Read more in the full article here.“With Apple’s new iPhones due to go on sale on Sept. 20, resale sites have reported a surge in trade-ins of old iPhones,” Quentin Fottrell reports for MarketWatch. “Once the new iPhone 5S and 5C models go on sale, trade-in values are expected to plummet, but for now, experts say consumers can still lock in high enough prices to break even on the upgrade to a new phone — or even earn a profit.”
“The 5S will cost $199 with a two-year wireless contract, while the 5C, which will be available for preorder starting Sept. 13, will cost $99. With most offers, it’s possible to sell an old iPhone – which will be phased out by Apple — and make a $100 profit trading in an iPhone 4S for a 5C; many of those who bought that model will be coming to the end of their two-year contract,” Fottrell reports. “iPhone 5 holders who bought their phone last year still have one year left on their current contract.”
“During Apple’s iPhone announcement Tuesday, the number of offers on resale site Gazelle.com peaked at over 600 per second. Gazelle offers $210 for an iPhone 4S and $325 for a 16 gigabyte iPhone 5 in pristine condition. Rival site ProtectCell.com offers $275 for a good condition iPhone 4S and $325 for an iPhone 5, while NextWorth.com offers $225 for a 4S and $320 for an iPhone 5,” Fottrell reports. “‘The introduction of Wal-Mart and Apple into the trade-in space obviously increases the competition among pre-existing trade-in suppliers like ourselves,’ says Scott McLaren, chief marketing officer at resale company ProtectCell. Apple may have raised awareness of trade-ins, but with a $280 store credit for an iPhone 5 at retail stores, it doesn’t beat the best cash deal on the market.”
Read more in the full article here.
It is simply ridiculous to see how everyone seems to be of the impression that the iPhone costs $200 (5s) or $100 (5c).
Well, if we use that twisted logic, then with T-Mobile, they are giving 5c for free (!).
Of course, no iPhone is that cheap; not even a used 4S (a working, undamaged 4S goes for over $300).
To remind everyone: $200 is a down-payment. The phone actually costs $650. If you want a lower down-payment, get your iPhone from T-Mobile (where down-payment is $100 for 5S, and $0 for 5C).
I agree, Predrag. I have battled against the descriptions of subsidized, contract cell phones as “free” or “low cost.” As has often been pointed out on this forum, if you want to know what a phone really costs, break the one that you have and go back to the store to purchase a replacement. Unless you are talking about a bottom-dwelling, basic feature phone, you will have to pay hundreds of dollars.
Thank you Predrag!
It looks like the American mobile consumers are slooooowly beginning to understand the concept of subsidised pricing. With the emergence, and increased traction, of pre-paid carriers (Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS, Boost, Cricket) and their no-contract offerings, people are finally understanding the difference between two-year contract with subsidised pricing and outrageously expensive plans, and contract-free, cheap unlimited-all plans that can usually be had for below $60 per month.
An unintended consequence of this is the sudden realisation that the iPhone in your pocket / purse is as expensive as that laptop of yours, and quite more expensive than the iPad. Several women whom I know, and who came to this realisation, are now quite concerned about safeguarding such an expensive piece of equipment. And a few of them are now even questioning the wisdom of spending $650 on a cellphone (when, for the past five years, they thought they were buying it for just $200).
Subsidised pricing is an exceptionally successful marketing ploy by carriers that got mobile consumers to buy much more expensive phones than they would have otherwise bought, by completely disguising the actual retail price of the phone. If you ask 100 people around you how much is the retail price of the iPhone, 99 of them will likely say $200, and none of them will actually know it is $650.
I paid $630 for my iPhone 5. I put a down-payment of $150, and the rest is on an interest-free installment plan (24 installments of $20 each). I’m willingly paying this much because I know it is worth it. I’m wondering how many iPhone owners would have bought their devices, had they know they were paying $650 for them?
As the consumers awake, maybe Congress will awake as well and force the carriers to discount the plans once the subsidy has been repaid. As things stand now, if you do not upgrade as soon as one is available, you’re just giving away money to your carrier. I have tried to explain this to people; few get it.
I’m glad you mentioned that. Forcing their hands would be great because they’re literally taking money away from the consumer.
That would be gubmint control. Bad. Bad.
I’m fairly conservative, and normally against such meddling, but in this case there’s no issue. Natural monopoly, and all that jazz.
Also, I do realize you were being sarcastic.
If the consumers will wake up then we wont need congress to babysit us. Predrag did not need congress to be a smart consumer. His points apply to all things: cars, for example. Notice the ads on how much it is to lease a car rather than saying what the price of the car is. Really no different. The intent is to convey the idea it is affordable.
I pay $40 with tax included for unlimited everything at Metro PCS. That’s kind of hard to walk away from.
What made the decisions (to by a $650 phone on subsidy) easier to digest (for those few who actually new how much they were paying) is that there was no other option; with contract plans, subsidy is built-into the plans, whether you bring your own phone or buy one on the subsidy. And the subsidy never goes away, not even after the phone is paid off. So, if your only option, with AT&T, for a smartphone plan is $80 per month, and if that option is the same, regardless of which phone you get, you may as well take advantage and get AT&T to subsidise that iPhone.
Today, we have several pre-paid carriers who offer iPhone at full price, but at a rate with NO subsidy (i.e. at least $20 cheaper; in most cases, significantly more than $20 cheaper). Getting an iPhone (any smartphone) on e pre-paid carrier and no-contract plan is ALWAYS cheaper and more flexible than with the big three (AT&T/Verizon/Sprint). You can upgrade ANYTIME you want (sell your old phone and buy a new one; move the SIM card from the old to the new phone and you’re good). If you can’t afford $650 upfront (for a new iPhone), there are many ways to finance it at no interest. You are never bound by a contract.
So, about the only dealbreaker here is the coverage of the carrier in your area.
A year or so ago we bought a new iPhone 4s (~$450, as I recall) for my daughter and put her on a separate, no-contract carrier for $35/month (unlimited data and texting, 300 talk minutes). Teenagers don’t seem to talk much anymore, so it has worked out fine and it will come out much cheaper in the end. If we wanted to, we could sell it for $210 right now, resulting in a monthly handset cost of only about $20/month, or $55/month total including the cellular service. Granted, that is still a lot more than I would prefer to pay, and it gets even more outrageous to outfit an entire family with iPhones (or Androids). But it was better than the contract carrier alternatives.
I don’t see why anyone is surprised. Several phone vendors have been offering the iPhone for free for ages. Mostly the older models such as the iPhone 4, but still. I still don’t see the need for the iPhone 5C? Isn’t the older models good enough?
Not if you want access to the latest features and software. The retina display debuted on the 4 and Siri on the 4s along with a much better camera. The vertical display stretch on the iPhone 5 is another technology dividing line. For me, the new A7 processor, M7 coprocessor, improved camera functionality, and Touch ID sensor make the 5s a particularly attractive package. It all depends on what you are looking for, but I would personally pay the difference to move up from the 4s to the 5s.
Does anyone have advice on buying a used iPhone? I’m in the market for an unlocked 4s or 5 but have no idea how reliable ebay/CL are for phones.
And people like me who buys our iPhones unsubsidized
Having bought cell phones since before “bundling” was allowed (that’s what they called subsidizing a phone with a service contract back then), I’ll take the subsidy. It just makes things easier – with an iPhone, anyway – I’ve never had another phone that actually lasted two years before.
There is a fundamental problem with the bundling concept (with subsidy): you pay more in taxes than you should.
When part of the price of your phone is bundled together with the wireless service, your monthly bill is taxes as wireless service in its entirety. Retail taxes for goods (such as the iPhone) are well below 10% (in some states barely 3%). Combined federal and state taxes for wireless service often exceed 20%. The subsidy part of the price of your iPhone is somewhere around $450, and with your bundle plan, you are paying $90 or more in taxes on that part, while you SHOULD be paying no more than $40 (and in some states, barely $10). This makes your mobile plan that much more expensive.
I would prefer NOT to donate money to the tax man if I can help it. This is why I moved to T-Mobile and I discovered that my family of four is now saving over $600 per year, and getting much better plan than before.
I just the iPhone 5 for $400 and I’m using my METRO PCS $40 unlimited plan. Wifey now has my prestine iPhone 4 in a LIFEPROOF case. We have 5 phones with METRO PCS and only pay $125/month. You can’t beat that! We were with Sprint and had 2 phones n discounted by Kaiser employee plan and paid $275/month. We will never go back to a contract phone. PREPAID RULES!! IMO!!!!!
There is no such thing as a “free” or “subsidized” phone unless someone else is paying the bills for you. Cell carriers merely finance the cost of their handsets to fool financially-illiterate consumers.
… and MDN repeats the misleading marketing hype. There is not, was not, and never will be, a “free” anything. The sole purpose of product creation is to separate you from your money. The sooner you realize it, the smarter a consumer you will be.
I sold my iPhone 5 for $325 on Gazelle (not pristine BTW) and upgraded to an iOS7 free Nexus 4 Phone and pocketed the difference.
Almost every app I had installed on the iPhone is available for the Nexus 4 and it is bloatware free, unlike the Samsung phones.
No contract, no flower power iOS 7, and better performance than the 5.
I am keeping the iPad, but keeping it with iOS 6.
You seem to have chosen to miss out on many major improvements that come with the new iOS; not to mention that, by choosing to stay with iOS 6, you’ll continue to miss out on any incremental updates that come later on. Yet, you don’t have a problem getting Android, which is visually considerably less appealing than any flavour of iOS so far (including iOS7).
Did iOS7 lose any of the major features contained in iOS6 to make it suddenly so much less attractive, to compel you to choose Android?
Having lived with Android for two years (before finally graduating to iPhone 5), I have grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of features in all those Android apps, compared to their iOS counterparts (I had an iPad during that time). Not to mention serious stability issues with those apps, which simply don’t exist in the iOS world.
There are many fundamental problems with Android, and I am truly struggling to understand the reason behind anyone moving from iOS to Android. There is a very good reason why such examples are extremely rare. It is simply an inferior platform, even with the pure Nexus devices.
I use my iPad far more than my iPhone and plan on keeping it- on iOS6. I also am one who prefers using a real computer over an iOS device when it is time to do real work.
My iPhone is primarily used as a phone with email, internet, podcasts and a few worthy apps like Google Maps, TuneIn Radio, 1 Password and TiVo round out what I actually use the phone for. They are available for Android.
Having been a Photographer by profession years ago, I prefer a real camera and consider the iPhone camera a glorified point and shoot.
Maybe I am not the 20something hipster Apple is targeting, but there are untold millions like me. We are also not as perpetually broke as the hipster crowd Madison Avenue tells everyone to target.
Apple has decided to ghettoize the iPhone to a limited high margin slice of the market and is daily losing market share to Android.
I am a fan of Apple, but am no blind Fanboi. Apple is giving Pro users the middle finger with the new HTPC they are calling a Mac Pro and have turned iOS 7 into a Hello Kitty looking mess. This is where I get off the train and Cook’s direction is probably an unwise course long term for Apple.
Cook lacks the vision thing and Ive lacks the critical editor’s eye Steve Jobs imposed upon him.
It seems to me that your primary (only?) reason for giving up on iOS is the new visual identity of iOS7. I am not a developer, so I haven’t seen it in action, so I have no right to make a judgement. Virtually all developers who had early access to it ended up actually liking it very much, so you seem to be the only one, to my knowledge, who doesn’t. I am not counting the negative opinions of countless of “fans of Apple” who have only seen pictures and videos (therefore, have practically no clue what they’re talking about), but feel obligated to provide an opinion. As I currently have the iPhone 5, I’ll be updating to iOS 7 once it becomes available, and only after that, will be able to tell if I like it or not.
At the age of 51, I don’t consider myself a hipster. And I’m not much of a fanboi either (iPhone 5 is my first iPhone, after two Android devices, and the mounting frustration from their use). With a family of four to support, I can’t throw good money away. I took time to do the math and realised that an iPhone (indeed, most Apple hardware) is actually BETTER value for my money. In other words, I end up spending more (money, time, frustration) on a $200 Android phone (over the time I’d used it) than I do on a $650 iPhone. It is simply not such a great deal, even at $200 without contract.
I don’t know about Mac Pro; I have an iMac, which takes care of my needs. We’ll see what professionals tell us AFTER they begin buying it (not BEFORE).
I’ve been coming to MDN for some 8 years, and at EVERY single product announcement, there would be a sizeable number of MDN posters would proclaim that Apple “has lost it”, the new products are epic fails, Steve has let it go to his head and is out of control and the company is doomed. This was after the original iPod, after iTunes for Windows, after every single OS X version upgrade, after every single new iPod model (especially Mini, Nano and Shuffle), and even more so after iPhone and iPad. Interestingly enough, the number of such posts remains consistent throughout the years, and somehow, these products still end up being runaway successes (for the most part), breaking Apple’s own prior records.
We will have to see, in the coming weeks, if this tradition continues.
I would not buy a Scamsung phone if it came with a winning Powerball ticket attached, but the unlocked Google Nexus is a good deal. I am tired of contracts and the iPhone is overpriced these days. A 16GB smartphone that is unlocked and without a contract for under $250 is something you will never see from Apple.
I am also 51 and my eyes are not liking the iPhone’s tiny display and the Nexus 4 is a nice size without going to the extremes of a Phablet.
iOS 7 is way too chi-chi for me and I can do far better for far less money. Outside of iTunes I really see no great disadvantage to switching based upon the apps I use- your mileage may vary. I use my iPad far more than I use my iPhone.
As to the desktop market, I do not see a fashion accessory (the Trashcan Mac Pro HTPC) with a huge bundle of cables snaking everywhere as progress over a tower with everything neatly inside running under 1 power supply. I am sure the Black Trashcan will prove to a be the very fastest Mac Mini ever built, but in terms of expandability, flexibility and upgradeability it is far from ideal.
Steve Jobs used the analogy of cars and trucks when talking about iOS devices versus Macs and said there will always be trucks. The Black Trashcan is like a car based crossover with no bed, no AWD, no ground clearance and ground effects- otherwise a poseurmobile and not a truck.
One other thing; I noticed the sentence “real computer, rather than iOS device, to do real work”, and am not sure if I agree.
I don’t really think of my iMac (or MBP, or Windows machine in the office) as “real” computers anymore than I think of my iOS devices as “unreal” (or whatever is opposite of “real”; “toy”, perhaps?). In my work, I use the device that makes it easiest to do the work; sometimes, it is my MBP; other times, it is the iPad, or iPhone. After all, that iPhone costs almost the same amount of money as an MBA.
The thing with iOS devices is screen real estate and flexibility of the file system. What my iPad has done is largely replaced my MacBook- not my MacPro.
I’m mildly debating on selling my iPhone 5 to Gazelle for $325, but than I’d have go dish out $324 plus about $45 in sales tax for the 5S. I don’t think there’s a big enough change to justify spending $369. I’ll probably just wait till my two year Verizon contract is up in December of next year and get iPhone 6. Thinking it will probably have a 5″ screen and iOS 8 and any bugs will be worked out with the new 64 bit processor. Anyone think it would be worth it now??
I’m seeing iPhone 5 on eBay for $450 (and still bidding). A few that I saw are from early spring, so not new, but like-new condition.
I would not hold my breath for iPhones beyond 4″ in size. The likelihood of Apple making a brick-sized phone, just because a sliver of US market might want one, is very, very small.
Avoid those sites ! People should realize the best bang for a sellers buck is selling privately on craigslist or kijiji etc. Or even ebay. My cousin sold his iPhone 4 32 GB for more than he paid for his new iphone 5 32 GB with the subsidy. I recently gauged average pricing on these sites and it seemed 4s 32GB was valued around $350 used, the 4 32 GB was about $250.This is a few months ago before 5s/5c.
Ok folks. Just put your iPhone up on craigslist to sell, cash only and meet at a local coffee shop. Pretty easy. I just sold my two year old 4s 32 GB AT&T white unlocked for $345. Cost of a new 5s 32 GB AT&T $316 (6% tax). Guess what I’ve got money to spare for a new case. Yes, you are paying AT&T more money per month than pre-pay carriers but AT&T also allows some services enabled on the iPhone that are simply not available on pre-pay carriers. It’s your decision. Make a choice and stop whining. What other phone can you purchase and then 2 years later sell for more than you paid for not counting the monthly carrier fees?