Last updated January 10, 2024
Trading your iPhone in is a great way to make some money from an unwanted device. Here, we look at 8 ways you can trade-in your old iPhone to make extra cash!
OK, so the iPhone 13 is literally just around the corner. You’ve ordered one, but now you’re going to have an iPhone 12 gathering dust. So what do you do with it? It makes no sense to leave the device languishing in a drawer somewhere. Instead, you could trade it in.
But does trading your phone in actually save you any cash in the long-run? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is also yes. No matter how you look at it, you will always save money when you trade your iPhone in. Even if you have a broken or faulty handset!
Want to know how trading your phone in can make you better off? Read on.
8 Ways You Make Money by Trading In Your iPhone
We’ve already established that you can save money trading in your old iPhone. Let’s delve into how this works.
1. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Up to $700 On the Cost of Upgrading to the iPhone 13
At SellCell, we have access to iPhone values within one-minute of accuracy. So, we can tell you that trading your iPhone in will save you money on an upgrade to the new iPhone 13. For example, the iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB model will earn a customer in the region of $700, for a phone in good condition (i.e. one that shows some signs of use).
Given that the iPhone 13 Pro 512 GB will retail at $999, at launch, trading in your iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB for $700 means you only pay $299.
2. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Money by Paying Off the Rest of Your Contract
Many people will be halfway through a two-year contract on their iPhone 12 when the iPhone 13 actually enters stores. With this in mind, trading in your iPhone to offset the cost of paying off your contract is an excellent idea. Customers can use any funds earned from trading in their old iPhone, paying off the remaining handset fees, and unlocking an early upgrade.
To use the iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB as an example again, you can get around $700 at trade-in, which you can use to pay off what remains of your handset contract. There might even be some change to spend on protective accessories for your new iPhone 13, saving even more money.
3. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Money by Putting Cash in the Bank if You Switch to a Better Contract Deal
If your contract is up and you want to switch to a better contract deal, then trading your iPhone in can actually put some money in your back pocket while you change to a different service plan.
Say your current service plan costs $50 per month, and you’ve seen one for $45 with a different carrier, the same handset, and unlimited data. This’ll save you $5 a month, but trading your iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB will save you a further $700, or $58 a month for the first 12 months of your new contract. You’re not just saving money by trading in, here; you’re earning more on top. In fact, you’re $13 a month better off.
4. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Money by Paying Up-Front for a Less Expensive Handset and Leaving Cash in Your Wallet
In a similar vein to the above, if a customer wants to downgrade to a less expensive handset, for whatever reason, then trading in an iPhone can cover the cost of a brand new mid-range handset, and leave change for accessories.
A canny customer could even trade in an old iPhone 12 and get a less expensive iPhone 13. Trading in the aforementioned iPhone 12 Pro 512 GB for $700 means you can buy a brand new iPhone 13 Mini and still have change… albeit one cent!
5. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Money by Contributing Toward the Cost of Buying a New, Factory Unlocked iPhone
Having an iPhone tied to a carrier reduces its value when you come to trade in (which is why it is always good practice to unlock your iPhone prior to selling it). Buying a factory unlocked phone means it will retain a higher value for longer, saving you money in the long run.
By trading in an old iPhone, customers can then buy a factory unlocked iPhone, saving on the costs associated with a carrier’s expensive credit plan for the handset and they can then take advantage of often cheaper sim-only deals. So, the potential saving here is threefold; the handset, the credit plan for the iPhone itself, and taking out a sim-only contract instead.
6. Trading In Your iPhone Saves You Money by Converting an Unwanted Device Into Cash
If you’ve just upgraded to the latest iPhone 13, then the chances are you’ll have a spare iPhone once your new one arrives. If you do, you can save money by converting your unwanted iPhone into cash. How? By trading it in.
It sounds simple, and that’s because it is. Any money you can make trading an unwanted device, such as an iPhone, counts as a saving elsewhere because you offset the handset’s value against other spending. You don’t even need to spend your profit on a new iPhone to still see it as a saving—it could be anything.
7. Trading In a Broken iPhone Can Still Save You Money
Many customers make the mistake of thinking a broken iPhone won’t be worth a dime. Well, they’re wrong; even broken phones have some value. Even if that value is only a few dollars, trade it in and you’ll get cash toward a case for your new handset, or some accessories. You could even use it to buy premium apps on your new iPhone.
For example, the value of a faulty iPhone 11 is around $250 at the time of writing. If a handset doesn’t work, that doesn’t make it worthless. Clearly, quite the opposite is true. $250 is a generous amount of money in your pocket for something that doesn’t even work properly anymore.
8. Trading In an iPhone Saves You Even More Money With a Comparison Site Like SellCell
Whatever way you look at it, you save money by trading in your iPhone. However, you can make even more cash if you use a comparison site like SellCell. Instead of searching for hours on end for the best deal, we can deliver it straight to you, so you make a time saving, too!
Compared to the major carriers—and even Apple itself—SellCell’s pool of trusted buyback vendors can always deliver a higher buyback value for your old iPhone. All the prices quoted in the above tips come from our site at the time of writing.
So, before going straight to your carrier to trade in your iPhone, see how much more you can make with SellCell. Customers may discover they can make several hundred dollars more, which translates to a major saving elsewhere.
Save Some Money and Trade In Your Old iPhone
So, there we have it. We’ll be damned if you can think of a reason not to trade your old iPhone in, now. Especially if you’ve got the iPhone 13 winging its way to you as we speak.
There really is no better place to trade in your iPhone than SellCell.com. We’re so confident of that fact, that if you somehow manage to find a better deal than our best value deal, we’ll refund double the difference. Our best price guarantee says so!
At SellCell, we search prices over 40 trusted buyback vendors, meaning that you can sell your phone in confidence, knowing the vendor you’re dealing with is legitimate and you’ll get your money. You can see all of our vendor’s trust scores across sites like Trustpilot and Google Reviews, right there in the search results.
Let SellCell do all the hard work for you and turn your old iPhone into a fistful of dollars instead.