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Sell iPhone 5 now?

A

AbyssImpact

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 6, 2010
804
17
What do you guys think? iPhones are still at a high resale value, sales ranging from $450-$550 for the 16GB model.

Should I sell now and wait for an iPhone 5s or wait and let my iPhone 5 depreciate ~$100 when the 5s comes out?
 
AbyssImpact said:
What do you guys think? iPhones are still at a high resale value, sales ranging from $450-$550 for the 16GB model.

Should I sell now and wait for an iPhone 5s or wait and let my iPhone 5 depreciate ~$100 when the 5s comes out?
Click to expand...

When the iPhone 5S comes out I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of people who want one because the price will go down. I'd sell it when the 5S comes out because you might get more pontential buyers (people from other carriers, etc).
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
When the iPhone 5S comes out I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of people who want one because the price will go down. I'd sell it when the 5S comes out because you might get more pontential buyers (people from other carriers, etc).
Click to expand...

The value will probably drop at least $50-$100 once the new phone is released. The main reason being Apple has generally dropped the retail value of the previous phone by $100 when they release a new one.

Also waiting until the 5S/6 is out means there is going to be more sellers (but less demand), so there is no way for it to hold the current value.
 
If the resale value of your phone is more important then using it why have it at all? It does not really make sense. you have to sue a lesser phone in the mean time so it seems it does not matter if you have a iphone or not.
 
steve knight said:
If the resale value of your phone is more important then using it why have it at all? It does not really make sense. you have to sue a lesser phone in the mean time so it seems it does not matter if you have a iphone or not.
Click to expand...

I second this. If he doesn't need an iPhone 5 for 4(+ -) months, then why does he plan on buying a 5S?
 
around october is when i'll sell my iPhone 4S and get the iPhone 5 since thats when the iphone 5 typically go for around $300 or so.and everyone is going to get rid of their old iphone 5 since they'll be upgrading to the iPhone 5S.

At least thats how i've been doing it for the past 2 years.

And funny because last year in october of 2012 i sold my unlocked iPhone 4 for $290 (which i originally bought on ebay for $243) for a iPhone 4S for $290 on Craigslist :D lol

And this is exactly what i plan on doing this coming October. I want the iPhone 5 already -.- lol
 
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steve knight said:
If the resale value of your phone is more important then using it why have it at all? It does not really make sense. you have to sue a lesser phone in the mean time so it seems it does not matter if you have a iphone or not.
Click to expand...

Great point.
 
steve knight said:
If the resale value of your phone is more important then using it why have it at all? It does not really make sense. you have to sue a lesser phone in the mean time so it seems it does not matter if you have a iphone or not.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Phones shouldn't be seen as investments.

Re: selling when the 5S arrives, far better to wait a month or two till after its release to sell the 5. First month it's a buyers market, second or third month after the market settles down and the prices rise. This has been the case every time I've upgraded and sold an iOS device.
 
yegon said:
Totally agree. Phones shouldn't be seen as investments.

Re: selling when the 5S arrives, far better to wait a month or two till after its release to sell the 5. First month it's a buyers market, second or third month after the market settles down and the prices rise. This has been the case every time I've upgraded and sold an iOS device.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right about that. Right after 5 came out I was able to get a 64GB 4S unlocked for $375 on eBay. 3 months later when I got an iPhone 5 I was shockingly able to sell it on eBay for $435
 
CEmajr said:
You're absolutely right about that. Right after 5 came out I was able to get a 64GB 4S unlocked for $375 on eBay. 3 months later when I got an iPhone 5 I was shockingly able to sell it on eBay for $435
Click to expand...

Ha, nice one!
 
AbyssImpact said:
What do you guys think? iPhones are still at a high resale value, sales ranging from $450-$550 for the 16GB model.

Should I sell now and wait for an iPhone 5s or wait and let my iPhone 5 depreciate ~$100 when the 5s comes out?
Click to expand...
Since you obviously don't need your iPhone, sell it, cancel your phone service, don't buy a new iPhone and save a lot of money.
 
What's the current US price range for a white iPhone 5 (AT&T) that's about 2 months old that's in excellent condition?
 
I just bought an open box Iphone 5 32GB for $640. Hoping to get back atleast $550 when I switch to the 5S.

Yeah I know, dumb move money wise, but I couldn't wait any longer, my current windows phone is killing me slowly.

I won't get the 5S though if it's not a huge upgrade on the camera and a small one on batterylife.
 
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To me, it wouldn't be worth not having a phone or using a different OS for the gap until the next phone is released.
 
makotoisle said:
To me, it wouldn't be worth not having a phone or using a different OS for the gap until the next phone is released.
Click to expand...
1-2 months?

I kinda wanna do it, just to see if I could.

If I could get what I paid for it, $600. I'd do it in a heartbeat.
 
I must be quite old fashioned as I keep my phones for the length of the contract. I can't see the point in selling them early just to have the most up to date iPhone. I'm pretty happy with my phone and am happy it'll handle iOS 7 nicely. :)
 
makotoisle said:
To me, it wouldn't be worth not having a phone or using a different OS for the gap until the next phone is released.
Click to expand...

I agree. I sold my 4 a little over a month before the 4S was announced in order to get the maximum potential profit. Had to use an Android phone in the meantime and it was terrible. I'd just wait until after the new one is released to sell mine if you plan on upgrading.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
I must be quite old fashioned as I keep my phones for the length of the contract. I can't see the point in selling them early just to have the most up to date iPhone. I'm pretty happy with my phone and am happy it'll handle iOS 7 nicely. :)
Click to expand...

I'm the same :), If the phone is "doing the job" for me I keep it
 
exynos-octa said:
1-2 months?

I kinda wanna do it, just to see if I could.

If I could get what I paid for it, $600. I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

What would you use in the meantime?

When the 5 came out, I trades my 4S for a GS3 about 2 or 3 months before with the thought that the GS3 was brand new and would fetch more money for resale when the 5 came out. The gentleman that traded me had just upgraded to the GS3 and disliked it so much he wanted back to a 4S.

While that was true, it was also a very frustrating 2 or 3 months and I decided, what's the point of buying an iPhone if I could only use it 9 months out of the year because I wanted top dollar for resell?

Maybe if I had an older iOS device I could fall back on I would consider it, but then you're still using an old device for a few months,and if I could live with it, why upgrade?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
The only thing that matters to me is "Will the sale of my current Apple iPhone cover the $199/299 up front costs of the subsidized cost on a new Apple iPhone?"

The answer is always yes...

So other than the monthly charge Verizon makes me pay for the subsidy, I never pay a dime for the up-front charges. Free iPhone every 2 years (every one since I am on a family plan and am able to move around the upgrades - lol)
 
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