My wife recently upgraded her Apple iPhone 4S for a shiny new iPhone6. Something that got lost in the shuffle of the excitement of getting a new phone was the amount AT&T gave her for her old phone. A phone that sold for a retail price of nearly $500 when she bought it just three years ago brought her just $40 of trade in value.
She certainly could have tried to sell it privately. She could have listed it on Craigslist, or local classified ads and tried to get more for it. Maybe she could have gotten significantly more for it, maybe not. But it certainly would have taken more effort, and there’s no guarantee that she would have even sold it at all. We took the $40 trade in, but we weren’t happy about it.
But, there is a way she could have gotten significantly more for her iPhone 4S with virtually no effort. It’s a website I learned about recently named SellCell.com. The process is just a few easy to follow steps, and you’re on your way to getting the maximum cash for your old cell phone with minimal effort:
- Go to SellCell.com, and type in the type of phone you want to sell
- Look for a match of phone type, model, and carrier
- Select the condition of your phone
- View the offers from various companies that will buy your cell phone.
Once you select which company you want to sell your phone to, you will be transferred directly to the buyer’s site which will walk you through the process of shipping your phone to them absolutely free. Once they receive your phone and verify its condition, you get paid.
Cha…….Ching!
You can get offers for phones in varying conditions from broken all the way to excellent. Each buyer also lists not only how much they’re willing to give you for your phone, but also the methods of payment they use including check and PayPal.
It’s too late for us now, but I thought I’d run through the three types of phones that my family has traded in as we all upgraded our phones over the last few months:
iPhone 4S 16GB (AT&T):
- AT&T Trade In Value: $40
- Best Offer Via SellCell: $72
iPhone 4 8GB (AT&T):
- AT&T Trade In Value: $25
- Best Offer Via SellCell: $34
Galaxy S4 16GB (AT&T):
- AT&T Trade In Value: $80
- Best Offer Via SellCell: $143
The best offer from SellCell beat AT&T’s trade in value every time.
Cell phones depreciate in value very quickly. It’s disheartening to see just how little these pieces of technology are worth once they become outdated. But don’t let the amount you get for trade in be an afterthought. If you’re looking into upgrading your cell phone soon, it may be worth visiting SellCell to see how much you could get for your phone and compare it to the trade in value your carrier offers you.
You might just find a little extra cash in your pocket!
Have you upgraded your phone lately? How much did you get in trade in value? Now, go run your old phone through SellCell and leave a comment below how much more you could have gotten!
I don’t think I’ve ever been able to trade in a phone because I only upgrade when my phone dies a terrible death. The good news is I keep my phones for a VERY long time and I don’t upgrade unless I absolutely have to. But yeah if you can get a few more bucks for the phone, why not!
Hey, you never know….you might get *something* for your old phone from SellCell – it’s worth a shot! Thanks for stopping by, Tonya!
We upgraded recently, but since the upgrade before was several years ago our phones has no trade in value at all. 🙁 See like a good site and better value.
It’s mind boggling how fast phones go from state of the art down to zero value…..I like what Tonya does – uses a phone until it dies – get as much value as possible!
I’ve found that another site that is easy to use for selling phones is Swappa, though it does require a bit more work as you are selling to other people. It looks like on the phones you listed you can make a little more money using Swappa but not that much. If you are looking for ease of use SellCell looks like it worth it for saving some time & effort, though.
I think it’s important to realize that trading back into the carrier is usually the worst value though!
Thanks for the tip, Debt Hater – it would be interesting to compare the two sites and see which one comes out on top! Thanks!
I never trade in my phone just because of the little amount of money they give you. I tend to sell mine in ebay or Craigslist. I will keep SellCell in mind though the next time I upgrade just to see what they offer me.
It may be the perfect combination of maximizing your money back vs. convenience…if you do try it out, let us know how it worked for you!