The time has come to leave your old smartphone behind and make way for a new one. You may be considering trading in your phone to get a discount on your purchase or recycling materials and reducing e-waste. There are costs to receive, process and refurbish or recycle a device, but it’s convenient since the option is offered at the point of sale and allows you to get rid of that old phone straight away. On the other hand, it takes more energy to reuse an old phone or resell it yourself. The risks are greater, but so are the rewards as you work on the holistic experience of the phone.
Ultimately, it’s up to you what to do with your old phone, and your choice should fit your wants and needs at the moment. But it certainly helps to spot an opportunity and take advantage of it when you can. We’ll sample a few trade-in deals, look at some preferred promotions that will increase these valuations (and tone down some caveats), and we’ll also look at the overall trend in these numbers.
Where can you get the best smartphone trade-in values?
With exchanges, you’ll typically get the lowest rates at retail stores and higher rates when dealing with carriers or manufacturers. From the manufacturer, you will find the best prices on new or not yet launched products. You might get a free phone from one carrier, but you may need to add a new line or switch from a competitor, and the discounts will likely come in the form of monthly credits on a device financing plan.
For a 256GB Galaxy S24 in good condition (unlocked, screen intact, minimal to no wear), Best Buy offered us $140, while Gazelle offered $227. Samsung would credit $280 towards the purchase of a new phone on its site. Google offered $300 in conjunction with a pre-order of a Pixel 11 Pro, but only $190 when we upgraded to a Pixel 10a. Apple, which offered $125 for a Galaxy S22 Ultra, offered nothing for a newer phone.
Going by the carriers, T-Mobile was willing to cover the full cost of various phones, including the $1,900 Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra with this trade-in. However, we would have needed a new line on its GoNext 5G plan. The credits would be applied over a 36-month financing agreement. Otherwise we’ll only get $140, just like Best Buy. AT&T and Mint Mobile offered $160 outside of their active sign-up promotions. We were unable to access a quote from Verizon without an eligible IMEI.
On the open market, at the time of writing, Swappa sellers are averaging in the upper $300 range, with a low at $320. Most eBay listings come from institutional sellers: Cellfeee was selling 256GB S24 units for $381. We found a few listings from individual sellers at $320 and $350.
Where are smartphone trade-in values going?
Net values have declined since the days of feature phones because smartphone makers have miniaturized components, integrated coatings and adhesives, and reduced the amounts of easily accessible rare earth metals incorporated into their designs, according to several studies compiled by the Environment for Development research group. A 2020 Chinese paper compared the cost of recycling a feature phone to that of a smartphone and found that it nearly tripled, from $2.34 per unit to $6.60. Additionally, as China has become a dominant importer-exporter of rare earth metals, the country could take advantage of restrictions on these materials amid ongoing trade battles with the Trump administration in the United States, putting additional pressure on the overall electronics market.
When put into practice, the economics of trading in a smartphone only make sense in the competitive environment of smartphone carriers and manufacturers, where these companies are able to repair and sell refurbished devices, as well as pay recyclers to take on unwanted devices as part of the cost of doing business. Just another thing to think about when considering your options for this pocket relic.
