Why today is the perfect time to sell your iPhone 6s Plus

Red wines are known to increase in price over time. This is due to a combination of factors revolving around the infusion of flavour during the aging process inside the oak barrels where the wines are stored for maturity. Unfortunately, this concept of appreciation in value does not apply to electronic devices. Instead, the prices for electronic devices tend to nose dive after a period of time.

While Moore’s Law tells us that computer value tends to get halved every two years owing the doubling of transistors in processors, the ‘half-life’ is even shorter for smartphones. As such, if you have a smartphone lying around somewhere, such as an iPhone 6s Plus, now is probably the right time to sell it. The longer you wait to sell iPhone 6s Plus, to lower will the selling price be.

Factors affecting the pricing of used smartphones

There are three major factors which influences the perceived value of smartphones.

(i) Brand: Like any product, branding plays a strong part in the valuation of a smartphone. Apple’s products tend to be associated with quality and social status, so the brand tends to fetch noticeably higher prices in the used market. The prices also are likely to hold on longer as well.

(ii) Model and Age: Obviously, newer models purchased at a later date will be valued higher – and the opposite holds true as well. However, there is a drastic drop in a phone’s perceived value when newer models are launched. Many times, the prices will dipped significantly in the period surrounding the launch date before recovering a little a couple of months later. When it comes to iPhones, the worst time to sell is in the one month period before and after a product launch as you could lose at least 10% of the perceived value.

(iii) Condition: The aesthetics of a phone also influences its perceived value. Scratches and stains on the chassis and screen and rough sounding speakers can heavily impact selling prices. Sometimes, the visual appearance even takes precedence over an impaired battery (shorter standby).

Of the three factors though, the model and age is the real concern. Holding on to your phone, even for just six months, could lead to double digit or low triple digit losses.

Going back to our original examples, as far as a used iPhone 6s Plus is concerned, you should expect prices ranging from £80 (16GB model) to £240 (128GB) by its third year. So temper your expectations accordingly, and try to move the phone as quickly as possible.