When, And Where, To Trade-In Your iPhone
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- When it comes to Apple, John O'Brien Schroeder is excited to take a bite out of what the newest iPhone has to offer.
"The iPhone 5S has touch ID, which has the method of unlocking the phone via your fingerprint," O'Brien Schroeder said.
O'Brien Schroeder works for Team Technology in Woodbury. They've specialized in Apple products for more than 30 years. So they know what it's like to try and figure out what to do with an old Apple iPhone, when a new one comes out.
"Technically you will get the best trade-in value before a new device is announced," he said.
But since that's often not possible, corporate Apple stores are giving store credit for old iPhones. And there are other options.
"Users really need to sell their old models now to avoid depreciation," Nik Raman said.
Raman is co-founder of USell.com, a website where you can get cash for your old electronics.
"The market is tremendous and is basically insatiable," Raman said. "There are a lot of buyers in foreign countries. Hong Kong has a huge market for used American iPhones."
In fact, Raman said that if you sell your iPhone 5 now, you could get anywhere from $300 to $350 back. That could pay for your entire upgrade but the longer you wait the less you get.
"What we see is in the first week is the prices depreciate by about five percent," Raman said. "But by weeks three and four after the announcement, that depreciation goes all the way to 20 percent."
USell and websites like Amazon and Gazelle are also buying older iPhones too.
The iPhone 4, which came out two years ago, is going for as much as $200 on some sites.
