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44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
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I like Swappa alot. I've bought and sold there for years and never had any problems.

A few things come to mind:

It depends what kind of seller you are. That makes a huge impact in terms of being legit, honest and overall selling a phone that is exactly as described. The issues some sellers face, is they don’t disclose everything, and that comes back on them, and creates a rift between buyer/seller.

The trade off being, buying/selling online like sites like Swappa or eBay, have a tighter restrictions today due to all the security issues with phones, and it’s not as easy as it was once three years ago.
To be honest, I used to really enjoy selling my devices online, and I made a decent profit doing it, but altogether, I’ve abandoned that in favor of just trading my device in, it’s less of a hassle, even though I take a ‘cut’ on the price, I don’t have to deal with any of the aftermath of shady tactics, as I just don’t have time for that.

Plus, I’m not about having to maximize my dollar revenue for an iPhone sale, when I’d rather just have the process be Simplistic and transitional where it’s quick.
 

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,701
2,717
Do you think that's safe? Why would someone be selling a brand new phone on there? What issues could one expect? Are phones from some carriers like Verizon more safe to purchase? Better to just pay full price from Apple or the carrier themselves?
I’ve bought from swappa. They use PayPal and paypal overwhelming sides with the buyer. Never had issues with that service.
 
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Six0Four

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2020
924
1,120
After watching Youtube videos of old iPhones being re-sealed i'd have to say no.

I'd rather buy an older model brand new from best Buy/Apple than a taking a risk on a pre owned new model from an unauthorized seller.
 
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omelet1978

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2012
269
128
From what I can see the same rules for eBay apply to Swappa. Just read everything carefully. I've sold on both and I've learned to get insurance as well as delivery confirmation on every sale. It makes shipping like $18 sometimes BUT it's piece of mind in case something goes wrong.
 

MisterAndrew

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 15, 2015
2,878
2,361
Portland, Ore.
From what I can see the same rules for eBay apply to Swappa. Just read everything carefully. I've sold on both and I've learned to get insurance as well as delivery confirmation on every sale. It makes shipping like $18 sometimes BUT it's piece of mind in case something goes wrong.

Yeah definitely and of course signature is required for over $750 with PayPal. With the virus thing though it would be best to use a courier service that allows the buyer to sign for it online before delivery.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
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From what I can see the same rules for eBay apply to Swappa. Just read everything carefully. I've sold on both and I've learned to get insurance as well as delivery confirmation on every sale. It makes shipping like $18 sometimes BUT it's piece of mind in case something goes wrong.

I thought insurance is mandatory for certain purchases that exceed a certain dollar amount? Anyways, with the amount of buyer/seller fraud, it be foolish not to have insurance, there’s way too many loopholes where someone can ’burn you’, in terms of where they keep the product and your money.
 

Septembersrain

Cancelled
Dec 14, 2013
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I've got multiple devices off Swappa. They've all been as advertised. I've seen multiple mint or new devices on there, especially recently with the quarantine. Did you check the sellers previous sales? Also, I pay with PayPal for additional protection.
 

DarkSorrow82

macrumors regular
Aug 26, 2016
210
67
Minocqua, WI
Swappa has a lot of safeguards in place. I still wouldn't buy new from them personally. I mean why are you buying a new phone just to sell it??
 

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,085
1,558
I know someone who recently bought an iPhone XS on Swappa but the seller shipped a store Demo Unit "Not For Resale"! She is getting a refund but wow avoid seller selling Sprint XS's from Chesterfield MO... they keep changing their name it was something else a couple days ago but they have many listings for Sprint XS! I've personally never had a problem selling on Swappa but haven't bought a device yet.
Screen Shot 2020-04-04 at 12.45.03 PM.png
 
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EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
2,479
2,309
I know someone who recently bought an iPhone XS on Swappa but the seller shipped a store Demo Unit "Not For Resale"! She is getting a refund but wow avoid seller selling Sprint XS's from Chesterfield MO... they keep changing their name it was something else a couple days ago but they have many listings for Sprint XS! I've personally never had a problem selling on Swappa but haven't bought a device yet.
View attachment 903631
I honestly hate how swappa is now, the majority of sellers now are shops that sell used phones. Back then that wasn’t the case.

I don’t know why it’s like that now, I don’t want to buy anything from a used phone shop.
 

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,085
1,558
I honestly hate how swappa is now, the majority of sellers now are shops that sell used phones. Back then that wasn’t the case.

I don’t know why it’s like that now, I don’t want to buy anything from a used phone shop.
Why does that bother you? Isn't the point to buy a used phone? Seems like a used phone business ("business sellers" on Swappa) has more to lose than individuals trying to scam people, so that should keep things above board more often than not.

On the Sprint Mint XS listing, there were two listings as business sellers and the other dozen plus were individuals (many were from the same person, a scammer who sold a Demo Unit phone in violation of the terms of service) so it wasn't the majority in that case.
 
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Septembersrain

Cancelled
Dec 14, 2013
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Why does that bother you? Isn't the point to buy a used phone? Seems like a used phone business ("business sellers" on Swappa) has more to lose than individuals trying to scam people, so that should keep things above board more often than not.

On the Sprint Mint XS listing, there were two listings as business sellers and the other dozen plus were individuals (many were from the same person, a scammer who sold a Demo Unit phone in violation of the terms of service) so it wasn't the majority in that case.

True. I've bought all my used iDevices from a business. They have come immaculate. Always fast shipping included and they send the devices with proper insurance.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,491
Swappa has a lot of safeguards in place. I still wouldn't buy new from them personally. I mean why are you buying a new phone just to sell it??

This is a valid point you ask. Sometimes what happens is, you have promotional credits, gift cards, maybe the individual was ‘gifted’ a phone, and then they use the above considerations to sell the phone, being they don’t need it or they realize that iPhones in general have a very high resale value, especially if they’re sealed new without any issues noted.

But then again, you’d be surprised at how some people literally make a career out of buying/selling tech devices on a daily basis. It’s a vicious cycle that I would never want to do, but there are those who do out of their own home and make a decent profit doing it.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
Swappa has a lot of safeguards in place. I still wouldn't buy new from them personally. I mean why are you buying a new phone just to sell it??

The company I work for will get new phones for employees via business upgrades plan and/or gratis from our cellular provider (perks of a MASSIVE $$$ cell bill lol).

Occasionally one or two won't get used for various reasons (people leave, people don't want an upgrade, miscount because someone doesn't have a company line, etc) and they will end up sitting around for a month or two.

To recoup (or make a profit if it was gratis) I'll sell them NIB, Craigslist or Ebay typically.

You are right it does sound suspicious but there are random reasons on occasion. I sold an iPhone 5C NIB for a friend that received it as a Christmas gift when we had a 5S or 6 (can't remember) at the time. Trying to be nice he don't want the person that got it for him to know. I've also sold an iPad Mini NIB I won as a door gift during a work convention, I already had a new full size.

Not saying thats always the case though!
 
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