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Selling your iPhone using "SOLD" from the appstore

RetiredInFl

RetiredInFl

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 7, 2008
2,457
250
FORMERLY NJ now FL
I have to post this review because I was just totally blown away by these folks. I wanted to sell my iPhone 5 (16GB black AT&T in “mint” condition with box, charger, cable and a cheap “dollar store” case) and just didn’t want to get involved with eBay or CL this time. I figured if I got $450 for it on eBay it would cost me $45 eBay fees, $13 in PayPal fees and another $10-$15 to ship it to the customer and net me around $380 then have to deal with the buyer.


First thing I did was try Gazelle. They offered me anywhere from $280 to $325 depending on what time of the day it was and which direction the wind was blowing. NextI tried buybackworld who offered me $340. Then somewhere I read about these folks called “SOLD.” I think it was a FLIPBOARD article or CNET. The only way to sell through them was to download their iPhone/iPad app and give them the details through the app and they make you an immediate offer.



I did that and they offered me $360 and extra few bucks to “LIKE” them on Facebook (I hate that so much! But for $4 WTF) so I jumped on it. Best price by far BUT the part I found most amazing is about 48hrs later I get an email saying they “sold” my phone and they sent me a UPS return label to ship my device (not cheap & slow USPS like the other guys) and I put the phone in a box and sent it back to them. They would also even send a box but I didn’t want to wait, I had plenty of small boxes.


This was YESTERDAY (Friday 10/4 at around 1PM when I dropped it off at a local UPS STORE). 30 MINUTES after dropping the phone off at the UPS STORE I got an email saying “we see your phone is on the way and you will have your money by TUESDAY 10/8. I figured, hey, that’s pretty dam good but let’s see what happens.



Well today (SAT 10/5), less than 24hrs later, I look in my bank account and I am paid! The phone hasn’t even left NJ yet for BOSTON and I have been paid. Absolutely amazing.


Sure I probably could have made another $50-$70 using Craigslist but I’m an, ummm, senior citizen, and really didn’t want to deal with that crap and eBay of course is another story with their fees.


So, I say check these folks out if you want to sell your phone for a reasonable price without dealing with eBay or CL. Look for “SOLD” in the app store. You can get a quote and ignore it or accept it. Oh, and their support is pretty good as well. All emails answered within 24hrs or less.


Of course YMMV, this was just my personal experience.
 
So I see that they gave you extra $$$ to post about it here and brag about them, I mean thats how I read your entire post.

One giant billboard.
 
I'll just chime in that I sold my unlocked iPhone 5 (64gb/black) for $650 a few days ago...

But, I mean, $460 is, uh, great....
 
saving107 said:
So I see that they gave you extra $$$ to post about it here and brag about them, I mean thats how I read your entire post.

One giant billboard.
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Well, while I can understand why you might think that I can assure you your reading comprehension is poor. I have nothing to do with them whatsoever and nothing to gain by posting. I got my extra $3 for "liking" them on Facebook. Believe what you wish, I'm was simply "wow'd" by being paid in under 24hrs before they even received my device.

I'll make sure I never post a positive remark about anything anymore when good service is received and I'll only complain about poor service like most people do here because saying good things is always looked upon as advertising. :rolleyes:
 
Huh....not a bad price for this fake 16GB iPhone 5 for Verizon. But then again when it was asking for pictures, well, I took a picture of the floor...
 
photodesign said:
It wants me to take a photo of the front, back and about screen of my iPhone from my iPhone. They also offered me $30 less than Verizon trade-in.

Not very good mileage.
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Hmmm, I just checked Verizon 2 minutes ago and they are offering $300. I just ran another "request" on SOLD and they offered $311. Yesterday I got (AND was paid today) $367. Go figure. It changes by the minute. While (at the time) the price was great for a non-craigslist / non-ebay sale it was mostly the speed of payment that got me.
 

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TB07-NJ said:
Hmmm, I just checked Verizon 2 minutes ago and they are offering $300. I just ran another "request" on SOLD and they offered $311. Yesterday I got (AND was paid today) $367. Go figure. It changes by the minute. While (at the time) the price was great for a non-craigslist / non-ebay sale it was mostly the speed of payment that got me.
Click to expand...

If you look into iPhone 4s, you'll see they are $30 less than Verizon trade-in, and $40 less than Amazon.

It is probably more common for people to upgrade every 2 years on contract.
 
AppleFan91 said:
Huh....not a bad price for this fake 16GB iPhone 5 for Verizon. But then again when it was asking for pictures, well, I took a picture of the floor...
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If you accepted the sale they would require "real" pictures. I initially did the same floor thing because I needed another iPhone to take a picture of the one I wanted to sell (which is a problem if you only have 1 :) ).
 
AFDoc said:
Place is a total joke!! Offered me $385 for my 16g i5 but only $375 for my 32g! Both unlocked with same set up. Lost all credibility with that lame move.
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$385 for a 16gig is more than I got! :( As for your 32 maybe they have too many of them so the price is less. Why does that make it a "joke?" Sounds more like on hand supply + demand from buyers = value. That's ~$20 more than I got for my 5 and $70 more than someone else was quoted! :mad: Geez, put it on eBay (referring to 16gig) and you'd get less after fees, shipping & PayPal. Sure, if you want to deal with Craigslist that fine but I didn't want that hassle. I'm too old to run around dealing with all of those idiots. I got what I felt was a FAIR price for the 35seconds of effort I put into it. I was willing to take the loss of a few bucks for the privilege of sitting on my azz doing nothing other than type a few words.

Hey folks, ANYTHING you sell privately be it a car, lawn mower or cell phone will always get more money than selling through any buying service. I just sold my SUV privately and got over $3000 more than I would have got on a trade-in, but on an iPhone, a $50 or $75 loss is chump change FOR THE CONVENIENCE FOR ME.

Obviously it's not for everyone. It's simply how you value your time. I understand most of you here are probably about 1/3rd my age and have all the time in the world. I don't.

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photodesign said:
If you look into iPhone 4s, you'll see they are $30 less than Verizon trade-in, and $40 less than Amazon.

It is probably more common for people to upgrade every 2 years on contract.
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Verizon only gives you a Verizon Gift Card and Amazon (I think) only Amazon Credit. I wanted C-A-S-H. Besides, we're discussing a 5 where there is a much bigger demand.
 
TB07-NJ said:
If you accepted the sale they would require "real" pictures. I initially did the same floor thing because I needed another iPhone to take a picture of the one I wanted to sell (which is a problem if you only have 1 :) ).
Click to expand...

Haha gotcha, I was like...this is a fail haha
 
It's a joke because they want to offer $10 less for a phone that will easily fetch $100 more on the open market. I bet they get $100 more when they sell them, THAT'S what makes it a joke. Supply and demand my butt.... they supply you with less money and demand more when they sell it.
 
AFDoc said:
It's a joke because they want to offer $10 less for a phone that will easily fetch $100 more on the open market. I bet they get $100 more when they sell them, THAT'S what makes it a joke. Supply and demand my butt.... they supply you with less money and demand more when they sell it.
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What don't you comprehend? It's not "the open market." It's for people who don't want to deal with "the open market." It's for people who don't want to sell on eBay or Craigslist. It's for people who just want to get rid of their item as simply and with as little hassle as possible. The "open market" has many of it's own pitfalls.

For those who want to sell "on the open market" it is obviously not for them. Places like this, and buybackworld, and Gazelle, and Verizon and T-Mobile and Radio Shack and even Apple who "trade-in" or buy used devices are there for people who don't want the hassle and simply want the convenience of getting rid of their old device and getting a few bucks.

To me that was worth $80 on a phone I could have got $450 for if I wanted to run to malls or police stations or other public places to "securely" deal with the Craigslist buyers (who don't even show up half the time) and scammers or eBay where it costs you 15% in fees between eBay, PayPal and shipping. For many others it's the same.

Every business serves a specific group of people. Maybe you aren't one of them, but many are. And for THOSE people this kind of business is good. Let THEM deal with the selling hassles.

You need to remove your blinders and realize there are many (probably the vast majority who don't even know what CL is) people who don't want to hassle with the "open market." I know I certainly didn't in this case. The extra $80 I might have gotten was meaningless to me for the convenience. Selling my car, that was different. +$3000 I'd hassle for, but $80 more for a cell phone, that's chump change.
 
OP - don't let the naysayers get to you. You knew what you were doing, you did your research, and used a service that you were satisfied with. Who cares if someone else sold it for more? It sounds like your method was by far the least stressful and you got paid very quickly. Time is money and you saved a bunch of time.
 
AFDoc said:
It's a joke because they want to offer $10 less for a phone that will easily fetch $100 more on the open market. I bet they get $100 more when they sell them, THAT'S what makes it a joke. Supply and demand my butt.... they supply you with less money and demand more when they sell it.
Click to expand...

In my 5 + years of selling iPhones 16GB and 32GB on ebay and craigslist, a 32GB does not and never ever has gotten you 100$ more than a 16GB.
 
AndrewR23 said:
In my 5 + years of selling iPhones 16GB and 32GB on ebay and craigslist, a 32GB does not and never ever has gotten you 100$ more than a 16GB.
Click to expand...

Do you get $10 Less? That's what sold offered.


I get $100 more so maybe it's your selling rep. (of course lots of factors not discussed, time sold, condition ect ect.)

Right now the 16g is doing well on ebay c/t the 32 head to head but you can clearly see multiple sales of $100 dollars difference between the two. So yes one can clearly get $100 more for a 32g over a 16g. However currently you will also see people paying the same or more for a 16g. Like I said, many factors go into the price. I however won't be offered $10 less for a 32g than a $16g and any company that does that simply isn't going to get my business. I understand it's not open market and understand the supply/demand aspect of their offer as the 16g is selling strong right now v/s the 32. I simply feel (my opinion) that type of offer is a sham offer. You are certainly able to and obviously do disagree.
 
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saving107 said:
So I see that they gave you extra $$$ to post about it here and brag about them, I mean thats how I read your entire post.

One giant billboard.
Click to expand...

I know where you are coming from, but I had a company buy a gift card from me (almost $1,000), I was very WOW'd by their service & speed, so I posted a few bragging comments about them as well. :) I doubt he was compensated for that post IMHO.

AndrewR23 said:
In my 5 + years of selling iPhones 16GB and 32GB on ebay and craigslist, a 32GB does not and never ever has gotten you 100$ more than a 16GB.
Click to expand...

I typically get around $50-$60 more for a 32gb over a 16gb
 
I've never heard of this service, sounds like a mobile version of Gazelle. I'll have to send in a phone as an experiment and put a review together for them. Doesn't make sense that they would offer as much as you can get selling it yourself but I am curious to see how their offers and experience compares to the more popular buyback websites.
 
I wouldn't mess around with this company "Sold".

Stick to the legit companies like Gazelle, BuyBackWorld, Amazon, and Nextworth.
 
inboxer said:
I wouldn't mess around with this company "Sold".

Stick to the legit companies like Gazelle, BuyBackWorld, Amazon, and Nextworth.
Click to expand...
[sarcasm on] Well if YOU wouldn't then without a doubt no one else should. :rolleyes::eek::cool: [sarcasm off]

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scotrinaf said:
I know where you are coming from, but I had a company buy a gift card from me (almost $1,000), I was very WOW'd by their service & speed, so I posted a few bragging comments about them as well. :) I doubt he was compensated for that post IMHO.
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The only thing you can post on forums like these are negative comments else you are considered a shill. Been around here for over 5 years and I believe this is the first "review" type thread I ever posted ....... and definitely my last. Most folks here prefer the YouTube reviews by people who get all the stuff they are reviewing for free because they are so unbiased (NOT!). ;):D
 
We just sold our 7-day old iPhone 5c (blue, 16gb) using this app and got $489. Not a bad deal at all considering the box was opened and we used it for a week. Even if I had posted on eBay for full price of $549, after eBay fees and paypal fees, it would have been very close to $489. It took a day for them to "find a buyer" and then I shipped the phone this morning, and they've already initiated my deposit, should be complete by 10/10.

I'm happy and would recommend their service! Thanks to the OP because without his post, I wouldn't have known about the app! :)
 
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