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Other Is Swappa a safe way to sell an iPhone?

BugeyeSTI

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 19, 2017
7,453
9,369
Arizona/Illinois
I’m considering selling an old iPhone and I don’t want to use Craiglist or ebay. I’ve seen quite a few recommendations on this forum to use Swappa. It uses PayPal to do the transaction so I know if the purchaser wants to dispute the purchase for some reason, PayPal usually sides with them. I just don’t want to get ripped off.. I’m looking for some opinions good or bad.
 
I used Swappa and I was ok with it. Only use them once. After that, I started to use Trade-In from Amazon. Its hassle free and if they disagree with the condition, they will ship it back to you for free. And no, I don't work for Amazon. The trade-in value changes daily, you can lock your price down and check again tomorrow before you ship the phone out.
 
I've been using swappa for years now and have sold over 20+ phones. Never had an issue and I have 5 stars. I also have bought a lot on there. I try to buy only from ones that have reviews.
 
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It beats ebay and craigslist IMO. I've sold several on there and its been really good overall. The only minor hiccup I've had was I listed my 7+ as mint (which IMO it was) and the buyer found some mythical scratches on the screen. They completed the sale and I didn't have any issues getting paid. I'd recommend being as accurate and honest with the condition as you can and you shouldn't have a problem.
 
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Swappa won’t be perfect. No method of reselling will be. You’ll get some stories of bad experiences that people have had with them, and they’re most likely all valid.

However, I’ve been both buying and selling with Swappa regularly for years and have no complaints. The selling system is straightforward and simple, and fees are much lower than eBay.

I personally list all of my devices as fair or good, even if I think they deserve to be a step up in terms of condition. I also list every defect that’s remotely visible- no matter how small it is. This seems to work well as I’ve had no complaints.

All in all, would recommend as the go-to place to sell your smartphone if you do not know someone personally that wants to buy it off of you.
 
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Swappa is a safer bet than eBay. Like all third-party selling/buying sites, it's just the risk you take not knowing who you are buying from.
 
Yeah it's much better than sites like eBay and Craigslist. They take a much smaller percentage and you don't have to deal with the shadiness that Craigslist provides.

I sold an iPhone 6 (32gb) on there when the S came out and got $390 for it. Could've got more probably (had I held out for more offers) but it was much better than what the trade in was on sites like Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy, my carrier (sprint). Besides, Sprint devices seem to trade in for a bit less thanks to the garbage network I presume.

I'm selling my 7 Plus on there for sure once my X is ready for pickup. Hoping to get at least 450 - 500 on there based
 
Swappa is the best site u could use to sell an old device, i've bought and sold numerous times on Swappa..never had issues.
 
JohnApples said:
I personally list all of my devices as fair or good, even if I think they deserve to be a step up in terms of condition. I also list every defect that’s remotely visible- no matter how small it is. This seems to work well as I’ve had no complaints.

All in all, would recommend as the go-to place to sell your smartphone if you do not know someone personally that wants to buy it off of you.
Click to expand...

^ This. Swappa is good overall, but if you are selling, JohnApples has great advice for how to list your item.
 
Sold a few iPhones, two Apple watches, An ipad, and my used MacBook Air

Absolutely no complaints. I’m not very trusting of people online wit the amount of scams with Apple items but swappa is legit
 
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Swappa has been good to me. I even had one bad transaction where a lady opened and used a brand new new phone and wanted to return it because she “couldn’t use it on Cricket”. It was advertised as working on Verizon only.

Anyway they pretty forcefully came to my defense and told the lady to pound sand. I ended up refunding like 80% of her money when she returned it to me and Swappa backed me up in full.

I’ve also had 5 or 6 smooth easy transactions. And fees are way lower than stupid eBay.
 
I’m going to give it a try and see how it goes. After hearing about all the bad experiences with people on ebay this is the only online site I haven’t heard much negative feedback about
 
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I bought my Series 2 SS Apple Watch from a fellow Redditor using Swappa as a mediator. Worked great.
 
No issues with swappa from person experience. I also have never had issues with Craigslist. Be smart and meet in a public place.
 
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I had one hiccup with Swappa, iPad that had a slight dent in the back that was not described, but I returned it, got a refund and ordered a different one and had no issues.
No complaints overall.
 
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