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Selling an iPhone on EBAY.

A

AbjectEvolution

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2009
286
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I have read that you can get up to $450 for a 16GB 3G on EBAY. I am considering this option, but I have absolutely no idea how to sell anything on EBAY... especially an iPhone. I hear a lot of bad things about scamming such. I was hoping some of you could explain to me the details of how to sell an iPhone on EBAY and what to watch out for.

Thanks.
 
AbjectEvolution said:
I have read that you can get up to $450 for a 16GB 3G on EBAY. I am considering this option, but I have absolutely no idea how to sell anything on EBAY... especially an iPhone. I hear a lot of bad things about scamming such. I was hoping some of you could explain to me the details of how to sell an iPhone on EBAY and what to watch out for.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

List it!

watch out for people who want you to send it to africa

watch out for people who have 0 feed back!
 
in order to list an item on ebay you have to have an account so just go ahead and sign up give them the information that they ask for and once all is complete click on the sell tab at the top right of the screen from there it is pretty simple just follow the instructions and everything should go smoothly you might want to set a reserve price being as you have to feedback as a seller that may drive away potential buyers
 
Having a record of positive feedback as a seller before listing something as expensive as an iPhone is likely to be a big boost for the price you finally get. If an iPhone is your very first listing, you should be prepared to accept a lower than average price. The poster who recommended setting a reserve price below which you are unwilling to sell is probably giving you very good advice in your case.

The process of listing something is pretty painless and easy. Do be sure to have a good photograph, and be honest about the condition.
 
You want to be very careful about what you put in your title (especially) and the body of what you're selling. Right now, with the flood of iphones on ebay due to the 3GS, the last thing you want to do is use a poor subject that won't get picked up by searching and then you'll end up with the phone selling for considerably lower than it should have.

Pictures are everything, make sure you take as many as possible. People want to see what they are getting and not just a stock photo with a brief description because who the hell knows what you'll receive if you buy a phone with "normal wear and tear".

Auctions that begin with a very low amount (I started mine at 99 cents) tend to sell for a better price because it starts bidding/action/watching immediately unlike people who start auctions for a set high price or a buy it now price. With starting the bidding extremely low, you could theoretically sell the phone for 99 cents but that's not going to happen unless you horribly typo the subject and someone luckily stumbles upon it.

You ALSO, and very importantly, want to either list the auction or schedule it to start at a decent time. It's based on days of when the auction is started to end so if you start it at 3am on Saturday night, it'll end in XX days at 3am. Obviously if you start/end an auction at something like 9PM (EST) you'll be pulling in a good audience at the close of the auction (which usually generates the much higher end price). If it ends at 3am you might be stuck with someone who placed a bid at midnight, or something like that, and not have much action due to the crap time you ended it with.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I have it up on Craigslist for now because I think it would be easier to sell locally... but we'll see.

I have another question. When I buy the 3GS, will I need to use my old SIM card or can I just use the new one? It seems that most people who sell the 3G are selling it with a SIM card.
 
AbjectEvolution said:
Thanks for all the responses. I have it up on Craigslist for now because I think it would be easier to sell locally... but we'll see.

I have another question. When I buy the 3GS, will I need to use my old SIM card or can I just use the new one? It seems that most people who sell the 3G are selling it with a SIM card.
Click to expand...

Do not sell your SIM card.
 
When I tried to list my 2G Iphone, the initial listing was removed by Ebay and, a very polite email was sent to me explaining that my photos of my Iphone needed to include my Ebay user ID in them. (Just a piece of paper with it visible in the photo was fine.)

That process cost me a day or 2, and not all that tough to fix, but unexpected.

I've also experienced Ebay/Paypal scams (usually originating in Africa) when selling other items, so yes, be careful.
If someone sends you an email saying they paid, don't click on their links. Start up a browser and check from scratch.

When replacing my old 2G Iphone on one occasion I kept my SIM card, thinking it was the only way to keep my phone number. However, when I upgraded to a 3G, the people in the Apple store said I didn't need to keep the old SIM card and just did something on their end to associate my old number with my new phone.
 
Mines on ebay right now and it's at 41 bucks. I'm getting kinda nervous because out of the 10 bids everyone who has bid has 0 feedback.

I hope it doesn't end up ending with a scammer. I've had that happen multiple times and it sucks.
 
I listed my pristine 16gb 3G last night, set it to run for 7 days. Had 8 pictures of the phone/box/etc and a note that it wouldn't ship until Friday, when I got my 3G S activated. Phone sold this morning with Buy It Now for $325. I probably could have gotten a bit more for it, but I wanted to get it sold sooner than later - because I didn't want to risk another price drop as the 3G S's getting activated will probably put even more 3G's out there on the market...
 
I went to the apple store and complained about battery life, they replaced my iPhone. I had them leave the plastic covering on it for me, I sold it on eBay as brand new w/ plastic covering. I put Buy it now for 399 and it sold within a couple hours. Black 16gb
 
My 16GB 3G had some cracking around the dock and volume toggles so I had it replaced and then listed it on Craigslist. I sold it to someone the next day for $425. I still had the original box, manuals, stickers etc so it looked brand new.

I can't believe people are paying that much for it.
 
So whats the big deal about "scammers" anyway or people with 0 feedback? Assuming you only accept paypal, is there really any risk to you (besides that maybe someone bids and doesnt pay?)

Just curious as mine is up as well and bid on by someone with 0 feedback based in Illinois. Its a 200 with one day left.
 
AbjectEvolution said:
I have read that you can get up to $450 for a 16GB 3G on EBAY. I am considering this option, but I have absolutely no idea how to sell anything on EBAY... especially an iPhone. I hear a lot of bad things about scamming such. I was hoping some of you could explain to me the details of how to sell an iPhone on EBAY and what to watch out for.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It seems like the prices have actually dropped since the announcement of the 3Gs and the drop in the 3G. I sold my 16GB iPhone 3G (Brand new replaced by Apple day before) for $406. I was hoping to get over $500, but I didnt unlock it so that might be a reason. All good though, I made a profit.

Watching out for scams really and foreign bidders. I had about 4 bids from people with no feedback from China who would write me messages in the most God-awful form of English asking to "pay me quik nd fast." I also dont ship outside of the USA and had quite a number of people bidding out of the country. Clearly state everything and only check who is bidding on your iPhone, look out for people with less than 10 feedback.
 
Just be careful, b/c these scammers will send you a fake email from paypal that money is on hold to your paypal account. It looks real, but you should always call paypal. They add enormous amounts of money if you ship UPS international and pay for tariffs and shipping and all that yada, yada, yada. Whether via CL or EB, they'll tell you to stop the listing and consider your iPhone as sold to THEM. Be careful with checks and western union stuff as well. BEWARE.....:eek::eek::eek:
 
Interesting. With all these comments about cracks around the connectors, I looked at my phone and sure enough.. there are cracks around the headphone and data connectors.

So if I take my phone to the Apple store and complain about volume problems, they will definitely give me a new one? Don't you think that they are on to this tactic by now and will check my phone and if it sounds good, they wont replace it?
 
To be safest, one of the recommendations is to ship only to confirmed Paypal addresses. People sometimes are able to claim that they never receive something and are able to get Paypal to side with them and you can lose your money. Signature confirmation can prevent most of that.
 
Another question:

If I'm planning on selling my 3G on ebay in a few weeks - should I hold off from upgrading to 3.0? Since 3.0 is presumably harder to unlock/jailbreak, would the value of a 3.0 phone on ebay be less than a 2.x phone?

Thanks
 
Replacements

noodle654 said:
It seems like the prices have actually dropped since the announcement of the 3Gs and the drop in the 3G. I sold my 16GB iPhone 3G (Brand new replaced by Apple day before) for $406. I was hoping to get over $500, but I didnt unlock it so that might be a reason. All good though, I made a profit.

How do you get brand new replacement iphones?
Click to expand...
 
Dev Team

These guys just announced they are on top of 3.0 with an unlock crack.
So I wouldn't worry. I'm going ahead with 3.0 for not even a month and will unlock and sell it.
 
How much should I ask for an iPhone purchased Christmas Eve 2008, been babied, never dropped - but got a nice crack from a hail stone last night???!!!

I was walking to the car after a movie and it started to hail so I started to run and got wacked with a few stones. Remember one hitting my pocket but never assumed it would do that - so now I have a crack from the earpiece to the top about 1-2cm.

What would be a good asking price/starting price with that?
 
Romanesq said:
These guys just announced they are on top of 3.0 with an unlock crack.
So I wouldn't worry. I'm going ahead with 3.0 for not even a month and will unlock and sell it.
Click to expand...

MuscleNerd from the Dev Team posted pictures of the new firmware jailbroken on twitter.
Best way to sell on ebay is make your stipulations and make shipping insurance mandatory and if you are selling internationally make sure you have it so that if they dont pay the custom fees that the iphone is shipped back to you.
Last year I sold my 1st Gen internationally for 650 bucks, selling strictly to US does not perform that many results.
you can jail break the iphone then tell them the unlocking solutions they can purchase from other ebayers on ebay (As unlock solutions are by the boat load on ebay)
I had a total of 15 comrads sell their iphone 3G on ebay this past week internationally and all of them got at least 550 (This is before their shipping fees). I have never sold to someone with a feedback of 0 unless they pay immediately after the auction ends. I send them a message stating that the payment is due once the auction ends,if they do not pay then the merchandise is sold to the 2nd highest bidder.
 
I'm going to take the phone in tomorrow to hopefully swap it with a new one since this one has some cracks around the connectors. Anyone have any tips on the best way I can get them to give me a new phone?

Also, I'm about to wipe all the jailbreak stuff from it and set it up with 2.2. What is the best way to do this? Should I restore with iTunes?
 
EatMyApple said:
How much should I ask for an iPhone purchased Christmas Eve 2008, been babied, never dropped - but got a nice crack from a hail stone last night???!!!

I was walking to the car after a movie and it started to hail so I started to run and got wacked with a few stones. Remember one hitting my pocket but never assumed it would do that - so now I have a crack from the earpiece to the top about 1-2cm.

What would be a good asking price/starting price with that?
Click to expand...

Start at $.99 and find out what the market says.
I will never start an auction above $0.99, no matter what I think my product is worth. The market will determine it's actual worth.
 
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