Just how bad is Apple trade-in?

[primarycolors]

I'm looking to trade in my 2019 27" iMac to get a discount on the new 24". The nearest Apple Store is a ways away from me, and I'd like to avoid lugging the iMac to the store given the health situation. I'm also not 100% comfortable selling it as I've been experiencing some graphical issues and don't want the buyer to have an issue down the line.

I've heard the horror stories about Phobio. Has anyone here traded in their iMac via mail-in and actually gotten paid the quoted value? The vast majority of complaints seem to be around MacBooks so I'm wondering if iMacs are a different story.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wouldn't do a mail in. I believe Apple will do in store trade-in for Macs now (if your store is open. Call to confirm) I would sell it elsewhere like Sellyourmac or Macmeanoffer, the Forum Marketplace, or Swappa.

 

[fisherking]

if you do the trade-in with apple, they'll send you a box to send back your 27"; you can get a quote on the apple site (where you make a new purchase); that quote is 'best-case scenario'...

i traded in my 13" macbook pro with apple when i got my imac; i got the full value quoted (less than if i'd sold it 'on the street', but decent), and they sent a pre-addressed box for me to send it in...

 

[Jpancakes]

I just traded in 3 MacBook pros and an iMac and all trades went to Phobio. So far, two items were paid the quoted amount. I’m waiting for the other two to be processed. The trade itself was hassle free.

 

[kazmac]

Macmeanoffer.com is great.

 

[lightninganth]

I did a trade-in of my 21 inch iMac just last week.It was manufactured in 2013 and the website quoted me $150.00, when I brought it in they gave me $120.00.I would have been happier of course with $150.00 but I am not losing sleep over $25 on an eight year old machine.I upgraded to a 27 inch iMac and I am completely happy with it.I missed the new model by a week or so but again not losing sleep over the new chip and fancy colors.

 

[Kaji]

I decided to get a quote on my Mini I purchased 11 months ago (I know, right before the M1 refresh, but it was a critical business need with the previous machine having failed). $1,300 machine when purchased, and they were only willing to offer $150 for it. Probably a stiff penalty because it's an Intel, I'm guessing.

 

[Septembersrain]

I never recommend this. I haven't seen an offer that gets anywhere near the value of selling it yourself. It's all up to you but with Apple products, they seem to fetch very decent resell prices but trading in always shortchanges you. Edit: Be honest about the issues and you'll still likely find a buyer who wants it for their purposes.

 

[genomez]

My experience wasn't great. I recently bought a new MBP M1 and tried to trade in my 2019 MBP 15". I was quoted a trade in value of $1430 and when the 3rd party company Apple uses received it they told me it was worth $500 because they couldn't erase the data. I formatted the drive and installed the OS per their instructions but $500 was all they would do even though they said the hardware was in great shape. Obviously, I declined their offer and it's on its way back to me now. I should have just taken it into an Apple store, but I thought it would be more convenient to just ship it.

 

[usagora]

I did a trade-in of my 21 inch iMac just last week.It was manufactured in 2013 and the website quoted me $150.00, when I brought it in they gave me $120.00.I would have been happier of course with $150.00 but I am not losing sleep over $25 on an eight year old machine.I upgraded to a 27 inch iMac and I am completely happy with it.I missed the new model by a week or so but again not losing sleep over the new chip and fancy colors.

So why the lower value? Was their cosmetic damage that they said exceeded what you had stated or something? Recently traded in my Apple Watch Series 4 that had two scratches on it (about half a cm long each) and they still gave me the full quoted value (I think the question they asked online was yes/no was it free from "deep" scratches or cracks in the display, and I said yes)

 

[usagora]

My experience wasn't great. I recently bought a new MBP M1 and tried to trade in my 2019 MBP 15". I was quoted a trade in value of $1430 and when the 3rd party company Apple uses received it they told me it was worth $500 because they couldn't erase the data. I formatted the drive and installed the OS per their instructions but $500 was all they would do even though they said the hardware was in great shape. Obviously, I declined their offer and it's on its way back to me now. I should have just taken it into an Apple store, but I thought it would be more convenient to just ship it.

Something's not adding up at all there, unless Apple is knowingly partnering with blatant liars.

 

[genomez]

So why the lower value? Was their cosmetic damage that they said exceeded what you had stated or something? Recently traded in my Apple Watch Series 4 that had two scratches on it (about half a cm long each) and they still gave me the full quoted value (I think the question they asked online was yes/no was it free from "deep" scratches or cracks in the display, and I said yes)

It makes no sense. I originally thought there was some mistake so I called into the company and they confirmed that everything hardware met their requirements, but they couldn't remove data. The reason I really thought it strange since I had formatted and did a fresh install. Here is what I received via email.

 

[usagora]

It makes no sense. I originally thought there was some mistake so I called into the company and they confirmed that everything hardware met their requirements, but they couldn't remove data. The reason I really thought it strange since I had formatted and did a fresh install. Here is what I received via email.

So they were claiming there was still a partition (other than the one the OS was installed on) containing personal data?

 

[genomez]

So they were claiming there was still a partition (other than the one the OS was installed on) containing personal data?

When I asked what was preventing them they said their software couldn't tell them what was still on the drive. Just that there was something on it they couldn't delete.

 

[genomez]

Even if there was a partition (which I never had more than 1) they should be able to remove it... I don't understand what happened.

 

[4sallypat]

Even if there was a partition (which I never had more than 1) they should be able to remove it... I don't understand what happened.

Unless the file vault was encrypted, iCloud locked or an EFI firmware password you forgot to remove ?

 

[genomez]

Unless the file vault was encrypted, iCloud locked or an EFI firmware password you forgot to remove ?

Good thoughts, but none of those apply to this computer. The only thing that has occurred to me since is it was running a beta OS before I wiped it. I'm not sure why that would matter. Plus, you would think they would have just said that.

My old MBP is supposed to be delivered back to me tomorrow so I'm going to see if I can find out what's going on.

 

[Okta]

I don't think it's particulary bad but you'll never get the value you'd get if you sell it yourself.

 

[genomez]

Here's an update on my experience. As I mentioned above, Apple trade in offered me $1430 for my MBP. I sent it in to their 3rd party company who then changed the amount to $500 because they "couldn't delete data off of the drive". I refused and had it shipped back.

I then used Mac Me an Offer (thanks to the person above that recommended them) who offered me $1680. I sent it in and received an email, when they received, telling me they had it and would inspect it and get back to me. The next day I received an email saying everything was in order and a check would be mailed within 2 business days. That check showed up yesterday. I will use them in the future and will recommend them moving forward.