When is the best time to sell my iPhone

With the new iPhone 5 expected to be launching this September, when is the best time to sell your iPhone?

Here is a look at the historical price trend prior to the previous iPhone launches.

How much is my iPhone worth?

Before you start putting your iPhone 3G or iPhone 4 / 4S for sale, it is always good to find out what is the average selling price in the resale market. 2 channels you can sell your iPhone to: Second hand store or direct.

In Singapore, there are tonnes of second hand stores that are willing to buy your iPhone. Most claimed that they will offer you good money for your old iPhone. But is it really true? As a benchmark, I always go to the Apple store to check the official retail selling price.  From there, you set your own expectation on how much you want to fetch. You can also do a price check in second hand mobile stores. But remember to read the fine print. Sometimes, the trade-in price stated is applicable only if you are trading-in with another phone. It means that they take your iPhone and you choose another phone that they are offering. You pay the difference if your iPhone resale price is lower than the price of phone that you are getting.

After you know how much you can fetch from the store, you may want to try posting your items for sale in the forums – hardwarezone and vr-zone are the two most popular forums for gadget-lovers in Singapore. Or you can try to post at mobile marketplace where you can share what you post to your facebook friends and twitter followers.

Is Used iPhone Good Enough for Me?

There’s a classic saying that goes, “Some things are better old. Some things are better new.” Wine is a most commonly cited example of this ancient wisdom. If stored properly, the taste of wine gets better over time. That is why some vintage wines can be selling as high as hundreds or thousands of dollars. On the other hand, clothing (especially underwear) is one item that most would agree that new is better. In between these, the line is subtle.

Gadget is one category of product that falls somewhat in the middle. If we talk more specifically about smartphones, the line is still not as obvious. Here is why.

Smartphones has been evolving (and it is fast) over the past few years. No one probably remembers how many generations of iPhone we have seen. iPhone is now in its 5th year and there are 5 generations of iPhone we have seen so far: iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

The question that you are probably asking is whether a used iPhone is good enough for you. The answer is it depends on a number of factors.

First, you have to grade yourself how fanatic you are an Apple fan. If you are a heavy fanatic of Apple fan, you probably want to be the first to own and boast your the latest iPhone among your friends. To some people, this gives a certain kind of satisfaction on its own. So, if you belong to the Apple cult, then you should not continue with the rest of the reasoning. Used iPhone is simply not good enough for you. But if you are somewhat a moderate Apple fan, then continue reading.

Second, you have to see if Apple support is available in your country. In country like Singapore, it can be quite tricky or a hassle to repair your iPhone. There are 3 telcos in Singapore: Singtel, Starhub and M1. If you buy a used iPhone that is still under warranty, usually you have to go the Apple service centre run by each telco. So you need to check if the warranty is transferable. If you are buying a used iPhone and planning to bring back to your original country, do check if your country has an iPhone service centre.

Third, you have to check if the used iPhone that you are buying has been jailbroken before. Nowadays, many jailbreaking methods do not cause the iPhone to be bricked. But it is always good to confirm especially if you are not nerd geek who understands a lot about jailbreaking.

Fourth, do a cosmetic scan. This is very important especially if the phone is still under warranty. If your iPhone is spoilt but still covered by the warranty, Apple will not try to repair your iPhone, but they will replace your unit with a new one. It may sound good, but it comes with a stringent catch. They will first do a thorough scan of your device to check if any dent or scratch mark is found on your iPhone. Once a dent or scratch is found, your warranty is deemed void and you have to pay to get the replacement.

Fifth, it’s about your personal preference. Are you the kind of person who does not mind using someone else’s stuffs? Or are you the kind of hygiene freak who gets worried all the time, especially for a device that you’ll put close to you all the time and even to your face and ears.

Hope the 5 reasons above is helpful to you in deciding if a used iPhone is good enough for you. In Singapore, a good starting place to look around for used iPhones that are available for sale will be Buyzell, which is designed to make craiglist singapore much easier to use. Check them out if you are keen.

Why is iPhone so Popular in Singapore?

Into its 6th generation, iPhone has become the most popular smartphone choice among Singaporeans. Just walk into any coffeeshop (or Kopitiam) and see how many patrons are holding on to their iPhone. Chances are you will see 4 out of 10 are iPhone user.

One of the feature that makes iPhone so popular among Singaporeans is its ease of use. You hear many young parents talk about how their 2-year child come to love iPhone. Just give two phones – iPhone and the other can be Windows or Android phones – to a 2-year child and you know which one they would love. The iPhone dominance is spread across different age groups even among housewives (who are usually resistant in adopting new technology) and the elder generation. Given an iPhone to a 65-year old retiree and he would sure have no problem figuring out how to use his iPhone.

The other feature that makes iPhone unique from its competitors is the strict price-control policy maintained by Apple. Nobody likes to buy a product that will only depreciate fast over a short period of time. It’s a common sense investment principle. Anyone buying an iPhone today can be certain that someone else buying an iPhone few months down the line, would be paying the same bucks. So, if he or she so decide to sell their iPhone tomorrow, they know that they can still recover most of their bucks (provided they maintain their iPhone well).

Another feature that makes iPhone so appealing is its contemporary value. Anyone buying an iPhone today would not feel like they are holding to some obsolete device one year later. Just look at the number of people who are still sticking with their iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4 even after Apple launches the Siri-activated iPhone 4S. The key is in the device upgrade-ability. An iPhone 3GS can be upgraded to the latest iOS and still run majority of the apps that run in iPhone 4S. No other smartphone competitor is able to do it as fine as how Apple has done it.

This is why the iPhone is one of the most hunted electronic device ever in the resale market. But the next time you want to buy or sell your iPhone in the resale market, what are the things you need to look out for? This blog has you covered. Hope you enjoy reading this blog.

Where to sell your iPhone in Singapore

The two questions that you need to ask yourself when you want to sell your iPhone is – Where and How? No doubt there are plenty of ways to post your iPhone for sale, but given so little time that you have, where should you go to for the most convenient and fastest way possible?

Take a look at some of the places you can sell your iPhone in Singapore.