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iPad iPad Trade-In value has gone up since late 2020

Phil77354

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 22, 2014
1,928
2,036
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
I made note of the trade-in values of my two iPads and decided to check again today to see what they are, and to my surprise both have increased:

  • 5th generation iPad, 128 GB
    • trade-in value Oct 2020: $145
    • trade-in value June 2021: $165
  • 6th generation iPad, 128 GB
    • trade-in value Oct 2020: $165
    • trade-in value June 2021: $195
Not what I expected! I have been thinking of getting another 11" iPad Pro so that my wife and I both have the Pro model, this makes it even more tempting!
 
Apple_Robert said:
More trade-in value is a good thing, provided you do it in store. . .
Click to expand...
I'm curious as to why you qualify it in that way? Apple Store is not particularly convenient for us although it gives us the opportunity to have a nice outing for the day (couple of hours each way). I assume you mean that the judgement on condition would be made on-the-spot, rather than sending it in and taking a chance that I'd later be notified that the trade-in credit had been reduced?
 
Phil77354 said:
I'm curious as to why you qualify it in that way? Apple Store is not particularly convenient for us although it gives us the opportunity to have a nice outing for the day (couple of hours each way). I assume you mean that the judgement on condition would be made on-the-spot, rather than sending it in and taking a chance that I'd later be notified that the trade-in credit had been reduced?
Click to expand...
You are correct. In store you would get the quoted price. Mail in to Phobio and your chances of getting screwed over are very high.
 
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I've sent in Macbooks, Minis, iphones and ipads to Phobio in the past year and got the full quote on all. They send you a box. It's very convenient.

and yeah pandemic (stay at home) drove up demand for iPads which increased the trade in values.
 
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trip1ex said:
I've sent in Macbooks, Minis, iphones and ipads to Phobio in the past year and got the full quote on all. They send you a box. It's very convenient.

and yeah pandemic (stay at home) drove up demand for iPads which increased the trade in values.
Click to expand...
You may have had a good experience but, your kind of story is the exception. There have been articles written about the terrible business practices of Phobio. People cannot count of Phobio to not try and rip them off.
 
Apple_Robert said:
You may have had a good experience but, your kind of story is the exception. There have been articles written about the terrible business practices of Phobio. People cannot count of Phobio to not try and rip them off.
Click to expand...
No my ~10 experienceS are the rule. YOu're talking the exceptions.

Don't let a few internet articles scare you. The scale at which Phobio operates as an official outlet for Apple trade-ins is very large.

If my experiences weren't the rule then they wouldn't still be doing this for Apple.

Also the reality of all the complaints I saw was you could still get your device sent back for free if you disagreed with their revised quote.
 
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I will probably take my trade in to the Apple Store, not just for the more secure valuation but I enjoy the visit and right now I’m anxious to see the new iMacs, not to buy one but just to see the new colors and how they look next to the ‘old’ 27” like mine.

I’ve traded in just two devices so far, one mailed in and one at the Apple store, both worked out ok for me.
 
store was more hassle for me. i actually used the store a few weeks ago after doing 10 trades via mail in the last year. And man that was a hassle. Part of it was me just walking into the store. The other part was the pandemic and apple having way stricter rules than every other store in the mall. No other stores required face masks by that time because of heavy vaccinations. Also Apple restricting how many could go into the store at a time. I had been vaccinated myself by this time. And then a bit of a hassle with the employee who didn't seem to usually do trades. And I had to schedule an apt and had to wait 45minutes for it. (yes I could have done appointment schedule in advance. It was fairly unplanned. Just happen to be out of town at Mall of America and have old phones in the car.)

And then too many questions. Did you buy it at Apple? No. Did you buy it Apple? No. Forgot the point of that question but I was like who cares. Just take the trade. Oh now I remember, if I had bought it at Apple I could have traded it towards an Apple TV. Maybe he asked me twice as a favor, to give me the opportunity lie the second time now that I think about it. I just figured they could tell. lol.

And then I had some more hassles with the trading it in against a device aspect of the trade in. (yes this has little to do with the comparison to Phobio.) But eventually we figured out I couldn't trade it in towards ATV. Then I switched to trading it in to the iPad. And this eventually ended when they said I couldn't use my apple account credit in store. I had to order online for pickup in store. But then you don't get the extra money for the trade because, in my case, an iPHone can't be traded in for an iPad at least in the Apple app. By this time I had enough and accepted a fairly low trade in value. Partly because I had these old phones sitting around for too long and should have got rid of them long ago. Granted I had dawdled because they were insurance in case of emergency. Anyway I got a book going now so I will stop.

PS. Also found out you couldn't trade in 2 phones and get the extra trade in value for each when trading them both in towards 1 device. Just extra value for one.
 
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The global chip shortage threw up some retail phenomena that normally wouldn’t make sense. When I decided to order an iPad Pro in May the 12.9” 2020 Pro was often being offered as either the same price or even slightly more expensive than the equivalent 12.9” 2021 Pro.

It seems that retailers felt that frustrated demand over long wait times for the 2021 model meant that the 2020 device could be offered at a slight premium for the convenience of you having it in your hands today/tomorrow.
 
WildSky said:
www.macrumors.com

Apple's Trade-In Partner Phobio Has Reportedly Faced an 'Alarming Uptick' in Complaints

Apple has placed increased emphasis on device trade-ins in the last few years, with the company largely relying on third-party partners for its...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com


www.theverge.com

Apple trusts Phobio for its trade-ins, but maybe you should think twice

Mysterious “white spots” are making customers see red
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
Click to expand...
I've read these articles too and was a little worried to send in my trade through Phobio, but I recently traded in an iPad Pro and received the value which Apple said they would honor. I even took pictures of every edge of my iPad, took a video of me putting it in so that there would be no doubt as to my trade in, and sealed it as proof.

So far, all of my mailed in trades have been honored (knocks on wood). My hope is that these articles you posted above have gotten Apple's notice and are now more careful with their partnership.
 
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Username-already-in-use said:
The global chip shortage threw up some retail phenomena that normally wouldn’t make sense. When I decided to order an iPad Pro in May the 12.9” 2020 Pro was often being offered as either the same price or even slightly more expensive than the equivalent 12.9” 2021 Pro.

It seems that retailers felt that frustrated demand over long wait times for the 2021 model meant that the 2020 device could be offered at a slight premium for the convenience of you having it in your hands today/tomorrow.
Click to expand...
And it'll stay like that for the next 18 months...
 
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