The inevitable "Should I upgrade now?" thread (and have you used Best Buy Trade-In?)

[TheMBC]

It had to happen.

I have an iPhone 4 and have been thinking of upgrading to a 5 for some time now. I decided to wait for this announcement for two reasons: (1) I knew that iOS 7 was probably going to look completely different and I wanted to know if I liked it (I do!); and (2) There were rumors of an Apple trade-in program, and I wanted to see where that would lead. Apparently, it led to nowhere.

My iPhone's home button is frustrating as it's difficult to register. And the OS has been buggy from time to time. It's all the signs of an aging device, really.

My plan is to just trade in with Best Buy and buy an iPhone 5 for $150. (I know I could probably get a few bucks more online — I've done it a few times in the past — but this way is convenient.) Online, Best Buy says it will give $130 for a "fair" iPhone 4 16GB, which is what I would classify my phone as. So I'm also wondering if anyone has traded in with Best Buy and how they'd rank it.

Anyway, so should I wait 'til… October? O_O I don't think a 5S will be so improved that I'd care, especially with a $50 discount haha! I guess I just needed to write my thoughts out. Thanks! (I might also pick up an Apple TV )

 

[dave420]

It does sounds like a good deal for you now if Best Buy will give you that much. In addition to losing the $50 discount the trade in value will probably go way down if a new phone is released and Apple stops selling the iPhone 4.
Also you may want to try using assistive touch if you haven't. That will make it much easier to use the home button since you will have it on the screen to press.

 

[RichardF]

The price of the phone itself is hardly the issue when considering the monthly bill on current post-paid plans. It's ridiculous.

 

[TheMBC]

It does sounds like a good deal for you now if Best Buy will give you that much. In addition to losing the $50 discount the trade in value will probably go way down if a new phone is released and Apple stops selling the iPhone 4.
Also you may want to try using assistive touch if you haven't. That will make it much easier to use the home button since you will have it on the screen to press.

Right, which is exactly why I want to know if anyone has had success with the online quote matching what they give you in the store. And that's exactly how I'm thinking of it. I know that the discount will cease at the end of the month and that my 4's value will also decrease whenever a new phone is announced, so it's making me really just weigh the options. (I also know that they're probably all discounting it to move product, but might as well capitalize on it.)

And yes, I have tried the assistive touch for a month or two. I found it kind of annoying to use, so I went back to pressing the home button really hard. Haha! Thanks, though!

The price of the phone itself is hardly the issue when considering the monthly bill on current post-paid plans. It's ridiculous.

I suppose, but it's not like my plan is going to change. For an initial cost, the discount is favorable to me. I've been with AT&T since 2008, and I'm on a family plan, ain't nothin' gonna change soon!

 

[Jwills1218]

More info on BB trade in...

EDIT:

I checked online and it shows at $150 for the 5.

fwiw, They said trade in value was:

excellent: 136
Good: 130
Fair: 58
Broken: 0

They copied and pasted the text from the document. (I was using online chat)

 

[dkillgo]

Iphone 5 shows online as $149 at bestbuy.com

That's what I just noticed.

I'm in a similar boat as the OP, except that my phone is working properly with regards to the home button.

Best buy has a "good" condition iPhone 4 16gb listed with a trade in value of $130, and I think mine is in good or maybe even perfect shape. I've kept it in a case since I got it and it only has one very small scratch on the bottom left of the screen. I am also eligible for an upgrade, so if I could trade it in for $130 and pick up a new iPhone 5 at $150, that's a steal!

I've never bought/upgraded my iPhone outside of the AT&T store before though. Can anyone who has any experience buying from a "third party" explain how it works? Are they able to look up my existing contract in the store and renew it?

 

[dave420]

I've never bought/upgraded my iPhone outside of the AT&T store before though. Can anyone who has any experience buying from a "third party" explain how it works? Are they able to look up my existing contract in the store and renew it?

I have purchased from Best Buy and it is basically the same process as purchasing at an AT&T store. Just make sure you are eligible for an upgrade if you want the discounted price.

 

[TheMBC]

I just got back from Best Buy. I didn't actually go through with the upgrade because by the time I was called, the store was already closed technically. Besides, I didn't feel like going through that process at this time of night.

Anyway, he told me the same quote as online. So if you're truthful about your phone's state, then it should be accurate. He did, however, tell me that it's "about $125 through $130" depending if I had the charger with me. So, if anyone is looking to do it, keep that in mind. I also saw posters in the store that said there are no activation fees until June 17.

I'm most definitely leaning towards doing the upgrade some time this week.

 

[flcruzr]

I just got back from Best Buy. I didn't actually go through with the upgrade because by the time I was called, the store was already closed technically. Besides, I didn't feel like going through that process at this time of night.

Anyway, he told me the same quote as online. So if you're truthful about your phone's state, then it should be accurate. He did, however, tell me that it's "about $125 through $130" depending if I had the charger with me. So, if anyone is looking to do it, keep that in mind. I also saw posters in the store that said there are no activation fees until June 17.

I'm most definitely leaning towards doing the upgrade some time this week.

Thanks for sharing this info, this seems like perfect time to upgrade my wife's ip4 to ip5, do u know if the free activation includes AT&T carriers?

 

[TheMBC]

Thanks for sharing this info, this seems like perfect time to upgrade my wife's ip4 to ip5, do u know if the free activation includes AT&T carriers?

Yes, it appears as such. I didn't ask anyone outright, but the posters stated no fees for all smartphones, so I'm guessing.

Also, in case anyone is interested, they just give you a gift card with the amount. And I've read online that some people were told the purchases had to come from Best Buy to trade-in. However, that's not the case with all; if that's the case with you, they're supposed to refer you to a Best Buy retailer that won't ask for a receipt.

Happy deal-getting!

EDIT: It appears to be the case online, too, RE: activation fee. $0.00

 

[dkillgo]

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to stop at Best Buy tomorrow after I get off work and hopefully go home with a new phone.

 

[mechie8682]

I will narrate my experience with Best Buy. I didn't use the trade in offer (upgrading from 4S to 5) so simply confirmed that I was eligible for upgrade with AT&T and then walked in a best buy. I paid $149 for iPhone 5 and walked away with the exact set up of my family plan from a voice and data standpoint (I've unlimited data plan

All good so far. Here's where the issue begins. In couple days I noticed that the display on my iPhone 5 gets wobbly and looks unseated a bit. I went to an apple store and they opened up the phone in the back office to see if they could fix it right there in the store. The genius asked me if I had another third party open the phone before for servicing. Turns out there were scratches internally on the phone components and the iSight camera was not centrally aligned. I don't know if this was an assembly error or someone from best buy tampered the phone or how. The genius gave me a brand new iPhone 5 right there in the store.

Moral of the story - I will not be upgrading with best buy going forward.
Also I confirmed with apple store that they were not able to match the discounted pricing that best buy was offering.

Hope this helps.

 

[dkillgo]

I will narrate my experience with Best Buy. I didn't use the trade in offer (upgrading from 4S to 5) so simply confirmed that I was eligible for upgrade with AT&T and then walked in a best buy. I paid $149 for iPhone 5 and walked away with the exact set up of my family plan from a voice and data standpoint (I've unlimited data plan

All good so far. Here's where the issue begins. In couple days I noticed that the display on my iPhone 5 gets wobbly and looks unseated a bit. I went to an apple store and they opened up the phone in the back office to see if they could fix it right there in the store. The genius asked me if I had another third party open the phone before for servicing. Turns out there were scratches internally on the phone components and the iSight camera was not centrally aligned. I don't know if this was an assembly error or someone from best buy tampered the phone or how. The genius gave me a brand new iPhone 5 right there in the store.

Moral of the story - I will not be upgrading with best buy going forward.
Also I confirmed with apple store that they were not able to match the discounted pricing that best buy was offering.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. If I end up getting a phone from Best Buy I will inspect it thoroughly for any problems/scratches.

 

[djransom]

I took my wife S3 to BB last month and I was able to trade it in and got $250 for it towards her i5 plus $50 for already having insurance on it. Ended up grabbing her an i5 plus some accessories for $5 and some change out of pocket.

 

[Interstella5555]

It had to happen.

I have an iPhone 4 and have been thinking of upgrading to a 5 for some time now. I decided to wait for this announcement for two reasons: (1) I knew that iOS 7 was probably going to look completely different and I wanted to know if I liked it (I do!); and (2) There were rumors of an Apple trade-in program, and I wanted to see where that would lead. Apparently, it led to nowhere.

My iPhone's home button is frustrating as it's difficult to register. And the OS has been buggy from time to time. It's all the signs of an aging device, really.

My plan is to just trade in with Best Buy and buy an iPhone 5 for $150. (I know I could probably get a few bucks more online — I've done it a few times in the past — but this way is convenient.) Online, Best Buy says it will give $130 for a "fair" iPhone 4 16GB, which is what I would classify my phone as. So I'm also wondering if anyone has traded in with Best Buy and how they'd rank it.

Anyway, so should I wait 'til… October? O_O I don't think a 5S will be so improved that I'd care, especially with a $50 discount haha! I guess I just needed to write my thoughts out. Thanks! (I might also pick up an Apple TV )

Just a note, what you consider "fair" condition and what Best Buy (or any trade in service for that matter) considers "fair" condition are two wildly different things.

 

[TheMBC]

I will narrate my experience with Best Buy. I didn't use the trade in offer (upgrading from 4S to 5) so simply confirmed that I was eligible for upgrade with AT&T and then walked in a best buy. I paid $149 for iPhone 5 and walked away with the exact set up of my family plan from a voice and data standpoint (I've unlimited data plan

All good so far. Here's where the issue begins. In couple days I noticed that the display on my iPhone 5 gets wobbly and looks unseated a bit. I went to an apple store and they opened up the phone in the back office to see if they could fix it right there in the store. The genius asked me if I had another third party open the phone before for servicing. Turns out there were scratches internally on the phone components and the iSight camera was not centrally aligned. I don't know if this was an assembly error or someone from best buy tampered the phone or how. The genius gave me a brand new iPhone 5 right there in the store.

Moral of the story - I will not be upgrading with best buy going forward.
Also I confirmed with apple store that they were not able to match the discounted pricing that best buy was offering.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! I don't think bad iPhones are specific to Best Buy. And even so, all that happened was you got a replacement pretty quickly, which is kind of annoying but not worth $50 to avoid XD I think it could be safe

Just a note, what you consider "fair" condition and what Best Buy (or any trade in service for that matter) considers "fair" condition are two wildly different things.

Haha yeah, I saw that it's actually "Poor," "Good," and "Excellent" in someone's post here. I could have sworn the middle was "fair." Regardless, I would categorize it as "good" (which I thought was "fair" initially). I went to Best Buy, they inspected it, and they agreed with me.

My iPhone has the normal wear, tear, scuffs, and scratches, so I wouldn't expect anything less. And I've been using my iPhone 4 naked for about a year now. The cases I bought just kept breaking.

But yes! Make sure that you're being truthful to yourself about how you'd categorize the phone!

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to stop at Best Buy tomorrow after I get off work and hopefully go home with a new phone.

Sweet! Make sure to tell us your experience. I might be doing the same tonight, myself.

 

[dkillgo]

Went to Best Buy earlier and they offered me $58 for the phone. I was a little disappointed, but I figured that an offer of $130 was a bit too good to be true, especially considering that the iPhone 5 was selling for $150.

I know I probably could have gotten a little more selling it third to a party, but I went ahead and took the Best Buy deal anyways. Ended up paying just over $200 bucks, including tax and a screen cover, for the base iPhone 5.

They were able to renew my contract without issue at all. Overall it was a very good experience and I feel that I got a good deal.

 

[richardbb85]

Went to Best Buy earlier and they offered me $58 for the phone. I was a little disappointed, but I figured that an offer of $130 was a bit too good to be true, especially considering that the iPhone 5 was selling for $150.

I know I probably could have gotten a little more selling it third to a party, but I went ahead and took the Best Buy deal anyways. Ended up paying just over $200 bucks, including tax and a screen cover, for the base iPhone 5.

They were able to renew my contract without issue at all. Overall it was a very good experience and I feel that I got a good deal.

$58, lmao. best buy love customers like u

 

[TheMBC]

So I just got home from Best Buy with my new iPhone 5 and thought I'd share my experience.

The worst part of it all was waiting in line. It was like a 40 minute wait. But when they were actually helping me, it couldn't have been longer than 20 minutes. He didn't even annoyingly ask me a million times to buy insurance or a case. He was like "No insurance right? Is this all?" And it only took so long because we hit a snag when the register wasn't working. Basically, much smoother than going to an actual AT&T store, in my opinion.

Anyway, my trade in value was $130. I took the box with the charger and everything and he didn't even ask for it. So it was only the phone alone, an iPhone 4 16GB. The phone was fairly scratched up. Keep in mind, I haven't used a case in about a year. So there were dozens of tiny scratches everywhere, mainly the back, and I still got $130. I'm kind of dumbfounded someone got a $58 value.

Anyway, I signed the usual, asked for my contract via email, paid a remaining balance of $30.49 (total cost of the phone was $160.49), and walked out. He even asked if I wanted to open it myself, which I appreciated. I hate when they open it to activate it haha! So I took it home and am typing this message on it now!

4G is SO fast! Really glad with my purchase! I say go for it, if anyone's wondering whether they should