Other Trade-in old iPhone for new one : Apple are cheapskates

[Dr. McKay]

I saw a Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold in a store today and I must admit that I was quite impressed with the device.

Not cheap, but then, the same can be said about an iPhone 17 Pro Max...

Just for fun, I went to the Google online store and configured a Pixel 10 Pro Fold with 512GB of storage. I then did the same on the Apple store with a iPhone 17 Pro Max with the same amount of storage. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold was about 300 euros more expensive at 2000 versus 1700 for the iPhone (I live in Europe, must be about the same in US dollar).
What shocked me, however, was the trade-in value of my current phone, a 512Gb iPhone 13 Pro : Apple offers me 195 euros when I buy a new iPhone 17 Pro Max, whereas Google is so kind as to offer me 550 euros !

That is one hell of a difference and took me by surprise.
I honestly don't understand why the difference is so big...

 

[Apple_Robert]

The 13 pro is almost 5 models old. To expect close to 550 euros for it from Apple is unrealistic. You wouldn't be able to get that on the second hand market.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I suspect it's because Google wants your business from Apple 😉 so they're willing to pay over market value.

See what they offer for a Pixel 6 Pro, which is a contemporary of the 13 Pro?

 

[Dr. McKay]

I suspect it's because Google wants your business from Apple 😉 so they're willing to pay over market value.

See what they offer for a Pixel 6 Pro, which is a contemporary of the 13 Pro?

They offer 400 euros for the Pixel 6 Pro... That's still more than double the amount that Apple offers for the iPhone 13 Pro...

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Try trading in the phone without purchasing another device from them and see if that price is still honored. They just want you to purchase a new phone from them and are willing to take it in the shorts to get the sale

 

[Charlie Bonesx]

they aren't actually paying you for the phone, they are giving you a discount to switch to their ecosystem.

I bet you'd have a hard time actually selling that phone to anyone for that much

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Pretty much what happens with Mercedes here in the EU. They give the highest trade in vs other German car manufacturers, at times almost double. That way they keep you for expensive servicing and parts sales.

 

[BSDnostalgia]

they aren't actually paying you for the phone, they are giving you a discount to switch to their ecosystem

Exactly. And, this has been going on since forever.

Without the whole phone ecosystem issue, lots of things have less than intrinsic value if you try to sell them. Cars that lose x% when you drive them off the lot. Required college textbooks that you can only get 25% of list price for, etc. Or, try selling a perfectly good refrigerator. People have no way of knowing whether or not it will keep working for them, and you, an individual seller, can't guarantee that to a stranger. So, what to do with perfectly good used things?

In the case of cell phones, the answer may be as simple as giving it to someone who needs it but can't afford it. (I tend to wear things out. But, I've seen it happen fairly often with other people.) It may, of course, need a new battery ...

 

[joshwithachance]

Google and Samsung will inflate trade-in values from time to time to tempt iPhone users over to their ecosystem.