Thinking of unloading a prior generation iPhone, like me, ahead of the new iPhone 5? In the past I’ve turned to ebay and craigslist to recycle gadgets (for cash), but it’s become a hassle and I’ve been burned too many times (on ebay/PayPal). Leading me to an ebay consignment shop… until they folded. More recently, I’ve been selling my gadgets to Gazelle. And, honestly, it couldn’t be any more efficient. It’s been so dang painless to unload gear, as they pick up the tab on shipping, that their effective commission hasn’t bothered me. However, it seems as Gazelle’s popularity has grown, their cut has increased (and bonus codes have vanished).
After being offered only about $162 for my not-even 8 month old Verizon iPhone 4, I wondered (on Twitter) if I might find better deals elsewhere. Of course, I’d make more money back on ebay or with craiglist. But, again, I’m a busy guy and find engaging on those venues tedious. Basically, I’m fine earning less money to save time. I’ve had luck in the past working deals (cash and/or barter) with coworkers, but a Verizon iPhone is much less portable than a SIMified AT&T variant. Fortunately, as it turns out, Amazon offers a program very similar to Gazelle.
Amazon Trade-In has offered me $226 for my iPhone 4, which is about 64 bucks more than Gazelle. And like Gazelle, Amazon picks up the tab on shipping and will compensate me with an Amazon credit. Given my Prime membership and buying habits, that’s as good as cash in our household. In doing a quick comparison of 4 iPhone models, and even including Gazelle’s 5% bonus for payments issued as Amazon credit, Amazon Trade-In iPhone offers are about 25% more lucrative than Gazelle. Score! Unfortunately, neither Gazelle nor Amazon are interested in my gently used but fully functional prior generation Jawbone and TiVo units.
