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Apple Launches iPhone Trade-In Program
An anonymous reader writes "Today Apple announced the launch of a trade-in program for iPhones. Users will be able to send in their older devices and get credit toward new ones. The announcement precedes an event on Sept. 10th at which Apple is expected to announce a new iPhone model. The trade-in program is being managed by a company named Brightstar, with whom trade-in value maxes out at $336 for a 16GB iPhone 5. The 16GB iPhone 4S, 4, and 3GS max out at $221, $151, and $52, respectively. (The value drops depending on the device's condition, of course.) 'With its new program, Apple steps into a crowded field of competing programs offered by companies such as Gazelle, Best Buy, GameStop, Amazon and others, all of whom accept older iPhones for money. The broader market for used smartphones has been estimated to bring in as much as $5 billion in sales by 2015. With Apple participating as well, more smartphone users may opt for the trade-in option, and could potentially send that estimate even higher. Running its own program would give Apple a way to drive more iPhone sales within its own stores rather than seeing sales from carrier partners, and drive more traffic through its retail stores as well.'"
Throw them away? - they don't want people buying "old" iThingies, do they, that reduces the market for new ones. How green is that.
Throw them away? - they don't want people buying "old" iThingies, do they, that reduces the market for new ones. How green is that.
Hopefully they could reassemble in America, slap them in those plasitic cases we have seen for the iPhone 5C...or whatever they call it, and market it in china or more likely they will just sell sell 2nd hand phones.
But what about my iPhone 3G? (And watch it! This is a family show!) If they were really serious about it being "for the good of the environment" or whatnot, they would take back even the venerable 3G. (And I'm not talking about the 3GS. I know they take those.) I don't see that happening!
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
"Yes, I'd like to trade mine in for a Galaxy S4."
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
How to lock you into there ecosystem. I think the time as come for some kind of Government control so customers can easily move between platforms...and I mean all media Apps, books, music.
Its a great idea for those happily living in Apples police state, and great for Apple. At least those tied into getting the latest Apple products. Those further down the line will as always be worse off.
Where is the link to the program? It's all just media fluff.
Is this the new slashdot business model since the video stuff bombed awkwardly?
They're going to be re-selling used Apple stuff...Jobs would have hated that. To him it would be like re-releasing old artwork. Even having to support those old things after they were no longer the latest model probably looked like a necessary evil to him.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Well, with their marketshare falling like a rock (Achievement unlocked: Apple Fanboy hate. -5 Karma, +5 reputation) they gotta do something -- Android is now passing 70% and continuing to climb while Apple dropped to about 15% and has been losing about 1% a month on average for the past two quarters (Achievement unlocked: Use of facts on the internet. +2 karma, -1 reputation). Of course, only on slashdot would the phrase "up to" cause people to cream their pants with excitement that the great and noble Apple (Achievement unlocked: Sarcasm! -1 karma, +7 reputation to shop owners in town GenX) was going to give them 'free' upgrades. It'll be just like going to a used car dealer and getting a "great deal" on your trade-in -- they give you x amount of dollars now, knowing that the buy-in (aka your loan APR) will offset it by x plus a percentage, so they can afford to be generous... just keep paying the monthly 'rental' fee (Achivement unlocked: Car analogy! +2 karma, +1 reputation).
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
"Yes, I'd like to trade mine in for a Galaxy S4."
You could go http://glyde.com/ http://www.nextworth.com/ or http://www.gazelle.com/iphone which will offer you *real* money instead of credit and at a higher rate than the $120-200 for 16GB iPhone 4 and 4S models and 16GB iPhone 5 in good condition could go for around $250. The only thing you lose is convenience. Its kind of sad but that tiny bit of convenience is worth a lot.
His views are fashionable here. He's already been modded up.
Given the high resale value of iPhones, this isn't particularly necessary from a customer perspective. Obviously Apple's goal is to get more used iPhones out of circulation so they can sell new ones.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
They're going to be re-selling used Apple stuff...Jobs would have hated that.
Jobs is dead, and nothing even during his final time at Apple planned for the rapid maturing of the smart-phone and Tablet market, and the fact that Apple is moving towards irrelevance, unless they compete. I think this is poor lock-in, but they need to step up, otherwise they are heading for irrelevance.
Best buy uses brightstar for its trade ins. From what I know they refurbish what they can and then sell the left over parts.
That's the nickname Tuppe666's mom gave him, on account of all the crystal she had while pregnant.
You can drop off any Apple product at an Apple Store and they will recycle it for free.
They just will not pay you for it...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
All of them will "offer" an amount, but then they will pay substantially less after they receive the device.
This, combined with the new iPhone (which I have seen and is AMAZING)
Why? Its unlikely that the latest iPhone 5S will be anything other that an incremental upgrade to the iPhone 5(and I personally would love a fingerprint reader on a phone), but the reality is its likely to be outdated at launch falling behind even more through competitors rapid update cycles...at least it might be in gold. The more interesting product is the 5C if it exists at all, and the only thing interesting is is the price!
we will find out in 10 days anyway. I for one am very excited :)
Hello, I'm a used iPhone. I have cost you over $2,000 in cellular service fees. I'm the gift that keeps on charging, which is useful since my battery isn't replaceable. We here at Apple would like to keep our customers on the hamster wheel of overpriced and stale innovation, so today Apple is pleased to announce our iPhone Trade-In Program. Trade in your existing iPhone and we'll give you credit toward a new iPhone that does everything your existing iPhone does without any of those pesky and useful features found on Android phones. Oh, and I come in new fun colors too!
This is a joke. I keep all my iPhone's for other family members to play with since I know the condition they are in and they are cheaper than buying everyone iPod Touch's.
Android, in your words, "looks like crap and sucks battery down" because it comes pre-loaded with tons of useless shit, most of which can't be uninstalled .
It is not true for me. The reality you now not only have the choice of Google Nexus phones, Manufactures are starting to offer Google Play Edition Phones which offer the stock Android edition http://www.stableytimes.com/news/htc-one-vs-galaxy-s4-google-play-edition-android-phones/ . Many people though enjoy the changes Manufactures bring.
You have the choice.
You're not even trying to be subtle with your trolling. F*** off.
You said it yourself, the phone came out 5 years ago. The latest software that runs on it is the version that came out nearly 3 years ago (4.2.1, released November 2010). You're delirious if you think that's worth anything as trade-in.
...and was sold until September 2012, and struggled with Apples latest software. Customers measure from time of purchase as does all consumer law. http://allthingsd.com/20120913/iphone-3gs-takes-a-dirt-nap/?mod=atdtweet. It sounds like customers who bought older...but still sold iphones have no resale value, and short support cycles.
Eh, the android phone is just as likely to cost $2k in cellular bills. The difference in price over 24 months between an iPhone and an Android phone isn't really that much by percentage when you take the cost of service into account.
And yes, I know you can get a bargain android phone and pair it with a bargain cell w/ data plan.
You can do that with iPhone, too (virgin offers $30/month for their lowest tier plan if you give them access to your bank account....). It does cost more, but the percent more over 24 months...
it's not iPhones that are costing people tons of money for cell service, it's smartphones.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
It's not so much that this is a slow news days, but that with the new iPhone announcement in less than two weeks, the Mac Fanbois (and Fangirls) are waiting to see how much they are going to have to spend on the new latest greatest iDevice (now with cheese grating apps). This announcement means that they can save 200 - 300 out of the thousand they could spend on the new device, new cases, new screen protectors, all the other new accessories, carrier ETF, new apps, etc.
--The FNP
Apple can learn from the games industry.
They should lock the phones down with DRM so that they can't be resold. Also, after a year or two Apple should close down their servers so that nobody with an old phone can go online. GPS data, calls, SMS and internet logs can all be sent directly to any "interested parties" to make some fast cash.
I'm tired of having to support Gingerbread.
More than 50 posts and nobody ever mentioned there is like dozens of Gigabytes of data for our fellow privacy defenders at NSA to harvest.
Just how easily something like that gets overlooked, I wonder.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
My cell phone plan costs me a total of $10/month including unlimited data (I downloaded a total of 50GB last month and did not hit any caps). Used with an android, tethering and steam.
Link is designed to crash your browser. Don't click it.
They take the prior generation phones, refurbish them, and ship them to developing countries where they command an insane price premium.
I've got an old iPhone 3GS that won't start up all the way. I dunno why—can't really be bothered with trying to fix it. I've been thinking of selling it (I probably won't trade it in to Apple), but I worry about private data from back when my wife was using the phone still being on it. Is this something I should worry about, or should I just sell the phone? Is there some way to wipe the phone just to make sure, given it's inoperable?
Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary