USA TODAY International Edition
Analyze your options
Early adopters look forward to new version
When the new iPhone comes out, know what to do with your old one,
LOS ANGELES You know a new iPhone is coming in September, and you’re dying to upgrade and get your hands on the new one.
More outlets this year want to buy your old model — from websites such as NextWorth and Gazelle to retailers Best Buy, Target and RadioShack. You can sell it directly at sites such as Amazon, eBay and Craigslist.
Additionally, Apple is expected to begin accepting iPhone trade- ins in September at Apple stores, according to several Apple rumor websites.
The carriers are making the process easier, too. Instead of making you wait a full two years before qualifying for an upgrade, AT& T, Verizon and TMobile recently rewrote the way we buy phones. Now, you can get the new device without waiting out the contract. You’ll probably pay more for the phone than via the current subsidized phone and two- year contract renewal method, but as T- Mobile points out in its ads, you’ll have the latest and greatest and be keeping up with the Joneses. The new iPhone, dubbed “5S” by the tech press, is expected to have a faster processor, improved camera and fingerprint technology for security.
We asked consumers thinking of upgrading what they plan to do with their old phones:
“I just put it in a drawer and forget about it,” says Bernadette Aguiao of Fremont, Calif.
“Think of selling it? Probably not,” says Catherine Galton of Princeton, N. J. “In case the new one breaks, I’d have a backup.”
Get rid of it. Anton Rixon of the United Kingdom ditched his iPhone 4S on eBay for about $ 340, and plans to do the same to buy the new phone.
You can fetch a higher price via eBay and Craigslist — but many folks may not want to take the time to hold auctions or meet people in person to make the transactions. That’s where resale sites come in. “We’ve made close to 1 million offers so far this year,” says Anthony Scarsella, Gazelle chief gadget officer. The offers “look to be three times bigger” than the build- up to the iPhone 5. “There’s a lot more awareness that people can get cash for their devices.”
Wireless carriers traditionally subsidize a new iPhone ( retail $ 650) by signing you to a two- year contract. The phone tends to pay for itself for the carrier within a year, says Charles Golvin, Forrester Research analyst.
Despite the growth of Android, a used iPhone still generates more interest around the world, says Gazelle. “They hold their value higher than Android,” he adds. “The demand for iPhones is insatiable. Especially when a new one comes out.”
Should Apple start its buyback program, the company benefits by letting it redistribute “the older iPhones that are in such high demand all over the world,” says Golvin.
Gazelle is offering $ 340 for an iPhone 5 in good condition and around $ 220 for the previous model, the iPhone 4S. Competitor NextWorth matches $ 340 for the iPhone 5, and a little less for an iPhone 4S in good condition — $ 197.
NextWorth provides the back- end trade services for Target, which exchanges used phones for gift cards. Best Buy and Radio Shack also take trade- ins for new devices. NextWorth Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Trachsel concedes you’ll get less from Web trade- in sites, but he says it’s easier. “We take a lot of the uncertainty and guesswork out of the process.”
Meanwhile, Aguiao is eager for a new iPhone. “You always want the newest thing,” she says.