iPhone Trade-In Advice: Sell Before the iPhone 6 Debuts

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The iPhone 6 is due out in just a few weeks, and that means people are going to start trading in their old iPhones. If you’re looking to ditch your old iPhone, you need to act quickly if you want to get the most money for your trade-in. Here’s some helpful advice.


1. Trade Your Old iPhone For Cash ASAP

As you can see from the chart above, a large percentage of older iPhone users are planning to upgrade to an iPhone 6. That means lots of people will be trading in their old iPhones. You should complete your trade-in soon, before hordes of other shoppers flood the marketplace with their own trade-ins and bring down the price. In other words, the sooner you trade your iPhone in, the more money you are likely to make.


2. Weigh Your Trade-In Options Carefully

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There are lots of ways to get cash for your old iPhone. You could sell it on eBay, Amazon, or Gazelle. There are a multitude of other services as well, and it can be hard to choose the best trade-in option.

9to5Mac notes that Amazon is the best option in terms of store credit. However, if you want cash and not credit, you should go with Glyde or Nextworth. That being said, Gazelle does offer price-locking (more on that below.) Additionally, you shouldn’t disregard the potential to make cash selling on eBay. CNET writes that an iPhone 5s in “used” condition was spotted selling for $502 on eBay, which is about $150 more than Gazelle is offering. Of course, there’s no guarantee that your iPhone would do as well at auction, especially if it is damaged.


3. Consider a Backup Device

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The only problem with trading in your old iPhone so many weeks before Apple unveils the iPhone 6 is figuring out what phone you’ll use in the interim. Most of us need our phones on a daily basis for work or communication (or, you know, Candy Crush.) If you want to trade in your iPhone now, then you’ll need a backup phone. If you have an old cell phone kicking around, you could use that. Alternatively, you could get a very cheap new phone from your current carrier. After you have an iPhone 6 in hand, you could give the spare phone to a friend or family member. Of course, this might cut into your trade-in profits. Then again, you could always sell that new phone on eBay.

For some people, needing a backup device isn’t really an issue. For example, CNN Money notes that if you trade in your old iPhone through Gazelle, customers can lock in a guaranteed price for their older iPhone. You don’t even have to send it off to Gazelle until after you buy the new iPhone 6.


4. Remember That Your Carrier Makes a Difference

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Getting the best trade-in value for your old iPhone can sometimes depend on your current carrier. BGR notes that T-Mobile customers in particular can see wide deviations in trade-in price:

“It’s interesting that among sites offering cash, Glyde consistently pays more than Gazelle or Next Worth. For an older model like iPhone 5, the Glyde premium is roughly $50 for Verizon or AT&T models. But for T-Mobile models, the premium suddenly jumps to $100 over what Gazelle or Next Worth yield. For the relatively new T-Mobile iPhone 5s, Glyde actually pays about $150 more than its rivals.”

Regardless of where they sell their old iPhone, many Apple fans are expected to put their trade-in cash towards the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6 is expected to be revealed at an Apple keynote on September 9.