What to do with that old iPhone?
At first I was going to wait until December when I could upgrade my 3G iPhone to a 3G S for the best price, but the thought of that better camera resolution and video was slowly gnawing away at my resolve. I wanted a new iPhone (damn you Apple!), but I had to do something about my current model. Putting it in the drawer that has become my 'Museum of Obsolete Technology' didn't seem like a great (or cost-effective) solution. Selling it to friends is tough because most already have iPhones and are in the same boat I'm in. We've even offered some good tips in the past here at TUAW.Then I remembered that when I upgraded to the iPhone 3G I sold my iPhone online. eBay wasn't offering much back then, so after some research I settled on NextWorth. They are one of a number of companies that will give you real cash for gadgets, and they had a good reputation. Prices depend on demand and change daily. With my old first generation iPhone, I sent it in with all my accessories and received a check back in 2-3 weeks. It was all pretty painless.
I checked them again this time, and they were offering US$280.00 for my 16GB iPhone. I've gathered all my accessories and will send it in when I get the new iPhone. That 280 clams makes the whole trade up quite a bit less painful. I also like this method rather than selling to a friend because of the "something is sure to go wrong with the phone the day after I sell it" factor.
Our readers will have their own stories and suggestions. Let's hear them -- and one tip. Before you engage with any company try a site like ReSeller Ratings or do some targeted Google searches to see how other people did with them. I might have gotten more money for the phone using another method, but the route I went has no risk and offered a reasonable trade in value.
Other online companies that buy iPhones include Gazelle, BuyMyTronics and CashforiPhones. That's not an exhaustive list, and be sure to check reputations. Searching on "sell your iPhone" at Google is a good place to start. There's also Craigslist, but you have to be careful. There have been a lot of rip-offs.
One final tip. When you sell the little darling, be sure to do a secure erase first. It takes a while, but protects you from selling your data along with your phone.
I'm looking forward to the new iPhone but hate the thought of buying the next model and the next. What's a geek to do?
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Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/
At first I was going to wait until December when I could upgrade my 3G iPhone to a 3G S for the best price, but the thought of that better...
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Craigslist has been my go-to venue for selling iPhones. Sold my son's and my iPhones on Tuesday. Received $450.00 for a white 16GB and $350.00 for a black 8GB. Just enough to get a pair of 16GB 3G S's tomorrow morning!
June 18 2009 at 12:30 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf anyone's looking still I have an 8gb 3G with applecare on ebay still $199
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150352508191
I'm a physician and director of an organization called DataDyne (www.datadyne.org). We develop free and open-source software to support public health and international development. We just started an initiative called "Coded in Country", which aims to increase software development capacity in developing countries: http://www.datadyne.org/cic
Our newly opened office in Nairobi has 4 devs, all of whom are aching to develop iPhone apps (most of our stuff is Java right now). If anyone wants to donate an old iPhone (or development-capable Mac) it would really be appreciated.
Feel free to contact me for this directly at joel @ datadyne.org
Thanks!
Im selling my iPhone 3G (16GB, White, Jailbroken) on eBay right now... but it's only up to $80. Started at a dollar. 2 days left in the auction too. Hrm...
http://bit.ly/ebay-iphone
Apart from the fact that there are no new features that are so amazing (they seem to be leftovers from previous versions), what does put me off from upgrading from my first gen is the fact that they all look the same. Every time there's more than one iphone on the table we need to check who owns which and I'd be more willing to buy one that also looks different than the previous versions. True, if all your design is inside the screen, a soap bar with a screen on top is all you can do, but still something else should be done on the outside...
June 17 2009 at 4:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI could go either way on the 3G S. I'd like to have video recording, but it's not essential. Faster overall would be nice, especially in Safari. I'm not in a rush, so first I'll wait a few weeks to make sure there's no problems with the new hardware, and for availability to stabilize. Then I'll see what they're going for on eBay. If I see 8 GB 3Gs going for close to $400 I'll probably make the switch. Then I'll need to start cleaning my house and find the original box. :-)
June 16 2009 at 11:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply$350 on craigslist today. Cold hard CASH. Now if I don't kill my self first....this old BB Curve, I had laying around, is like working on WindowsMobile. :)
Friday Pre-order time can't come soon enough!
Well I didn't upgrade to the 3g, so I'm still rockin' my 8gb original launch day phone. I plan on keeping it, and putting it in a display case as an original piece of tech history.
I'll be overjoyed to upgrade to 32gb white 3G S (and my city finally has 3G).
Why don't you jailbreak it and sell it for 400 then the 32gb will be 100$ less than the subsidized price.
June 16 2009 at 10:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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