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Because Apple introduced the 16GB iPhone today, I decided to sell my 8GB iPhone on eBay so that I could use the earnings to pay for an upgrade — priced at $499.
I figured now would be a good time to sell because a flood of people who want the new 16GB model will probably be doing the same in the near future.
I listed my 8GB iPhone on eBay with a starting bid of 1 penny and a Buy It Now price of $415. After getting 6 bids in a couple of hours, a buyer chose to Buy It Now and paid me the $415 + $15 for shipping.
So as I was surfing over to the Apple Store, planning to put in an extra $100 of my own money to pay for the 16GB iPhone, I remembered that I still had my $100 Apple Store credit that I received after the first iPhone price drop.
It seemed too good to be true, so I worried that Apple wouldn’t let me redeem the credit to buy a new iPhone. But to my excitement, the store credit was accepted and I tacked it on to the $430 I received from the eBay auction.
Now I’ve got a 16GB iPhone on the way and I didn’t have to pay a penny of my own money for it!
If you’ve also got an 8GB iPhone and a store credit, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t follow my lead and get yourself a free 16GB iPhone. Anyone else planning to do the same?
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9 Comments So Far...
what if i have a 4GB iphone?
Did you need to do anything special to have the 8gb iPhone removed from your account, and what did the buyer need to do?
Mark, I haven’t received my 16 gig phone yet, but I’m under the impression I just have to reactivate it via iTunes (more info here). I believe the buyer just has to put in his SIM card and activate it.
Andres, if you have a 4GB iPhone, you can still sell it on eBay, you just won’t make as much.
I used my early adopter $200 Store Credit on a Plantronics Bluetooth Headset, which I must say is awesome, it was over $100 at apple, Although could be had for cheaper elsewhere…but Apple sent it to me overnight and also told me I was one of their best customers….I happen to but a lot of apple stuff…
From remotes to give away with other products which I promote on my site etc….only wish I held out, Now I have to shell out the $499 for the new phone…I put a small dent in my 8GB so it’s not perfect, but I suppose I could sell it for $200, the dent did not damage the phone in any way, it’s just a love dent…
- Ray
Why would anybody pay you 415 for old 8 GB iphone, when they can get a new one for $399?????
That’s a good question, Samp. I’m not really sure. I wonder if maybe it had something to do with unlocking, but I don’t know.
Chris, I missed something here.
You bought a 4GB iPhone which you sold.
Proceeds + credit = Free iPhone?
Then the new iphone is not really free because you bought the 4GB first I assume.
That is like saying, I sold my old car and used the proceeds + an instant rebate at the dealership to get a free car.
Like I said, unless I am missing something here.
Either way, good deal on the iphone!
Jack, you’re right, it wasn’t literally free, but I guess you could say the upgrade was free, since I now have an iPhone with double the memory and I didn’t have to pay anything out of my own pocket for it.