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September’s Apple event came and went leaving the entire industry wondering whether the iPhone 12 series release is going to happen in 2020 at all. Following various rumours however, Apple has officially confirmed a separate digital event for the iPhone 12, taking place on Tuesday the 13th of October 2020.
With the new iPhone 12 series due to be launched less in less than a week, iPhone users who are planning to pick one of the upcoming iPhones are already placing trade-in orders to sell their iPhone.
While Compare and Recycle is the best place to sell your old iPhone, trade-in services are offered by Apple and UK network providers as well. The amount you can get for your iPhone partly depends on which trade-in service you decide to use and it is noteworthy to mention that prices differ from place to place.
With this in mind, we decided to do the hard work for you and compare the iPhone prices offered by Apple, network providers and merchants at Compare and Recycle to find out where you can secure the biggest payout for your iPhone.
The Apple Trade-in Programme accepts most of the iPhone models, with the oldest one being the original iPhone SE (2016) in exchange for credit and gift cards that users can spend at Apple Store. Unfortunately, Apple does not yet have the iPhone 11 series or the iPhone SE (2020) listed under their trade-in programme, which is certainly going to leave the owners of these iPhone models looking for trade-in services elsewhere.
We have compared the differences between the Apple Trade-in Programme’s values and the best deal found on Compare and Recycle for an unlocked iPhone that has been well taken care of, and here are our findings:
| iPhone Model | Apple Trade-In Value | Current Compare and Recycle Trade-in Value | How Much More You Could Get at Compare and Recycle (£) | How Much More You Could Get at Compare and Recycle (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone SE (2020) | N/A | up to £298 | N/A | N/A |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max | N/A | up to £726 | N/A | N/A |
| iPhone 11 Pro | N/A | up to £750 | N/A | N/A |
| iPhone 11 | N/A | up to £566 | N/A | N/A |
| iPhone XS Max | up to £350 | up to £481 | £131 | 37% |
| iPhone XS | up to £335 | up to £451 | £116 | 35% |
| iPhone XR | up to £305 | up to £391 | £86 | 28% |
| iPhone X | up to £265 | up to £368 | £103 | 39% |
| iPhone 8 Plus | up to £200 | up to £305 | £105 | 53% |
| iPhone 8 | up to £180 | up to £240 | £60 | 33% |
| iPhone 7 Plus | up to £150 | up to £214 | £64 | 43% |
| iPhone 7 | up to £120 | up to £140 | £20 | 17% |
| iPhone 6s Plus | up to £95 | up to £120 | £25 | 26% |
| iPhone 6s | up to £70 | up to £78 | £8 | 11% |
| iPhone 6 Plus | up to £65 | up to £75 | £10 | 15% |
| iPhone 6 | up to £55 | up to £55 | £0 | 0% |
| iPhone SE (2016) | up to £50 | up to £51 | £1 | 2% |
Prices correct on 12/10/2020
iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS and iPhone XR: The ‘up to’ price is on average £128 less if trading in through the Apple Programme. Comparing deals for an iPhone XS Max on Compare and Recycle can secure you up to £481, while an iPhone XS can earn you up to 35% more than on Apple’s website, and the iPhone XR is valued by slightly over £80 more by merchants on Compare and Recycle’s selection of merchants.
iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: According to Apple, the ‘up to’ trade-in price for a three year old iPhone X is £265, which is £103 less than the highest deal on our comparison. Since July, Apple has further dropped prices for the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 models, now offering up to £200 and £180 respectively. Selling one of your 2017 iPhone models to one of the merchants on Compare and Recycle can earn you on average up to £80 more.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: Customers can lose up to 43% (£64) when selling their iPhone 7 Plus through Apple. The iPhone 7 models are among the most popular trade-ins at the moment on our comparison, with customers securing up to 17% (£20) more than by using Apple’s website.
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus: Five years down the line, customers can cash in an iPhone 6s Plus for up to £120, which is £25 more compared to Apple’s trade-in value. If selling an iPhone 6s through Compare and Recycle, customers can earn up to £8 more.
iPhone SE (2016), iPhone 6 and 6 Plus: Apple offers £10 less for an iPhone 6 Plus, whereas buyback companies on Compare and Recycle are happy to pay up to £75. Deals for an iPhone 6 and an iPhone SE are slightly more alike, with customers who choose to trade-in through Compare and Recycle securing up to an additional £51 for an iPhone SE (2016).
The UK’s major networks offer trade-in services for existing and new customers, including O2, EE, Three and Vodafone. Compared to Apple, network providers have the latest iPhone 11 series and the new iPhone SE as eligible devices for a trade-in. However, according to our research, customers will lose out if they opt to use their network provider’s trade-in offer to sell their iPhone.
| iPhone Model | O2 Recycle Trade-In Value | EE Trade-In Value | Three Trade-In Value | Vodafone Trade-in Value | Current Compare and Recycle Trade-In Value | Average Trade-in Value Offered by Networks | How Much More You Could Get at Compare and Recycle (£) | How Much More You Could Get at Compare and Recycle (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone SE (2020) | up to £168 | up to £150 | up to £156 | up to £150 | up to £298 | up to £156 | £142 | 91% |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max | up to £642 | up to £643 | up to £633 | up to £600 | up to £726 | up to £630 | £97 | 15% |
| iPhone 11 Pro | up to £566 | up to £567 | up to £565 | up to £550 | up to £750 | up to £562 | £188 | 33% |
| iPhone 11 | up to £419 | up to £420 | up to £417 | up to £395 | up to £566 | up to £413 | £153 | 37% |
| iPhone XS Max | up to £325 | up to £326 | up to £320 | up to £310 | up to £481 | up to £320 | £161 | 50% |
| iPhone XS | up to £329 | up to £330 | up to £322 | up to £315 | up to £451 | up to £324 | £127 | 39% |
| iPhone XR | up to £281 | up to £282 | up to £279 | up to £280 | up to £391 | up to £280 | £111 | 39% |
| iPhone X | up to £245 | up to £246 | up to £235 | up to £220 | up to £368 | up to £237 | £131 | 56% |
| iPhone 8 Plus | up to £180 | up to £181 | up to £178 | up to £175 | up to £305 | up to £178 | £127 | 71% |
| iPhone 8 | up to £153 | up to £154 | up to £144 | up to £135 | up to £240 | up to £147 | £93 | 64% |
| iPhone 7 Plus | up to £121 | up to £122 | up to £117 | up to £115 | up to £214 | up to £119 | £95 | 80% |
| iPhone 7 | up to £88 | up to £89 | up to £86 | up to £85 | up to £140 | up to £87 | £53 | 61% |
| iPhone 6s Plus | up to £83 | up to £84 | up to £79 | up to £75 | up to £120 | up to £80 | £40 | 49% |
| iPhone 6s | up to £60 | up to £61 | up to £53 | up to £45 | up to £78 | up to £55 | £23 | 43% |
| iPhone 6 Plus | up to £51 | up to £52 | up to £51 | up to £50 | up to £75 | up to £51 | £24 | 47% |
| iPhone 6 | up to £36 | up to £37 | up to £36 | up to £35 | up to £55 | up to £36 | £19 | 53% |
| iPhone SE (2016) | up to £38 | up to £39 | up to £29 | up to £30 | up to £51 | up to £34 | £17 | 51% |
Prices correct on 12/10/2020
On average, ‘up to’ prices found on Compare and Recycle are 52% higher than the network providers across the board.
O2 Recycle offer the highest prices for iPhones among the UK’s biggest network providers. However, merchants at Compare and Recycle are outpricing O2 offers by 47% on average.
Among the networks, Vodafone offer the least attractive trade-in prices on the market, so if you were thinking of upgrading with Vodafone, make sure that you look around for a better trade-in price for your old iPhone.
The biggest trade-in value difference is for the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone SE (2020), where you can get up to 90% more through Compare and Recycle than the networks.
Customers looking to move on from their iPhone X will not be as fortunate when trading in with one of the network providers, as offer prices are between £220 and £246 for an iPhone that once had a retail price of £1000. Interestingly, with Compare and Recycle, you can earn up to £131 (56%) more for your three year old iPhone X in good condition.
Trade-in prices for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are capped at £154 and £181 among networks, whereas placing your trade-in order at Compare and Recycle will earn you additional £127 for your iPhone 8 Plus, and a bonus £93 for an iPhone 8.
The most astonishing trade-in price difference is for an iPhone 11 Pro, where networks offer on average up to £562. However, the best offer at Compare and Recycle is over £700, which will get customers an extra £188 (33%).
Similarly, the owners of an iPhone XR can expect up to £111 (39%) of a higher payout when trading-in through Compare and Recycle, compared to the best offer of £282 from EE among networks.
Among network providers, the best offer of £330 for an iPhone XS comes from EE, with Vodafone offering as low as £315. An iPhone XS in good condition sold through Compare and Recycle on the other hand can get you an additional £127.
Looking at the iPhone XS Max trade-in prices from networks, the lowest offer is from Vodafone at £310. If you plan to upgrade early this year, you can earn up to £481 at Compare and Recycle, which is up to 50% more than with your network.
Our research unveiled considerable differences in offer values for older iPhones between networks, the official Apple website and third-party buyback providers. It is clear that merchants listed on Compare and Recycle are happy to pay significantly more than what Apple or your network provider would offer. It is always beneficial to do your research and shop around for the best price to sell your iPhone, and not make any impulse decisions. This is because by comparing prices to sell your old iPhone, you can earn almost 90% more. Who could say no to that?
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