How to trade in or sell your old iPhone

Apple recently announced the iPhone 16 series. As is to be expected, these models aren’t cheap, with prices ranging between $799 for the base iPhone 16 and $1,199 for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Thankfully, Apple customers can get the latest iPhones at a lower price by trading in or selling their old devices.

There are many different ways to trade in or sell an iPhone, with several other options — including brick-and-mortar stores, online storefronts, and secondhand marketplaces all offering different means to sell or trade-in your device. In this guide, we’ll be going over the best places to sell or trade in your old iPhone and the various pros and cons of each.

Should you trade in or sell your iPhone?

There are different options for getting rid of an old iPhone: trading it to a store or outright selling it.

The big benefit of selling your iPhone is that you can get closer to its market value back, and thus save more money on your next phone as a result. The major downside to this is that it’s a lot more work for you, as you will be responsible for finding an interested buyer (and also avoid getting scammed).

Trading in your iPhone is much more convenient and faster, as many stores offer trade-ins. The downside to a trade-in is that it pays far less than the market value of the device, so you’ll save less money on your next phone.

For example, Apple currently offers up to $410 in trade-in credit for an iPhone 15. Alternatively, a refurbished unlocked iPhone 15 is selling on eBay for between $500 and $600. So, while it takes some additional effort, users can make back $90 more from selling the phone themselves.

Best places to sell your old iPhone

Selling your old iPhone, while requiring more effort to do so, will result in much bigger pay. Here are the four best places to sell your old iPhone:

Swappa

Swappa is one of the best marketplaces for selling used goods. While very similar to eBay, Swappa focuses explicitly on buying and selling used tech. It has the added benefit of lower seller fees, so you can keep more of your item’s final sale price.

Swappa’s main catch is that it has a fairly high bar for the devices it allows to be sold on its platform. As a result, if your phone is in poor shape or damaged in any way, it may not be eligible to be sold on the platform.

With that said, Swappa boasts some of the lowest commission fees, with both the seller and buyer paying a flat fee of just 3% — so if you sell your old phone for $600, you will only owe Swappa $18.

Seller Fee: 3% flat commission fee.

eBay

For many years, eBay has been the go-to place for selling used goods online. Unfortunately, because of its widespread popularity, the marketplace has slowly increased its fees to a fairly annoying level.

Nowadays, eBay charges a very high fee of 13.25% of the sale, as well as a $0.40 order fee per listing over $10 (it would be $0.30 for orders under $10, but we assume you won’t sell an old phone for that little).

Because of its popularity and notoriety, eBay is still a good, trustworthy option for selling your phone online, as you can sell it quickly and hassle-free. However, its fees make it less ideal than some other options.

Seller Fee: 13.25% of total sale + $0.40 per order over $10.

Mercari

Mercari is another popular site for reselling used goods, ranging from technology to secondhand clothing. Similar to eBay, Mercari has a fairly high seller fee, but it is still lower than others. However, it’s an easy platform with tons of active users, so you should expect your phone to sell pretty quickly on the site.

Seller Fee: 10% flat commission fee. $0.50 + 2.9% processing fee.

Facebook Marketplace

If you’re truly looking to get rid of your phone quickly and get some cash, then you might want to try Facebook Marketplace. While it isn’t the fastest way to get the most money, as the marketplace tends to feature a lot of lowballers, you’ll undoubtedly be able to find a buyer in no time. But still, selling in-person with Facebook Marketplace means no shipping fees, easier haggling, and no risk of your phone getting lost or stolen in the mail.

However, it is also worth noting that Facebook Marketplace — as well as similar sites like Craigslist and Offerup — aren’t always the safest. You have to be careful when dealing with strangers, so it’s always advised to meet buyers in public places or to bring a friend along when making transactions.

Seller Fee: None.

Best places to trade in your old iPhone

We wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to spend the time or hassle selling your old iPhone online. You can bypass the frustrations of reselling your device by going straight to the stores themselves, as many of them will take your old device as a trade-in.

With that said, here are the best places to trade in your old iPhone. We’ll run these tests on the base versions of the last few iPhone generations, assuming they are in good condition.

Apple

If you’re planning on buying your new iPhone straight from Apple themselves, then why not trade in your device to them as well? This option saves you lots of time and hassle, with Apple directly applying your trade-in credit to your new phone. While it is less than selling yourself, Apple still offers an excellent price for trading in your phone.

• iPhone 15 trade-in: $410
• iPhone 14 Trade-in: $300
• iPhone 13 Trade-in: $250

Best Buy

Best Buy is another solid option for trade-ins. The electronics store pays the same rates as Apple (although the value may vary considering the device’s condition), and it can be even more convenient if there’s a store near you. Keep in mind that the rates that they pay are for store credit only, however. But with that said, the credit can be used to purchase any of their products — meaning that you’ll have many other options than selling directly to Apple.

• iPhone 15: Not listed yet
• iPhone 14 Trade-in: ~$290
• iPhone 13 Trade-in: ~$235
• iPhone 12 Trade-in: ~$145

Walmart

Walmart is another major retailer offering trade-ins for all the latest iPhone models. But while the store will accept devices of varying conditions, its trade-in prices aren’t quite as reasonable. Their trade-in rate for an iPhone 14 (depending on storage capacity) is between $323 and $403, which is lacking a bit. However, this is a great option if you want to trade in your phone easily and quickly.

• iPhone 15 Trade-in: $357
• iPhone 14 Trade-in: $246
• iPhone 13 Trade-in: $$162
• iPhone 12 Trade-in: $92

Verizon

Another option for many is to trade in your phone to your carrier simply. Most carriers, such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, accept trade-ins of some form or another. However, not all carriers accept all phone models. Verizon users are in luck, as the brand accepts trade-ins of every single iPhone model, from the very first model to the iPhone 14. Additionally, their trade-in rates are very competitive. While the retailer doesn’t pay as much for the newer models, older models offer decent trade-in value, and the store even accepts damaged devices.

• iPhone 15 Trade-in: $370
• iPhone 14 Trade-in: $250
• iPhone 13 Trade-in: $190
• iPhone 12 Trade-in: $110

How to prepare your iPhone for sale or trade-in

Before you trade-in or sell your iPhone, there are several things that you need to do. First and foremost, you should always save and/or transfer your data onto your new device and then wipe all of your personal data from your phone that you are selling. This will ensure that whoever comes into possession of your iPhone will not be able to view and access your personal data.

Transferring your data and then wiping it is a very easy, but important process. Not only will failing to do so potentially expose your info to getting stolen, but it could also make it difficult for the phone’s new owner to access the phone’s features if you have security measures set in place.

You should definitely also factory reset your iPhone before selling it. You don’t want all your data to be in there. Not to mention the next user might not be able to use the phone if you haven’t wiped it.

How to factory reset your iPhone:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Go into General.
3. Tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Hit Erase All Content and Settings.
5. Tap on Continue.
6. Confirm by hitting Erase iPhone.
7. You’ll be asked for your password. Enter it and select Turn Off.

FAQs: How to trade in or sell old iPhone