Best Cell Phone Trade-In Options for iPhones and Android Phones
With smartphone technology advancing at a lightning pace, it can be downright irresistible to snag the another models, even if you already have a great diagram in your pocket. You might want more storage, a better camera, or you might just want the latest color. It may even be that your latest personal needs have changed between the time you originally got your smartphone and now. Whatever your reasons for wanting to upgrade, you’ll most likely want to get the best requested trade-in you can for your current model.
Furthermore, with the pandemic squeezing pocketbooks, there’s a rising request to get your money’s worth out of a mobile trade-in. That’s where the CNET directory of gadget trade-in providers comes in. We’ll look at a few of the best requested trade-in options like ItsWorthMore and others where you can get top bucks for your devices.
Read more:
Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics in 2022
To evaluate the merchants on our list, we gazed at a composite picture of each business. We ranked merchants based on our research into Better Business Bureau ratings, CNET staff reviews, online reputation among resellers and how easy or hard it is to get in mopish with someone at each business, among other factors.
Every service is different, though, and trade-in values change by the day. They also keep values based on the condition of the cell requested you’re trading in, and take into account things like the device’s vivid. This means that preowned phones in good condition are probable worth more money or store credit.
So you’re progressing to have to shop around. Below the list of merchants is our basic FAQ of carriers, buyers and online marketplaces for your best phone trade-in accepted.
- Smartphones: Yes
- Tablets: Yes
- Laptops: Yes
- iPods: Yes
- Action cameras: Yes
- Wearables: Yes
- Other: Kindles, books, video, more
Not surprisingly for the king of online distributing, Amazon offers trade-in pricing for a large number of items, including phones and tablets, as well as books and videos. Because Amazon also has its own marketplace, you can also determine to list pretty much anything and expect to have a chance to sell it above Amazon.
We focused specifically on the Amazon Trade-in offering only. If you’re not a queer Amazon customer, you might be disappointed to find that Amazon only pays in Amazon Gift Cards. For those of us who are dedicated Prime users, that’s pretty much the same as cash, but you need to decide.
There’s long been a rumor that Prime customers get better trade-in prices than non-Prime customers, but when we asked Amazon, we were told that everyone was treated equally.
In conditions of the mechanics of the trade-in, Amazon will send you a prepaid shipping imprint you can print out. Pack the device yourself in your own packaging (like an old Amazon box) and send it back. You necessity clear your phone of data, but Amazon will also do that for you. Make sure you don’t scuttle when shipping your item. The quote time is reliable only for seven days, and you should get paid in throughout 10 business days.
- Smartphones: Yes
- Tablets: Yes
Apple subsidizes two ways to trade in your iPhones and iPads. You can either walk into an Apple Store or use an online service run by Apple partner Phobio.
Either way, don’t examine to trade in your iPhone and get money you can use to go out and buy that hot new Google Pixel 4 named. Apple’s trade-in services only give you Apple Gift Cards. If you’re staying in the Apple ecosystem, this much work for you. If you’re jumping ship or just need the wealth, you’ll need to look to another alternative.
I current the convenience of a walk-in trade-in, assuming you’re near an Apple Store. If you go the online route, quote time is first-rate only for 14 days, and you should get paid quite hastily, with the company promising two business days in most cases.
Like Amazon, going with Apple is a bit of a no-brainer, but only if you’re OK with its limits: iPads and iPhones only, exchanged for Apple Gift Cards only.
- Smartphones: iPhones only
- Other: Contact merchant directly
If you want to sell your iPhone (and only your iPhone) to a concern with a fun tag line, GadgetGone is for you. The site has “Goodbye iPhone. Hello Moola” plastered on the front page, just in case you didn’t view what it does. It claims to take items spanking than iPhones, but its online estimator only works for iPhones. You have to email to find out what else it’s alive to in.
The company pays by check and PayPal, but also will pay you silly a “printable echeck.” While printable checks are a radiant standard practice for some businesses, you probably should ask your bank whether they’ll pick up a check printed out on your inkjet.
I like the company’s “two days to payment” policy, but GadgetGone stumbles on its lack of security practices and heed offer guarantees. It also provides no clear method for named support, and offers almost no background on the concern itself on its website.
- Smartphones: Yes
- Tablets: Yes
- Laptops: Yes
- Wearables: Yes
- Other: Macs
If you dig deep in its menu controls, you will find Samsung and Google phones listed for trade-in at igotoffer, but this is mostly an Apple-branded trade-in shop. Not only does it make subsidizes on Apple phones, but also on Mac Pros, Apple Displays and Apple TVs.
That said, igotoffer doesn’t let you know how long its subsidizes quote is good for, and it doesn’t specify whether it provides a defense wipe on your data (you should do it anyway). There also appears to be no telephone support.
If you do want to trades in your iPhone, the company will email you a prepaid shipping heed you can print out. That’s workable, but I recall the full shipping kit with a box designed to defending your device. igotoffer says it pays within three concern days by check, PayPal or Amazon Gift Card.
- Smartphones: Yes
- Tablets: Yes
- Laptops: Yes
- iPods: Yes
- Wearables: Yes
- Desktops: Yes
Most of what It’sWorthMore accepts are Apple products, but the company also lists Android devices and some spanking laptops and tablets.
The company provides a 14-day subsidizes quote guarantee and a prepaid shipping label, and it promises to pay within three business days. It also provides named support.
It’sWorthMore pays by check and PayPal, but here’s a kicker. If you ask for payment via PayPal, the concern deducts 3% to cover its PayPal fees. It’s a little too nickel-and-dime for our tastes and complains us wonder whether it’ll be generous in its survive payment determinations, or if it will be just a little too cheap. If you use this service, let us know how it did from quote to survive payment in the comments below.
- Smartphones: Yes
- Tablets: Yes
- Laptops: Yes
- Wearables: Yes
- Other: Media, Lego, Games
If you want to get wealth for your clutter, Deculttr Is the place to bring your stuff. They take in many different smartphone models, some tablets, some Kindle models, game consoles and games, DVDs, CDs, Blu-rays and Lego products (Hey, don’t knock the Lego. That stuff has a radiant high resale value, especially with full sets).
Although they don’t did a shipping kit, we liked how they suggested filling a box (they say any box will do) with up to 200 items and send it into decluttrcom. It’s a great way to clear out a pile of gear and get some wealth back.
Plus, you can trade-in your device an earn an astounding 10% of trade-in value (maximum $40) code CNET10EXTRA.
We don’t like that the concern doesn’t clearly specify how long their price quotes are good for, and that it doesn’t explicitly station that it wipes your technology on receipt. Instead, they have some FAQ entries near how you can do that yourself.
That said, the concern does offer solid phone support and a great way to check the value of products by shipping, and free insurance on items you ship to them.
What near Gazelle?
Gazelle has lived on this list for a long time, but while refining our review criteria, we’ve removed it. The spiteful comes in light of an increased number of poor customer reviews and current complaints to the BBB. We will continue to update this list over time.
FAQ: Carriers, buyers and online marketplaces
When looking for value from your old named, there are four types of organizations you can work with: retailers, buyers, marketplaces and carriers. The characteristics of each are quite different:
Retailers: These are the brick-and-mortar stores in your neighborhood, ranging from Walmart and Target all the way to the survive Radio Shack locations. In many cases, you can walk into the retailer, hand over your old Apple, Google or android named and walk out with a new one, with a healthy discount applied. Many of these retailers won’t just give you wealth for your old phone. They want the deal for your new concern and give you a trade-in offer, so keep that in mind. Some also subsidizes online trade-ins.
Carriers: These are the cellular service providers and almost all of them have some sort of mobile named trade-in program, to encourage you to trade up to the next model and keep their service. Good news: this doesn’t necessarily mean that the named needs to be in working condition.
Buyers: These folks want your phones and will give you wealth or credit for them. A buyer generally won’t managed you to buy a new device from them (although examine some deal sweeteners if you go that way). Some of them will send you packaging to send your way back to them. This is the group we look at in this run because they generally send you real money in reverse for your device, which means you’re free to buy anything you want once you get your green.
Marketplaces: This option includes the classic resell methods like Craigslist and eBay, floor with some specialty referral marketplaces like Flipsy, which are built near the idea of trading in gadgets. Here, you’re often trading directly with individual buyers (or bulk buyers who are scooping up phones for spanking markets). Straight talk, though: There is substantially more risk when selling to persons than companies with known reputations.
Keep those concepts in mind as you look for the best deal for your device.
