Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone X Apple Store trade-In, is it worth it?

Selling iPhone X

  • Apple Store

    Votes: 28 59.6%

  • Hassle of selling myself

    Votes: 19 40.4%
  • Total voters
    47
The answer to your question depends on several variables.

1) Condition of your iPhone body + screen
2) Original retail box and accessories (presentation is key, pack everything neatly)
3) Size of Hometown: is your local market a decent sized population near or in a big city
4) Safety: is your location a suburb or in the "hood" and/or both?

I would say selling your 256 iPhone X is only worthwhile if you sell locally on Craigslist or an coworker/acquaintance.

Currently online market price is not worth the fees (%13 of final value sold) and buyer protection policies going against you by eBay, PayPal, etc.

Last Wednesday, I posted a Craigslist ad for my 256 iPhone X SG mint condition (Virginia suburban market of DC). The loweball offers were $550, $600, and $650. A few hours later, a buyer bought it for my asking price of $800 cash. The average prices being sold are above $525 for trade-in but it all depends on those variables above for your situation.
 
Sorry but in disagree with the "ripped off" comments. It's guaranteed cash in hand.

"Sold for" is not net in your hand after paypal (roughly 3%), ebay 10% (or Swappa) fees, and then shipping.

And the only way one can truly get ripped off is selling privately and Paypal siding with buyer as it always does or some empty box scam.

It's not only time but more so risk. It wouldn't take long to google thousands of people scammed selling electronics who lost the device and never got the money; completely SOL. It's not some remote .01% chance anymore.

Apple may not be the best trade-in amount since they dont give more for capacity differences, but its also guaranteed $525 net cash in hand.
 
Last edited:
Has anyone who is trading in there Phone received the shipping box. My letter from Apple said the offer was only good for 14 days. When does the 14 days start. Also if you take it to the store for trade in do you get credit on your credit card right then or do they send it off.
 
likegadgets said:
Traded In a SS series 3 at an Apple Store - got a credit of $250 instantly on my CC.
Click to expand...

Do you know if you can set the trade-in up at the time of reserving a series 4 for in-store pickup? Or do you just tell them you want to trade in your old watch when you are at the Apple store to pick up the new watch?
 
genekend said:
Has anyone who is trading in there Phone received the shipping box. My letter from Apple said the offer was only good for 14 days. When does the 14 days start. Also if you take it to the store for trade in do you get credit on your credit card right then or do they send it off.
Click to expand...

If you take it in you get credit right there in the store before you leave
[doublepost=1537731421][/doublepost]
Dunbar said:
Do you know if you can set the trade-in up at the time of reserving a series 4 for in-store pickup? Or do you just tell them you want to trade in your old watch when you are at the Apple store to pick up the new watch?
Click to expand...

Just tell the you want to trade it in. I had set mine up for online trade in, but ended up going to the store and traded it in right there on the spot
 
Just FYI, if you go the Swappa route, be mindful that people may not read your listing entirely and could make a fuss after their purchase. People may not know that AppleCare isn't included in a device purchase or know the difference between locked and unlocked. It's a hassle to get PayPal to rule in your favor just to put a sale behind you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1144557
noobinator said:
Right now apple will give $525 on a base model X. Selling it can probably get you $100 more. For me it’s almost worth just trading it in for the $525 to not have to worry about taking pics of it, posting it, dealing with people, shipping it etc. My time is worth $100.
Click to expand...
Same here. I had a X and an 8+ and traded them in for $525 and $400 respectively. Sure, I could've gotten more selling them outright but I don't have the time or patience for that right now. That $925 worth of credit made it so I paid $324 + tax for a 256gb Xs Max.

Orangeman13 said:
Can you trade your series 3 watch in for credit towards a series 4? That would be sweet!
Click to expand...
Yes, I traded in my S3 w/cellular for $225. Bought a 44mm S4 GPS only and the trade brought my price down to $204.
 
Brightstar/Apple offered 690 CDN for my X.
Since my friends are all poor / cheap and I don't want to risk getting ripped off on ebay or mugged during a kijiji sale, the trade-in option is best for me.
 
ArtVandelay29 said:
Same here. I had a X and an 8+ and traded them in for $525 and $400 respectively. Sure, I could've gotten more selling them outright but I don't have the time or patience for that right now. That $925 worth of credit made it so I paid $324 + tax for a 256gb Xs Max.


Yes, I traded in my S3 w/cellular for $225. Bought a 44mm S4 GPS only and the trade brought my price down to $204.
Click to expand...

Thats the same thing I did. I took my S3 into the store and traded it in on an S4. Its pretty much instant cash and don't have to wait around for a sale. The older version of the watch are not nearly as good of a deal. I mean brand new Apple is selling the S3 for $279 so not that bad of a deal and don't have to go through the hassle of selling
 
I sold my 256gb X on swappa in 18 hrs for $820. At the time it was the cheapest mint X on swappa. I know I could of got more but it was easy peasy.
 
I was at store today trading my Watch 3 for a new Watch 4. They looked up my serial number and all is good but they told me I had to go home and process the trade in for store credit. This defeats the whole purpose of being able to apply trade in for new watch. I decided against buying anything from the store and sent an email to Apple.
 
I sold my iPhone X on Swappa. After PP, Shipping and Swappa I netted 710. Not too bad. But not much more than Apple iUP program. I received 56% value back while Apple gives 50%. Six percent is not much, but better than zero. Probably worth it just to trade in and not get scammed by others out there.
 
feard said:
I was at store today trading my Watch 3 for a new Watch 4. They looked up my serial number and all is good but they told me I had to go home and process the trade in for store credit. This defeats the whole purpose of being able to apply trade in for new watch. I decided against buying anything from the store and sent an email to Apple.
Click to expand...

That is NOT how it is supposed to work.
On launch day we traded in a VERY used series 0 for $25. Took 5 min and we applied the $25 towards a new case. Easy as pie.
 
so basically i have liquid damage on my phone, but it works perfectly fine with the exception of a rear speaker or something relatively small. I went to apple a couple of months ago so its in their notes. I was wondering if theyd still accept the phone or if I should go with the route of selling through Ebay or Swappa or do they take too much for fees?
 
Pshurra Gjetos said:
so basically i have liquid damage on my phone, but it works perfectly fine with the exception of a rear speaker or something relatively small. I went to apple a couple of months ago so its in their notes. I was wondering if theyd still accept the phone or if I should go with the route of selling through Ebay or Swappa or do they take too much for fees?
Click to expand...

Apple will not give you $525 for it. If you sell it elsewhere be very very upfront and honest that it is damaged to avoid issues with your buyer.
 
Chevyguy2021 said:
Apple will not give you $525 for it. If you sell it elsewhere be very very upfront and honest that it is damaged to avoid issues with your buyer.
Click to expand...

yeah of course that'd be the plan. do you know how much i could possibly get and what website would be the most bang for my buck?
 
Pshurra Gjetos said:
yeah of course that'd be the plan. do you know how much i could possibly get and what website would be the most bang for my buck?
Click to expand...

eBay will probably be your best bet.
I don't believe swappa allows the sale of water damaged devices. Or of course you can try CL to avoid any fees.
 
Chevyguy2021 said:
eBay will probably be your best bet.
I don't believe swappa allows the sale of water damaged devices. Or of course you can try CL to avoid any fees.
Click to expand...

just seen that ebay charges around 8% for the first 50$ and then 5% on the remaining. not bad. is there anything i have to avoid to put or not put when I list it for sale?

i just paid it off through my ATT Next program so it would be an unlocked phone correct?
 
Can you do better on your own, yes. However, the last couple of years Apple has offered better trade in values than any of the other online places that buy used phones and also better than best buy trade ins, coupled with the hassle the last few phone I sold on eBay has been. For those reasons, I decided my time plus convenience was worth it to me.
 
For those looking for convenience, you can actually get higher trade in value at a carrier location over an Apple Store.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back