Trading in your iPhone on these specific days could be huge financial mistake
It's understandably enticing to trade-in your iPhone whenever a new one is announced, yet experts have looked at the data and discovered the specific 10-day window that you should absolutely avoid.
You're bound to run into a conundrum when swapping your old phone for a new one, as while the value is best before its follow-up gets released, you're likely to be left without a device in the interim period.
It's why many iPhone owners are willing to stomach the lost value in order to get their hands on a new phone – especially as Apple only recently bumped up the price you're offered for most trade-ins – yet you could get more money by avoiding a specific set of days when ditching your old device.
With a set of exciting new iPhones expected to be revealed by Apple next month at its flagship event, more people than ever will want to heed this advice in order to get the best deal.
What's the worst time to trade-in your phone?
As reported by PhoneArena, data from smarphone reselling platform SellCell has indicated that iPhones can lose as much as 20% of their value if sold in the 10-day window between announcement and release.
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Research involved surveying 2,000 iPhone owners in relation to historical price data for the last three flagship releases from Apple, with more than three in five owners waiting until they receive the new phone to trade in their old device, losing money in the process.
One device involved in the research lost as much as $129 in value across a 10-day period between the announcement of a new phone and its launch, showing quite how much you can lose if you wait around.
77.4% of the owners surveyed outlined how they would delay selling their old device because they needed to continue using it in their day-to-day life, alongside requiring it for data transfer when the new iPhone arrives.
When should you trade it in instead?
Most people understandably won't want to go without their phone even for just a couple of days, but what they might not be aware of is that certain reseller sites offer locked prices that delay the selling process.
In simple terms, this allows you to keep ahold of your phone until the new one arrives while retaining the higher trade-in valuation that exists prior to the impending launch, giving you the best of both worlds.
According to SellCell's data, 82.8% of participants weren't aware that these deals exist, with 66.1% subsequently stating that they're now encouraged to use price lock services to secure a better trade-in price for their phone.
If you're going directly through Apple you also aren't likely to experience any significant drops, as the company likes to keep its prices relatively stable for prolonged periods of time, only updating them a handful of times every year.