Apple iPhone 16 Trade-In Guide: How to Get a New Phone by Using Your Old Phone

2 weeks ago 7

Apple's iPhone 16 series is now broadly available starting at $799, which brings the Action button to every model and debuts the Camera Control button for fast photography access. You also have several options for buying a new iPhone, whether you want to buy it from Apple itself, a retailer or through your wireless carrier. But the fact is, every iPhone is expensive. The "cheapest" new iPhone you can buy is still the $429 iPhone SE that was last refreshed in 2022, or you can go the refurbished route to get a previously used iPhone that's been reconditioned by a manufacturer.

But the phone that you already have could be the key to subsidizing the cost of a new iPhone. Trading in your device -- especially if it's in good condition -- could give you credit that can cover a large portion of the cost of buying a new phone. Plus, there are a range of options you could take in order to accomplish this, with payout potential scaling based on how much effort you are willing to put into it.

We'll go over a number of different routes you can take to make the most money possible from your existing iPhone, based on the amount of work you are willing to invest. You can start with the easiest path, which typically involves a trade-in deal with your wireless carrier, and work your way up to websites where you personally sell the device, but could reap a higher profit by doing that work yourself.

iPhone trade-in carrier deals: Quick cash with strings

During Apple's iPhone 16 announcement, the company made a point to state that credits toward buying an iPhone 16 Pro could be as high as $1,000 when trading in an iPhone 12 Pro or newer. While those credits are real -- and can go as high as $1,300 with Boost Mobile -- you need to be willing to put up with the carriers' fine print. Largely, this means signing up for specific rate plans in a carrier's portfolio, trading in your device (that the carrier will likely recondition and resell for its own profit) and staying signed up with a specific wireless carrier for two to three years in order to receive the full discount.

While it is a lot of money in savings, it's essentially a contract. And if you decide you no longer like your wireless carrier, you'll find yourself needing to pay out your device's balance while forfeiting any remaining credit. If you know that you have no desire to shop around for a new carrier during that specified time, then it could be tempting.

However, wireless carrier plan deals pop up a lot, and sometimes it's valuable to not sign a contract in order to remain flexible should the right deal appear. For instance, back in 2017 when Sprint was still an independent carrier, it offered a free year of service for anyone willing to try it out. At the time, I was on a Verizon plan shared with my family, but my phone was paid off. I opted to take the promotion, port my line out of the family plan and was able to get a nearly free year of service on the carrier where I just had to pay about $6 a month in taxes. When that year ended, I stayed on with Sprint for a few more months, and then ported out to Verizon's Visible for its $25-a-month plan.

That said, I did indulge in a trade-in deal when I joined T-Mobile in 2021 while buying my current iPhone 12 Pro Max. The carrier offered just over $500 in bill credits when financing a new iPhone by both switching to the carrier and trading in my Google Pixel 3 XL. It saved a lot of money, and my phone is now fully paid off, but now I'd rather stretch the life of my iPhone a few more years and avoid committing to T-Mobile just in case a better deal comes up. What's more, T-Mobile now only offers its best trade-in offers to customers that use their most expensive Go5G plans, and I'd rather stay grandfathered into my Magenta Max plan with a lower rate. Without changing my plan, T-Mobile's website claims that my iPhone 12 Pro Max could be worth as much as $300, a far cry from the $1,000 if I agreed to raise my plan. It's a trade off I just don't like.

Verizon and Boost Mobile offer similar terms to receive the highest trade-in credit, and if you would be losing a lower rate plan in order to get the full credit, you should do some math to see if the price difference is worth it for you. AT&T is offering its highest trade-in values for customers on any of the carrier's Unlimited plans, which may provide some flexibility. Personally, I'd rather lock in a lower monthly rate, but if you wanted to buy a more expensive plan anyway for enhanced features, perhaps the switch makes sense.

iPhone trade-in websites: Easy money, but less of it

There are many retailers and refurbished device websites that offer to buy your used device for cash payouts. And what's especially nice about these websites is that these rewards are provided up front, whether as an immediate discount on another device or as straight cash.

Apple itself offers a trade-in credit when buying a new iPhone, which can be used in tandem with the previously mentioned carrier offers. For instance, if I were to trade in my iPhone 12 Pro Max towards the cost of an iPhone 16 Pro, Apple's website says it would offer $300 toward the price of the new phone.

If you aren't looking specifically to buy a new phone, you can also trade in your device for cash using services like Gazelle. On that website, Gazelle says it would offer $265 for my 256GB iPhone 12 Pro Max, as long as my device meets the criteria of appearing "like new" -- meaning minor blemishes are acceptable.

The benefit of these websites is that you can get cash or credit without having to sign a long-term agreement with a carrier, but it does mean that you aren't getting as generous a promotion. However, it's important to note that whenever you trade in your device, the company you are giving it to will likely recondition the phone and resell it at an even higher profit. If you are willing to do a little more work, you could maximize the amount of money you get by selling it yourself.

Selling your iPhone yourself

While selling your own phone requires the most effort of these options, you could stand to gain the most money possible for your device without having to sign onto any long-term agreements with a wireless carrier.

Websites like Swappa -- a more device-focused marketplace -- and the stalwart eBay have instructions for listing your device, noting the condition and setting a price. Both marketplaces will charge a seller fee for your listing; for instance, Swappa takes a 3% fee while eBay has a scaling formula. However, researching the amount of money you could get for your device is fairly simple, since you can just search for how much others are selling the same phone. For instance, in my quick search on both Swappa and eBay, other 256GB iPhone 12 Pro Max phones are selling in the $400 to $500 range.

But while that's significantly higher than the quotes I received from Apple and Gazelle, it ultimately would depend on if I'm willing to put in the work to build the listing, monitor it and ship the device myself once it sells. But picking up $500 toward a new phone -- again, without needing to sign any carrier agreements -- might be a worthwhile venture in the future.

Watch this: iPhone 16 Review: All About the Buttons

10:04

Timing can be everything

Whichever option you choose to trade in your device -- whether it's through a carrier promotion or exchanging through a marketplace -- be aware that the longer you wait, the more your device eventually depreciates in value. In particular, since Apple reduces the costs of earlier iPhone models every September, it's quite likely that your personal device's value will drop around that time every year.

And if you are banking on a lucrative carrier promotion, those values will also depreciate or depart entirely as time goes on. For instance, the $1,000 trade-in promotion I mentioned earlier is only available when using an iPhone 12 Pro model or newer. If you are still holding onto an iPhone 11 Pro or earlier, you'll likely receive a much lower trade-in estimate from a carrier or a trade-in website. It's not a bad thing to hold onto older iPhone models that were first purchased in 2018 or later as they are still getting software updates like iOS 18, but the chances of getting a good trade-in promotion or high selling price will become more challenging.