How a Traded-In Apple iPhone Gets Refurbished | WSJ
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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#Apple #Refurbished #WSJ
2:39 her gloves need to be refurbished.
What about battery ?
I get my family and friends old phones now and then and I fix them up if they need to be, like screen etc… then I give them to people in my community in Belize. Because the phones are so expensive, some people do this and sell them. I have even bought second hand phones for people.
I just traded in Galaxy S8 to Verizon for $728.
No way they are making profit from refurbishing that!😂
They are not paying that much per phone, but probably pennies on the dollar.
5:23 😂👍
I didn’t hear anyone say they conducted a “ battery test” . In my opinion this is the most important test. I trade in my iPhone due to poor battery life. Apple to their credit replaces the battery in all their refurbished phones.
I was sold one of those phones as new.
Over seas iPhone 📱 go for 3x the price of American price
I bought a refurb’d from Amazon. Still works great.
1:58 ooooooooooooo😂😂😂😂😂
that’s the emotional damage I don’t want
Make a semi-modular phone! Make accredited repair & upgrade stores to support local businesses. Increase employment could mean lower corporate taxes. It would also minimize damage to the environment. Enough with fast tech, and be more respectful to your customers!
The lack of transparency of the process is alarming. #RightToRepair
I can tell you now that guy taking her on the tour owns a lot!!! of phone shops😂😂😂
*Hello my friend, come in and see my phones!*
არ უყვარს წამყვანი რეალიზატორს?
How is this refurbishing, the phones don’t even get opened 😂Trash business, look out everyone the refurbish sector is most of the times such a scam.
Yea they just do basic stuff and call it “refurbished” this is why I don’t buy use stuff. All those phones probably have aging batteries
iPhone is trash
iPhone 11? I’ll probably get one of those one day. My iPhone 7 still works ok for now. I look like a dag, but I haven’t had to shell out for a ‘new’ new phone for ages now and I can’t remember the last time I bought a brand new one.
Can’t wait for x phone, screw these companies
Now that’s called reporting 👏👏
How can they take a loss on defect phones when they don’t pay you until it passes all tests? I’ve seen it with Assurion or Just outside NJ in PA where many trade in go to for inspection first.
1.39bln smartphones were sold in 2022… 73.5m used/refubrished shipped in the US. So if the avg is like 1bln new phones per year and just 10-20% of that amount is going back to used/refurb sector, what happens to the rest of 90-80% of smartphones? End up in drawers? 😅
The ladies gloves were torn lol
Joanna Stern is a lesbian with a wife. Being insulted by that Jersey guy didn’t seem to offend her/them as Joanna is not the girly type.
Let me wait for a used iphone 16
I aspire to trade like you someday.
I paid $200 through insurance to get an iPhone 12 replacement for my lost iPhone 11 & was given $1000 towards a new iPhone 16 Pro Max for that iPhone 12 through trade-in. Despite watching this video, I don’t get it but happy I got that deal since I basically upgraded 5 generations for around $277.
Or just buy iphones from walmart/straight talk etc. Iphone 12 $250 iphone 11 $200
Me watching it on a 11, about to trade it in so ik that phone phone is going to a good place lol 😂
I feel like the trade in value isn’t fair. It sucks that now it is based on what plan you have with your carrier than the actual condition of your phone. When I trade in my phones they are basically perfect with no damage but yet I get the same value as someone trading in a phone with scuffs and scratches on the screen and on the frame of the phone. So lame
oh ok, so never buy refurbished from amazon
This “refurbished” device doesn’t seem very “refurbished”. Checking and cleaning doesn’t fix the 4 year old worn out battery which is the man reason people buy new phones.
WHAT ABOUT OBSOLETE iPHONES?
plz recycle
Old iphones operating systems are not supported by apple . You cannot download new apps and your phone is a security risk . They are basically a brick with features .
I watched the whole video and didn’t see anything get refurbished
Most trade in programs rip you off for your device. You can generally get 30-50% more selling it privately than trading it in. But sometimes selling it on places like marketplace is a pita.
1:57 OOP – 💀💀💀
I need one
How does the phone keeps up with the software, since the software is supported for about 3 years ?
Most people take their phones to the toilet. I would never buy a secondhand phone. Gives me the ick 🤢
i always thought they replace the battery or something. What has actually been refurbished?
Guy talks like Sal from impractical jokers😂
didnt see a single phone get refurbished and i watched the whole video
This missed the case that some carriers are taking iphone 12 pro max for $1000 trade in values. How the economy of that is going to work out?
They just polish them and sell them ice never got any phone with a new battery
Can someone plz gift me that refurbished phone. I can’t even effort to get it 😢
I thought refurbished just meant resold lol
If you trade in a pixel phone to apple, e.g, a pixel 8 they give you 150, but you go to googoe and they give you 490.
The big reason to not buy refurbished is the battery life. I bet many of these phones have terrible battery life