T-Mobile requires you to mail it in. They won’t take it in the store. The key is to get a receipt from the post office to show you shipped it. I got the full amount I was promised, and it was received on their end with no hassle.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 12 mini Beware apple trade in
- Thread starter IphoneX9753
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I’m gonn ask where do you have a source for this claim?
You forgot Apple has mentioned not one but a second generation robot (non singular) that can fully disassemble, categorize components and separate them. This makes not only dissembling cheaper but repurposing parts that may not need repair to be reused at a much cheaper per component cost than new product. Resale has a higher cost per device since it’s the cost of the product after regular production. If the product is reassembled for pre-production parts then the cost of the device is cheaper.
That’s pretty simple and Apple has been doing this for devices for decades that’s why AppleCare+ replacements are so plentiful and cheap for Apple to continue to offer and fulfill.
T-mobile took my iPhone 11 trade in this past wednesday in store. I told the dude working there: “Hi I took advantage of the iPhone 14 Promo with trade in. T-mobile says I can trade-in in-store”. Dude knew exactly what to do and did it in 10 minutes.
Its called a converted deferred trade in at store. Look into it.
I did two in-store trade ins recently. The first was a week ago and the second was yesterday. Both refunds appeared on my Apple Card 24 hours later.
I just had some issues with my trade-in. I traded my 13pro 600. Also, I had a 476 gift card. Since the phone was 1200 plus tax I paid an additional 798 out of pocket to cover the cost till they receive the trade in. This morning I got a 161 credit back to my credit card and they put my gift card of 476 keeping my credit card payment of 798. Why would they refund my gift card instead of my credit card. What good is a gift card if it can't be used. I contacted apple and the rude rep via text kept saying apple is right and they can refund me anyway they see fit. Obviously, I'm upset about how this went down and the rep refused to listen to me and let me speak with a manager.
Last edited:
So I did a straightforward Apple.com purchase/trade-in of an iPhone 14 Pro Max / iPhone 12 Pro Max. I opted for the send in option for the trade. The process was seamless and I received full price for the phone $530 PLUS the tax difference on the iPhone sale, for a total of around $575. I didn't know that Apple would also refund me the difference in price on the new iPhone purchase, so I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure how other trade-ins work, but the extra $45 kinda offsets the potential additional money I would have gotten from selling it privately (and I didn't have to bother with the lowballs and no-shows). I know many have had bad experiences with the Apple trade-in vendor, but mine went perfectly.
Sorry to change the topic but if you bring your phone to trade in, do they evaluate it right there and offer you the amount or do you still have to wait for it to be evaluated by a third party and a few more days for the money?
If it's an Apple Store directly, yes they accept it at the Store and do the trade in all there. Don't select "trade in" if purchasing online to pick up in store though if you want them to accept the trade in at the Store. Forum members here were turned away with their trade ins for that and told to wait on the boxes since the system designates that online with the order.
As for the money, I was told it would be refunded back to my CC by an Apple Store rep and that there's 14 days to come back to the store to do the trade in with the receipt to be refunded back to the card. The refund I believe would take a 2-5 business days or standard per your card and Apple.
I did a trade in and the refund was applied to the credit card I used to pay for the iPhone 14. It included the sales tax for the amount of the trade in.
I’m having an issue because I bought an iPhone 14 in iUP and traded in my 13 Pro through the mail. However, I had a bunch of issues with that 14 so i returned it which in turn cancelled the trade in. So I need them to switch my 13 pro trade in to my new 14 but it’s been a pain in the ass.
One of the reps suggested I just trade in my 13 Pro at the store and receive the cash value for it then just payoff my loan through citizens which would close out the iUP on that one.
My experience has been different. I’ve never been turned away in the scenario above. In fact, I’ve been ushered into the store almost immediately no matter the size of the line outside. Further, I recently did it on two separate occasions during this iPhone cycle and received the refund to my credit card within 24 hours.
I‘m not saying your scenario hasn’t or doesn’t happen, but it’s not a universal Apple policy. It may largely be dependent on the local store.
I may have described things in a confusing way too, because what I meant is I was told you can keep your old iPhone, and you have 14 days to bring it back to the store with a receipt to get a refund to your debit or CC to do the trade in. Otherwise, you can just of course trade in during the transaction, but as long as you are willing to give up your existing/"old" Phone since that cannot be returned to you if you return the new iPhone back.
The other scenario though is selecting "trade in" online for pick up in store. Did you select that online during check out and you still were able to trade in at the store? That was where people have commented that they have had issues.
Last edited:
Per usual got the email for my trade in and got the full amount. Easy peasy
Yeah that scenario does seem more confusing, and hope you are able to get that straightened out. With iUP, and your scenario hopefully someone can chime in.
Yes.
To be clear, online order for in store pickup with trade in selected. I picked up the phones the next day. I went back to the store a few days later to drop off the “trade in” phones. As I said, I’ve never been turned away, even if my trade in boxes already arrived at my home. FWIW, I’ve also had online orders delivered to my home and was able to do the trade in at my local store as well.
I’ve done it this way for years and it’s never been an issue.
Interesting, glad you chimed in with that. Very strange that some were saying that the system wouldn't even allow the rep to do the trade in at all. It seems it's as you said--possibly dependent on the store, maybe even State or district depending on where the Apple Store belongs to.
Had my first bad experience with the mail in trade, they said something was wrong with my 13 pro max’s OS and changed my offer to $0. I refused, which cancels the mail in trade. Got my phone back in two days and luckily still had time to trade in store and have it still be applied to the new phone’s bill instead of a gift card. Went in today and they said there was nothing wrong with it, full $720 (plus taxes) refunded to my card. Sent in two other phones by mail and those were accepted no problem, just like all my previous phones. This experience has soured me on the mail in though and I will be going to the store for future trade ins. Plus it is much quicker.
I used mail for the trade-in. I got a notice that the original projected price was confirmed, but I cannot identify the cc they claim was used for reimbursement. It is certainly not the one used to purchase the iP14Pro so are they using an Apple gift card I do not want or has someone unknown to me received a surprise credit?
I hate when trade in places have so many levels. Is excellent absolutely no scuffs? You don't want to rip yourself off. And will they ever adjust up? I'm sure they'll lower it if you put too high.
Update. Got the 12 mini back and already did the AppleCare express exchange. The trade in of our 12 Pros initially said that they were inspected and we got the full $430. Just got an email from Apple saying my wife’s trade in had been revised due to multiple scratches, deep gouges and cracks. This is utter BS!!!!! Apple replaced her screen several months ago and it has always had a screen protector on it and it was flawless when it was shipped!!! I am getting the phone back. This was my first time trading in with Apple and I will never do this again!!
I am chatting with Apple and they got me pictures of the device which were not included in the adjustment email. They cracked the freaking screen!! I told them that the phone has AppleCare+ and if it had a cracked screen don’t you think I would have fixed it before sending it in as the trade-in stipulates no cracked screens. A bunch of thieves.
The 12 mini was my sons. The 12 Pros were mine and my wife’s. I am extremely OCD about her and my phone. There was 0 wrong with them.
I am chatting with Apple and they got me pictures of the device which were not included in the adjustment email. They cracked the freaking screen!! I told them that the phone has AppleCare+ and if it had a cracked screen don’t you think I would have fixed it before sending it in as the trade-in stipulates no cracked screens. A bunch of thieves.
The 12 mini was my sons. The 12 Pros were mine and my wife’s. I am extremely OCD about her and my phone. There was 0 wrong with them.
Last edited:
I'm not sure what people are having issue with, I turned in a very immaculate device as instructed and got full estimated value of the trade-in, no revisions, no problems, all done within a week's time. I suspect people overvalue the product enough to say it's better than it really is, which I have seen a lot in my time in retail.
apple doesn't honor trade in prices at times of order. If there are backlogged shipments, apple will only give you what the trade in value is at that time when you actually trade in phone despite what the previous order quotes you