to expand...

Using their fee calculator, they take 10% for auctions and buy it now. And don't forget PayPal's own fees. Really not as good as it may sound.
 
freediverx

freediverx

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Feb 19, 2006
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I get that Gazelle is an advertising client, but you're doing your readers a disservice every time you list the best iPhone resale option (eBay) as a last ditch also-ran at the bottom of the list. You can sell your iPhone on eBay for hundreds more than what Gazelle will pay.
 
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freediverx

freediverx

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Feb 19, 2006
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BeSweeet said:
Using their fee calculator, they take 10% for auctions and buy it now. And don't forget PayPal's own fees. Really not as good as it may sound.
Click to expand...

You will get far more money for your phone on eBay than from companies like Gazelle, even after deducting eBay's fees. You don't need to pay extra fees for "buy it now" or other options as they are neither necessary nor worthwhile.

Currently, for an iPhone 6 from AT&T with 64GB of storage, Gazelle will pay $336 for a FLAWLESS phone.

On eBay, phones matching this description sold in the last few weeks for an average of around $600 (range: ~$500-700.) Subtract $60 in fees and you still have $540, for a net difference of $204, which is 64% more than you'd have gotten from Gazelle.

Ebay is neither risky nor troublesome as long as you follow one simple rule:
Restrict your auction to North American buyers paying with PayPal.
 
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cargoplex

cargoplex

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Mar 10, 2006
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For what it's worth, here's my iPhone sales history:

• iPhone (2007)
Paid: $599 (unsubsidized)
Sold: $395 (jailbroken/unlocked - eBay) - sold in 2008

• iPhone 3G (2008)
Paid: $199 (subsidized)
Sold: $395 (jailbroken/unlocked - eBay) - sold in 2009

• iPhone 3GS (2009)
Paid: $499 (unsubsidized)
Sold: $299 (factory locked - eBay) - sold in 2010

• iPhone 4 (2010)
Paid: $199 (subsidized)
Sold: $225 (factory locked - Amazon) - sold in 2011

• iPhone 4S (2011)
Paid: $199 (subsidized)
Sold: $400 (factory unlocked - eBay) - sold in 2012

• iPhone 5 (2012)
Paid: $449 (discounted)
Sold: $299 (factory unlocked - eBay) - sold in 2014

• iPhone 5S (2013)
Paid: $449 (discounted)
Sold: $449 (factory unlocked - eBay) - sold in 2014

• iPhone 6 (2014)
Paid: $449 (discounted)
 
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