eBay Debuts New Smartphone Trade-In Program 'Instant Selling'

eBay today launched a new option for customers who are looking to trade in their iPhones or other smartphones, which it's calling "Instant Selling." Using this feature, you can list an old iPhone and get paid instantly with an eBay voucher.

Instead of listing an old device on eBay as normal, waiting for bids to come in and for payment to be received, eBay is making this process easier with Instant Selling. To use the program, visit eBay, enter your device's information to see if it's eligible, add images, list the device, and get a quote.

Afterwards, you'll receive an instant eBay voucher representing the resell cost of the smartphone, which you can then put towards the purchase of a new smartphone or anything you come across on eBay. The retailer will also provide a shipping label for you to ship out your old iPhone.

“Millions of Americans have unused phones in their homes and simply don’t realize how much their devices are worth, probably because trade-in values are typically so low,” said Alyssa Steele, Vice President of Hard Goods, eBay. “With Instant Selling, people can find out exactly how much their phone is worth, and sell their phone within a matter of minutes to immediately help fund the holidays, or maybe something off their personal wish list.”

eBay's program will be helpful for anyone who plans on doing a lot of holiday shopping on the site, since the provided voucher is only accepted on eBay. If you think that might be you, eBay says that Instant Selling provides higher trade-in values on average in comparison to sites like Gazelle, EcoATM, Apple's GiveBack program, and more.

A table that eBay provided highlights its high-end values, but it still looks like Instant Selling could be a solid trade-in option for eBay shoppers. eBay offers $579 for an excellent condition used 64GB iPhone X, compared to the Apple GiveBack program's $525.

As of now, Instant Selling eligibility includes unlocked smartphones on Verizon and AT&T, the Samsung Galaxy S7 to S9+, and the iPhone 6s 16GB to iPhone X 256GB. Next month eBay will add Sprint, T-Mobile, Google Pixel, and some LG devices to the program.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with eBay. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Tag: eBay

Top Rated Comments

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Drumjim85

12 weeks ago

They're able to give more money because it's in the form of an eBay voucher. So they get a cut of you phone's sell value, and then another cut of whatever you buy with the voucher.

Rating: 6 Votes

velocityg4

12 weeks ago

How about doing something about buyers scamming sellers. That's why most individual and small sellers are scared away. So, you just end up with a bunch of power sellers a bad prices on used items. eBay is too heavy handed with siding with buyers. Making it far too easy for scammers.

I've sold a bunch of small items. Because they weren't worth much. It was just old junk that either would go to Goodwill or get a few bucks for. But I'm not about to sell any higher value items. Especially electronics.

Also bring back reviews for buyers and sellers. Let sellers ding a bad buyer. If you want to prevent retaliatory reviews. Make it a double blind review. Set a two week review window from the delivery confirmation date or one month from the payment/close date. Neither sides review goes live nor are they aware of a review being submitted until either the review window closes or both have left reviews.

Rating: 4 Votes

WAM2

12 weeks ago

I just tried this and it's not instant sell it just creates a regular ol eBay listing?

Rating: 3 Votes

ArtOfWarfare

12 weeks ago

They won't even accept the iPhone I'm using right now (6+) nevermind the other ones in the house that I no longer need (3GS, 4S, and a 6).

Rating: 2 Votes

nburwell

12 weeks ago

I noticed they didn't list Swappa on the comparison chart. Plus, you have to deal with eBay and PP fees (not to mention the plethora of scammers).

Rating: 2 Votes

Apple.Fanatic

12 weeks ago

I just tried this and it's not instant sell it just creates a regular ol eBay listing?

Yeah, I noticed that as well. I kept going through the steps and just took me to the create a listing page. Realized you have to list the device and then you get the quote. I guess that way they can charge you eBay fees for the sell + make more fees when you buy something with the eBay voucher vs getting cash.

I'd just do normal eBay listing or craigslist before this. If I'm going to pay fees, I'll get more with a normal listing + cash vs dumb eBay voucher.

Rating: 1 Votes

Icaras

12 weeks ago

Does the voucher have an expiration date? I may use this for future iTunes gift cards that go on sale for 15% off at the Paypal store front (like the current sale going on!)

Rating: 1 Votes

Wanted797

12 weeks ago

These things are always and still are a rip off.

Sell of a free site and meet the person locally and you’ll always get more for your phone.

Rating: 1 Votes

fairuz

12 weeks ago

Nice. I love eBay, but selling phones on eBay used to be hard. Had to deal with scammers in Ukraine trying to buy my phone even though it's US shipping only and restricted to US buyers.

Rating: 1 Votes

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