Fly in, cheaper: how smartphones and tablets lose in value when resale

This geek is not subject to fashion trends, but you can’t argue against technical progress: the software and requirements for gadgets are changing so rapidly that even top-end models become obsolete in a couple of years. Hence the urgent need to periodically update the park of glands, especially when it comes to mobile devices. And what to do with an already unnecessary gadget? You can forget in the far drawer of the table, you can give, or you can sell. Having walked this path repeatedly, I have long been thinking about how I will sell it later when choosing and buying a new technology. Especially for his habrablog, Hand-to-Hand portal has prepared a small and entertaining analyst: how fast and how much gadgets lose in price - smartphones and tablets - and how to shop in order to lose less on resale.

For comparison, we took 10 of the most frequently encountered on the secondary market of smartphones and tablets released in 2012, in good condition with natural signs of wear (some minor scratches). Data, of course, collected on the basis of proposals from the site "From hand to hand" as of November.
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The main conclusion is disappointing: for a smartphone older than a year, the price drop is considered not as a percentage, but in times.

Another interesting observation: on average, tablets become cheaper much slower than phones - probably due to greater functionality.

At the same time, Apple equipment loses in price less than other brands' gadgets - here both brand image and reasonable support policy play their part. Android smartphones depreciate quickly enough, even popular and expensive models. Accordingly, Apple tablets are doubly advantageous.

The software matters: let's say, the low price tag of the iPhone 3GS is due to the lack of iOS 7 and an outdated screen. The lack of support for the latest OS version affects the price. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the poor performance of droids on long distances - a rare manufacturer produces more than one OS update for its products.

Seller Tips

If your gadget has not been preserved in perfect condition, without a single scratch, the best tactic for selling it will be to reduce the price with respect to similar offers for several hundred rubles. For the same tablets, a discount of 500 rubles is not a strong blow to your pocket, but a very significant advantage against the background of similar offers. It happens that buyers are interested in the reasons for such dumping - if your conscience is clear, you can safely say that you are driven by a desire to quickly sell the goods.

The price above the market average can be assigned only in two cases: if the device status is close to ideal, you have saved the original packaging and equipment, or complete, you give away additional accessories (in good condition), such as convenient covers, docks or capacious flash drives.

In other situations, packaging affects the price very little. Usually, they pay attention to it only when they purchase an almost new product - so you shouldn’t throw out the box immediately (it will be useful when returning / exchanging a gadget).

For two-year-old smartphones, the availability of packaging is no reason to raise the price. But for some iPad 3 box adds 500 rubles. The same applies to equipment - for fresh devices, the lack of complete accessories, such as a cord, charging, ears and something else - is a reason to reduce the price by 10-15%. For old gadgets, this is not so important, because the price tag is already at the 5000 rubles bar.

It is also useful to recall that the availability of high-quality photos, a detailed description, additional buns and alternative methods of communication (Skype, ICQ, mail) significantly speed up the sale process. From my own experience I can say: a competent price offer + a generous and honest description allow us to part with an unnecessary piece of iron in a day or two.

The worst way to sell your old smartphone: set the price above the average simply because you yourself once spent on this gadget, accompany the ad with one muddy dark photo, make a description of one and a half lines, do not leave any other means of communication, except for the phone. Such an announcement risks becoming the dreary long-liver of the last pages of listings.

Share your experience and ask questions in the comments, and we will try to report useful information from the market of private announcements more often.