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?

The developers of the iPhone Craigslist app craigsphone [App Store link] seem to have found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Sure, most of Craigslist's content is perfectly appropriate for all audiences -- nothing too risque about buying a used bike or looking for an apartment -- but there are some more adult areas of the service, including the ever-popular Missed Connections, that might just run afoul of the App Store's ever-shifting sands of appropriateness. What to do?

Apparently, the answer is "throw up your hands and turn the URL over to Mobile Safari," as you can see in the screenshot here. I'm not sure this is a particularly well-thought out workaround; there are plenty of other apps that can pull down adult-themed content, starting with Apple's own YouTube tool and including ebook readers, RSS feed handlers, etc.

Should a developer providing a custom portal to an external website really be responsible for all the content hosted there, or would it be simpler to put up the same 18-and-up warning that Craigslist uses? It may be up to Apple to implement, or allow a third-party to build, more granular parental controls for iPhone apps, but simply handing off the same mature content to Safari for display seems like a pretty big cop-out.

Update: In response to some of the commenters, we don't know whether this restriction was put in out of an overabundance of caution, or because of a specific requirement of the App Store -- so blaming Apple for prior restraint may be premature. We'll try to get the straight story.

Update 2: It has been confirmed that the change to the craigsphone behavior was, in fact, prompted by a concern from Apple's app store team that the app might be violating terms of service by displaying the mature content. If other apps have been given similar red flags, please let us know.

Thanks xnifex & Nilay

Craigslist is one of my absolute favorite sites on the 'net -- it's been around for years, but kept the same simple look and feel, perfectly fulfilling the service of classifieds without ever once going off that course. Sure, there are issues with spam, but Craig and his minions have worked overtime to make the thing work, and it works well (in fact, if you see any weightlifing dumbells for sale in Chicago, let me know, I need some).

There are quite a few iPhone apps featuring Craig and his list out there (including a few with prices on them), but one that caught our eye as a useful free app is Craigsphone, made by Next Mobile Web (they make the very useful Dial Zero app as well). As you can see from the video above, it's all the features of Craigslist made mobile, and then some -- you can see your history, post and call directly from the phone, and even use the iPhone's location to see craigslist entries nearby (though unfortunately, the Nearby features only work in San Fransisco and Manhattan -- no Chicago?). NMW claims they're still working on the app, too -- they want to "take the best local site in the world and make it truly local." Who knows what that means, but it sounds good, right?

If you spend lot of time on Craiglist, or just want to while you're out and about, Craigsphone seems like a good way to do it. We're interested to see what else they've got planned, too.

There are many iPhones and iPhone 3Gs being sold right now, and not just at Apple and AT&T Stores. If you're thinking about selling your old iPhone to get a little spendin' cash, here are some simple tips for you:

Tip #1 - Pick a reasonable price. What's reasonable? Anything close to whatever other sellers are asking. A lot of 8GB iPhones are selling on eBay in the range of $325 - $450. Will you get that much? Who knows? That's the "joy" of online auctions.

Tip #2 - Show 'em the merchandise. People want to know what they're getting, so always take closeup pictures of everything that's included in the sale. eBay has special rules for iPhone sales:



The gist of the message? If you're selling an iPhone, put your User ID on all photos to prove you have the iPhone in your hot little hands. Sigh.

Tip #3 - Don't want to sell it on eBay? You can always try Craigslist, or you can get a guaranteed price buy selling it to a broker who will turn around and probably sell it on eBay. Some of these brokers include NextWorth (buying 8GB iPhones for $202) and Rapid Repair ($150). That's not as good a deal for you, but definitely a lot less hassle than eBay.

Have you sold your first-generation iPhone? Leave a comment telling us how you sold yours, and how much you made on the sale.