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iPhone 8/Plus Trade in a financed iPhone?
- Thread starter dukebound85
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Pay it off before trading. Otherwise, you open yourself up to financial and possible legal trouble.
This is one of those, experience is the best teacher. People are going to do what they want to and learn from it.
For the advice.
I would say, ask the company you are giving the phone to, if they will take a currently financed phone.
Or.
Ask the company you are currently financing from if you are still liable for the phone once it is out of your possession.
There's your answer.
For the advice.
I would say, ask the company you are giving the phone to, if they will take a currently financed phone.
Or.
Ask the company you are currently financing from if you are still liable for the phone once it is out of your possession.
There's your answer.
I had someone on my phone plan that had a financed iPhone XS Max, he ended up leaving our house and is now out of our lives. I took the phone back, sold it on Maxback and paid off the rest of the financing agreement.
Easy peasy.
Easy peasy.
If the OP is in the U.S, which I think he is, his financial and legal obligation for the financed phone does not dissolve, just because he trades the phone in to Apple or some other entity. The trade company can tell him whatever they want. What matters, is the contract he signed for the financed phone. The finance company can come after him for remedy at any time he fails to comply with all terms. And trading in a financed phone that is not paid off can, and mostly likely would cause him to default on one or more terms of his contract. It doesn't matter if he gets $300 dollars or so for the trade in value. What matters is the finance company releasing him from any further obligation for the phone, due to his completing all requirements of ownership. As long as he has not fulfilled the terms of his contract, he is not the owner of the phone. As such, he has not legal authority to do what he inquired about. That is why I said what I did.
You can trade in a financed phone. They don’t check.
I did AT&T’s next 36 months version on accident last year so I still had payments due on the phone I turned into Apple. I used the money I got from the trade in Apple gave me and paid the rest of it.
Not sure for other carriers but AT&T doesn’t care if you finance a phone from another company while you’re on next. You can continue to pay both or pay off the financed phone.
I did AT&T’s next 36 months version on accident last year so I still had payments due on the phone I turned into Apple. I used the money I got from the trade in Apple gave me and paid the rest of it.
Not sure for other carriers but AT&T doesn’t care if you finance a phone from another company while you’re on next. You can continue to pay both or pay off the financed phone.
Who is supposed to pay off the remaining balance of the phone once you trade it in? The fairie godmother?
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You could but why would you.
I think OP’s just asking if Apple accepts phones that are currently being financed, not actually who will be continuing to make payments on the financed phone.
Most lenders, finance companies, rent to own etc do not necessarily care what the leasee does what the merchandise as long as they continue to make the payments as agreed to. Honestly which company has the ability to verify the leasee still has the merchandise they agreed to be lended? If OP or anyone in a similar situation continues to make payments until the contract has been fulfilled then why would it matter?
Of course doing this could potentially put someone in a tough spot should they not be able fulfill their agreement due to an unforeseen event.
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I’ve done it before. Then I used the money I get from the trade in to pay off the phone. That was just because I didn’t feel like paying for something I don’t have anymore.
Yeah but you had the phone before you traded it in. You could have still continued paying for something you did have. I’m just guessing you wanted to get out of payments? Or you didn’t like the phone?
It was a 2 year carrier finance (one of those buy one get one deals) and I traded the phone in after a year. I had to keep making the payments for 2 whole years in order to get the credits. That’s why I didn’t pay it off. Other times I just traded it in because I wanted a new phone.
I purchased a used 8+ from an individual. did the transaction at the att store and verified the i right was clean.
I found out that the phone is financed when trying to unlock it however and was a bit upset at the time.
This doesn't affect me currently and hence my question. I am not financing the phone, the previous owner is apparently.
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I am a second owner of a phone that I found out is still being financed after the purchase over a year ago. I am under no “legal” obligation myself on the phone
does Apple care If the phone is financed? I would imagine the original owner is ultimately responsible
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Exactly
and as I have mentioned, I bought the phone used. Thought I did my due diligence by checking for clean imei, not iCloud locked, having ATT confirm, etc
only upon trying to get it unlocked was I notified it was under a finance plan. However, it has not impacted my ability to use the phone at all the last 1.5 years. however, am tempted to upgrade so hence my question
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Is there a more recent answer to this? Most carrier trade-ins ask for IMEI before you give it to them, and almost all disallow any financed phone. However, Apple just tells you to send it, without asking for anything. Does Apple in fact require any phone to be paid off, or can I leave it in a financed state since all payments on the phone are effectively a 0% interest loan?
No Apple does not care. Carriers may have different policy but trading in an iPhone to Apple doesn’t require the phone to be paid off.
Your still on the hook for the remaining financed amount, so as long as you keep paying the monthly payments its a non issue. Ive traded in a few phones that were still on carrier financing with no issues I just kept paying
Say I have an iPhone 12P with $500 remaining on contract, and I want a new iPhone 13Pro now. You have some options. Here are two possibilities:
1. Sell the 12Pro to someone outright then pay off the contract with your proceeds. Then purchase the new 13Pro from Apple outright (no contract). Total outlay (from your wallet) is approx. the full price for the iPhone 13Pro.
2. Trade the 12Pro to Apple against the purchase of a new iPhone 13Pro (you pay the new price minus trade-in value), then send a check to your carrier to pay off the contract on the 12Pro you traded to Apple. Total outlay (from your wallet) ends up being approx. the full price for the new iPhone 13Pro.
No matter how you look at this, there's no free lunch. If Apple will take the trade-in of a phone still on contract, seems like it should work. But you still need to pay off the existing contract.
1. Sell the 12Pro to someone outright then pay off the contract with your proceeds. Then purchase the new 13Pro from Apple outright (no contract). Total outlay (from your wallet) is approx. the full price for the iPhone 13Pro.
2. Trade the 12Pro to Apple against the purchase of a new iPhone 13Pro (you pay the new price minus trade-in value), then send a check to your carrier to pay off the contract on the 12Pro you traded to Apple. Total outlay (from your wallet) ends up being approx. the full price for the new iPhone 13Pro.
No matter how you look at this, there's no free lunch. If Apple will take the trade-in of a phone still on contract, seems like it should work. But you still need to pay off the existing contract.
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Thanks.
To reiterate, i purchases a used phone that was advertised as unlocked. It is not.
I am glad i can still trade in