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orange42

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 12, 2009
612
1
So I got this message from AT&T saying I'd be charged $300 if I don't return my iPhone 6 to them. Meanwhile, it's in near brand new condition and they're selling on eBay for well over $300. Will the $300 be a one time only charge? Why not sell on eBay for more and pay the AT&T charge?
 

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kupkakez

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2011
2,061
1,254
Austin, TX
ebay youre going to have shipping fees, paypal fees, ebay fees. You are not going to pocket as much as you think you are and stand to lose more. If the deal goes south and you have a shady buyer who requests a refund for some bizarre reason and sends you back a box of rocks you are out $300 to ATT AND a phone.

Also that model is not selling for that much you'll probably get about $450 but youre going to net MAYBE $100 after fees, shipping/insurance etc, is it worth it for $100? If it were me, no.
 
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orange42

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 12, 2009
612
1
ebay youre going to have shipping fees, paypal fees, ebay fees. You are not going to pocket as much as you think you are and stand to lose more. If the deal goes south and you have a shady buyer who requests a refund for some bizarre reason and sends you back a box of rocks you are out $300 to ATT AND a phone.

Also that model is not selling for that much you'll probably get about $450 but youre going to net MAYBE $100 after fees, shipping/insurance etc, is it worth it for $100? If it were me, no.
For $100 for me, no, it wouldn't be worth it either. But, I didn't realize the ended auctions I was looking at that sold for around $800 were from August. So the recent ones are going for a little under $500. Even that isn't really worth the risk now.
 
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tivoboy

macrumors 68040
May 15, 2005
3,978
791
right now you can ebay a phone for 5$, till I think 10/6, so list it now and you won't have too many fees. You should be able to get more like 400-450$ for a nice 6
 

jtrue28

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2015
1,028
711
Lexington, KY
ebay youre going to have shipping fees, paypal fees, ebay fees. You are not going to pocket as much as you think you are and stand to lose more. If the deal goes south and you have a shady buyer who requests a refund for some bizarre reason and sends you back a box of rocks you are out $300 to ATT AND a phone.

Also that model is not selling for that much you'll probably get about $450 but youre going to net MAYBE $100 after fees, shipping/insurance etc, is it worth it for $100? If it were me, no.

Again. ebay is running their special right now on smartphones. Pay no insertion fees, and maximum of $5 end of auction fee. Make the buyer pay shipping. Paypal steals 2.5%. You'll get way more than $300. Good grief.
 
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stulaw11

Suspended
Jan 25, 2012
1,391
1,624
True but as said need to include paypal's 3%.

Say you can get $425, you're only up $100 if you owe ATT $300 on the phone after Ebay (even if its $5) and Payal fees. They aren't going for $500-750 anymore with the flood of sales from upgraders in the last week.

At the end of the day you really net $100 if you owe $300 on a 64gb 6.
 

kupkakez

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2011
2,061
1,254
Austin, TX
Again. ebay is running their special right now on smartphones. Pay no insertion fees, and maximum of $5 end of auction fee. Make the buyer pay shipping. Paypal steals 2.5%. You'll get way more than $300. Good grief.

Your point? $5 is still an eBay fee. I didn't list out exact figures here.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,929
3,677
Returning to AT&T also means you keep your accessories.

If I had an easy local sale for cash for more money, I'd do it. But no way am I risking an ebay auction to maybe make $100. Ebay is hostile towards sellers and the iPhone is the biggest scammed item you can find there.
 

jtrue28

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2015
1,028
711
Lexington, KY
Sell for $450. Paypal takes ~$11 and ebay will take $5. So $16 in fees. Pay AT&T the 300, net $134. Sounds like a deal to me.
 

ZombiePete

macrumors 68020
Aug 6, 2008
2,319
1,064
San Antonio, TX
Say you can get $425, you're only up $100 if you owe ATT $300 on the phone after Ebay (even if its $5) and Payal fees.

And the downside is...? You must be pretty wealthy if you scoff at "only" making $100 vice just giving it to AT&T and being up nothing. That's basically a $100 convenience fee in your scenario.
 

stulaw11

Suspended
Jan 25, 2012
1,391
1,624
Other issue are deadbeat bidders or someone scams you and claims never received it etc. Not worth the hassle for $100 (or maybe even less). $100 isn't pocket change but you rather lose $400-450?
 
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jhearty99

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2012
514
541
Long Island, NY
Be aware if you are going to go the eBay route, the $5 final value fee promotion must be activated before you list the phone. If you just list the phone, you will pay the full fee. Also, set your buyer requirements to try and weed out some of the scammers.

I just sold my 64gb iPhone 6 for $496. After shipping and fees, I am netting about $460.
 
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rarebeauty

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2014
336
286
Surprised no one has mentioned swappa.com. Eliminate eBay all together. $10 dollar swappa fee, moderated listings, 3% paypal fees. Done.
This is where I sell my phones. However personally, I would just return the phone to AT&T.
 

duaneu

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
717
279
Bellevue, WA
And the downside is...? You must be pretty wealthy if you scoff at "only" making $100 vice just giving it to AT&T and being up nothing. That's basically a $100 convenience fee in your scenario.
$100 is the best case scenario if nothing goes wrong. Others have pointed out the risks associated with being stuck with a shady buyer. There's a chance you could end up with nothing.
 
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rijc99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 27, 2015
853
645
Don't do eBay. Craig's List some other way. But avoid eBay. Too many scams and their terms of service are very anti-seller.
 
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ZombiePete

macrumors 68020
Aug 6, 2008
2,319
1,064
San Antonio, TX
$100 is the best case scenario if nothing goes wrong. Others have pointed out the risks associated with being stuck with a shady buyer. There's a chance you could end up with nothing.

I sell electronics on eBay all the time and have never had an issue. I would recommend Swappa if selling a phone, but the issues with eBay are in my experience somewhat overblown.
 
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stulaw11

Suspended
Jan 25, 2012
1,391
1,624
Surprised no one has mentioned swappa.com. Eliminate eBay all together. $10 dollar swappa fee, moderated listings, 3% paypal fees. Done.

Unfortunately Swappa averages are dropping literally daily as more and more listed for dirt cheap. Right now a mint 64gb are as low as $430. After $10 Swappa fee and paypal you're not even netting $100 for OP's situation.

You'll see a lot listed a hair over $500 but they aren't selling. I had my mint 64gb unlocked up thre for $508 for 40 days and didnt get a bite. They aren't selling for those asking prices at the end of the day if you look at the past sales section.

The avg price dropped $120 from August to September from $540 to $420.

Paying in $300 just to risk making a profit is a risk no matter how you look at it. If it was already paid off it's no loss.
 

tivoboy

macrumors 68040
May 15, 2005
3,978
791
I sell electronics on eBay all the time and have never had an issue. I would recommend Swappa if selling a phone, but the issues with eBay are in my experience somewhat overblown.
concur. I DO limit sales to USA though and they must have an address and paypal account in the USA so I don't send to foreign locations or take paypal from foreign transactions (certainly higher fees and higher risk of fraud) but with the types of electronics I sell, the market in USA is large enough.

I know for sure that many of the buyers to whom I have sold iphones for $$$ prices, are certainly buying and reselling in foreign markets though.
 
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jtrue28

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2015
1,028
711
Lexington, KY
I hate foreigners bidding on my iPhones, but they're no doubt the people willing to pay the most money. The issue then becomes getting them the phone. USPS doesn't ship lithium batteries internationally, so you're forced to use UPS or FedEX...and get raped while doing it.

It's give and take.
 

bpeeps

Suspended
May 6, 2011
3,678
4,629
Unfortunately Swappa averages are dropping literally daily as more and more listed for dirt cheap. Right now a mint 64gb are as low as $430. After $10 Swappa fee and paypal you're not even netting $100 for OP's situation.

You'll see a lot listed a hair over $500 but they aren't selling. I had my mint 64gb unlocked up thre for $508 for 40 days and didnt get a bite. They aren't selling for those asking prices at the end of the day if you look at the past sales section.

The avg price dropped $120 from August to September from $540 to $420.

Paying in $300 just to risk making a profit is a risk no matter how you look at it. If it was already paid off it's no loss.

That's the problem, people expect to sell their phones for too much. Or they don't know when to buy and sell, timing is everything in a constantly depreciating market.

I sold my 6 (64gb) on Swappa the day of the Apple keynote for $489 (underpriced for good condition). And I purchased a 6 plus (64gb) the weekend after the new iPhone release for $500 (mint condition). 6 Pluses are now going for much lower than that, but it was still a good time to buy.

Too many people price their phones inaccurately at the wrong time and they never sell. All the iPhone 6 models being sold for over $500 on Swappa right now are laughable. Good luck. My iPhone 6 sold within 7 hours. When I sold my iPhone 5 before that to buy the 6, I priced it $30 bucks lower than the rest of the phones and it sold within 2 hours. Most people aren't willing to make their phones somewhat of a deal. I would rather sell it now for a little less over selling it later for a lower market rate (or possibly not at all). And yep, there are some suckers who will snatch that high priced phone without a second thought, but I don't waste the time chancing it.

I do understand a good number of people can't be without a premium phone for a couple of weeks. Or don't have the patience to maximize their profit. I have a cheap Android LG something that I purchased many years back that I just swap my SIM into for the 2 weeks I'm without a phone (you can buy them on eBay for like 40 bucks). But that method isn't for everyone.

As far as the OP goes, I agree he most likely won't be netting much profit from selling a leased phone at this time. My comment was in regards to Swappa being a much easier (and cheaper) outlet to sell phones than eBay is. That's all.
 
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