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Buying · 4 min read
Trade In Your iPhone Toward One of Ours, With a Bonus
How trading your iPhone or iPad toward a used iPhone, iPad or Mac from our shop works: your cash value, the trade-in bonus, and cash back if ours costs less.
On this page
Most trade-in programs give you store credit for your old phone and stop there. Ours works the other way round. Your phone is valued at the same cash offer anybody selling it to us would get, then we add a trade-in bonus on top when you put it toward one of the devices on our shop. If the device you pick costs less than your trade-in is worth, we pay you the difference in cash.
This page explains how the value is worked out, where the bonus comes from, and how the swap happens in person.
How a trade-in works
- Pick the device you want. Choose an iPhone, iPad, Mac or anything else on the shop. Or start on the sell page, describe your phone, and choose Trade In.
- Describe your phone. The same questions as any sale: the model, storage, carrier lock and condition. Your cash offer appears as you answer.
- See your bonus. Once we know both devices, the page shows the exact trade-in bonus for that pair, and what you pay or what we pay you.
- Meet once. We check your phone and hand over ours at the same meeting, in Long Beach or at a public place near you in Los Angeles or Orange County.
Before you describe your phone, a device's card shows the range of bonus it can carry, because the exact figure needs both devices.
Your trade-in value
Your phone's value is our cash offer for it, the same number the sell page shows anyone selling that model, storage, carrier status and condition. You can see what we pay for every model in every grade on its own page, for example the iPhone 13, the iPhone 14 Pro or the iPhone 15.
The offer is for the phone as you describe it. We check it at the meeting, and if it is not as described, we tell you the new number before anything changes hands, and you are free to say no. Our grades explain what moves the number.
Where the bonus comes from
The bonus comes out of our margin on the device you are buying, not out of your phone's value. That is why it is a different figure for each device on the shelf, and why it is shown for one device at a time. A bonus is tied to the device it was offered toward while that device is still in stock.
Two rules keep it simple:
- One bonus at a time. When you bring a phone to our office to sell it, we add a drop-off bonus. A trade-in bonus takes the place of that, it does not stack with it.
- No obligation either way. You never have to buy a replacement to sell us a phone, and you never have to trade one in to buy from us. Taking cash for your phone is always an option.
When ours costs less
Trading a newer or bigger phone toward a smaller or older one is fine. You still get the bonus, and if your trade-in plus the bonus is worth more than the device you picked, we pay you the difference in cash, Zelle or Cash App at the meeting.
Trade-in vs a carrier or Apple store
A store trade-in gives you credit you can only spend at that store, usually toward a new phone. Apple Trade In vs cash and Best Buy trade-in vs cash go through the trade-offs in detail. Ours is different in three ways:
- your phone is valued at a cash offer, so you can compare it with simply selling;
- the device you get is a used or open box one, hand tested, at a used price; and
- if you change your mind about buying, you can take the cash instead.
Get your phone ready
Before the meeting, back it up, turn off Find My, sign out of your Apple Account and erase it. How to get your iPhone ready to sell has each step. If it is still on a payment plan, read selling an iPhone that is not paid off first.
What you get with the device you buy
The same as any purchase from us: a listing with its own photos, the grade, the battery as a number and the IMEI check with its date, and a 60-day warranty on factory hardware defects for a used or open box device. A new, factory sealed device comes with Apple's one-year limited warranty instead. How buying from iPhones.LA works has the rest.
Shop hand-tested used iPhones
Every device IMEI checked, battery health shown. Pickup in Long Beach, local delivery, or shipping anywhere in the US.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the trade-in bonus?
It depends on the device you are buying, because it comes out of our margin on that device. The shop shows the range a device can carry, and the exact figure once you describe your phone.
Can I trade in an iPhone toward a MacBook or an iPad?
Yes. You can put your iPhone or iPad toward any device on the shop, including Macs. The bonus is worked out for that pair.
What if the device I want costs less than my trade-in?
You still get the bonus, and we pay you the difference in cash, Zelle or Cash App when we meet.
Do I have to buy something to sell you my phone?
No. You can always take cash for it. Trading in is only an option when there is a device you want.
Can I trade in a phone with a cracked screen?
Yes, when the sell page can price it. Describe the damage when you get your offer: a cracked phone is valued at its grade like any sale, and the trade-in works the same way from there.