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How a Traded-In Apple iPhone Gets Refurbished | WSJ

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So you just traded in your used Apple iPhone 11 at your wireless carrier to get a deal on a brand new iPhone 14. Where does that old phone go? How do companies make money on it?

WSJ’s Joanna Stern heads to a U.S. Mobile Phones facility in New Jersey following an iPhone 11 through the refurbished process to explain how the second-hand phone market is a booming business.

0:00 Used and refurbished phones in North America
0:44 Second-hand facilities
1:32 Data erasure and triage
2:23 Cleaning and grading
2:52 Kitting and selling

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36 Comments

  2. ive noticed a lot of people in my rural town in mexico have iPhones now. its quite strange to see giving the fact how expensive some phones still are. But i think a lot of people in Mexico get knock off iPhones because their picture quality is terrible.

  12. I buy directly from eBay. It's even cheaper than refurbished and is back by eBay. I got a iPhone 13 Pro for $450 mint condition. Refurbished goes for 700-750

  18. I have had two iphone 7 plus for years now. Didnt upgrade. So i went from Iphone 6 to iphone 7 plus black bc i was dumb and broke my iphone 6 by throwing it on the floor in 2017. Then my iphone 7 plus was messing up so i got my moms iphone 7 plus but in pink. Had it for like a year and a half. I broke the screen and then it was glitching a lot and the battery was horrible. Went on a two hour drive friday and my iphone 7 plus was dying on the road. So yeah i knew it was time. Everyone knew so i got the new iphone 15. I wonder how long ill have it for. But i dont really care about phones so we will see.

  20. So it's just about checking that the phone works and cleaning it from outside? Honestly, I was expecting more! Something like battery replacement or cleaning the phone from inside.

  21. I only buy used phones now, my Google Pixel 5 was £110 and it's just as good as any modern £1000 phone. I just see no value in paying so much for a phone just to have status :/

  29. This is so fake.

    I’ve bought multiple iPhones refurbished. I’ve gotten phones that were burned, touch screen not working , buttons missing and even ones with data still on them with a password.

  30. So it's basically a USED PHONE. Nothing was "refurbished"…. it was just cleaned and checked, which is the bare minimum, before being packaged with $1.95 worth of knock of chargers. For only 20-30% off NEW RETAIL PRICE?!?! Unbelievably criminal. THIS is the real story, but I'm sure your friends at the refurbisher place appreciated the fluff piece.

  35. This video doesnt take into account that Verizon has accepted damages phones for a couple of years now, for full trade in, and often the trade in value for an 11 would be $400-800, and yes the carriers make that money back in premium plans, but how does that flood of damaged trade ins effect this whole cycle?