How to Sell Your Old iPhone: Fees, Payouts and Deadlines Compared

A $400 iPhone can leave you with about $342 or about $374, depending on where you list it. Same phone, same buyer price. The gap is fees, and fees are the part most guides skip when they explain how to sell old iPhone models for the most money. Below are the numbers that decide your payout in the US (checked in November 2026), what each one actually means, and a worked example you can redo with your own phone's price.

The numbers that decide your payout

• 13.6%: eBay's final value fee for most categories, phones included, charged on the total sale amount.
• $0.40: eBay's extra per order fee on sales over $10 ($0.30 at $10 or less).
• 3%: Swappa's seller fee, taken from the sold price. Listing is free.
• 3.49% + $0.49: the PayPal processing fee Swappa lists for each payment.
• 14 days: how long Apple gives you to get your old iPhone to it after your new device arrives.
• 21 days: Back Market's window to ship your phone after you accept an offer.
• 5 business days: how fast Back Market says its direct deposit arrives.
• 1 setting: Erase All Content and Settings, the step that also turns off Find My and Activation Lock.

Why eBay's 13.6% costs more than 13.6% of your price

eBay calculates its fee on the total amount of the sale, and that total includes the item price, any shipping the buyer pays and the sales tax. So the fee lands on a bigger number than the price you typed in. eBay's own selling fees page walks through a used smartphone sold for $400 with free shipping, assuming 6% sales tax, and arrives at a fee of $58.06.

A few smaller numbers sit around that one. Your first 250 listings each month are free, then each extra listing costs $0.35. A buyer dispute can cost $20. And if you offer free shipping, the label comes out of your share too.

What you get for the higher fee is reach. eBay has the largest pool of casual buyers, and auctions can push a clean, recent model past what fixed price sites suggest.

Swappa's 3% and the processing fee on top

Swappa charges the seller 3% of the sold price and charges the buyer a separate 3% on top of the listing price. Its FAQ puts it simply: list at $100, pay Swappa $3, receive $97, minus the payment processing fee.

That processing fee is the second number to watch. Swappa's fees page lists PayPal at 3.49% + $0.49 and Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30, and sellers are required to have a PayPal account. Swappa also publishes its own comparison: an iPhone sold for $515 nets the seller $466.54 on Swappa and $451.95 on eBay. Keep in mind that is Swappa's math about Swappa.

Apple Trade In: the 14 day clock and the revised quote

Apple says trade in value depends on the model, condition, year and configuration, and you get your estimate from the tool on the Apple Trade In page. You can apply the value to a new purchase or take an Apple Gift Card. When it goes toward a purchase, the credit returns to your original payment method up to the purchase price, and anything above that arrives as a gift card by email.

The numbers here are about time. Apple needs your old phone within 14 days of receiving your new one, and the estimate is valid for those same 14 days. Apple says shipping and processing generally take two to three weeks, and the credit itself can take 3 to 5 business days to post.

The inspection is where people get surprised. If the phone's condition doesn't match what you described, Apple sends a revised value. A higher value is credited automatically. A lower one you can accept, or reject, in which case the phone comes back to you and the original trade in value is charged to your card. Once you ship, you can't cancel. Trading in at an Apple Store skips the wait (a Specialist checks the phone on the spot), but you'll need a valid photo ID.

Back Market: 21 days to ship, about a week to get paid

Back Market's buyback program sends your phone's details to more than 250 refurbishers and returns an offer in about two minutes. It takes phones in any shape, from pristine to non functional, which matters if your screen is cracked. Shipping is free and insured, and you have 21 days to send the phone.

Back Market's step page promises a direct deposit within 5 business days, while its FAQ says payment arrives within 6 business days after the refurbisher pays, so plan on roughly a week. You'll add your bank account and routing numbers and your date of birth under the Trade-ins section of your account to get paid.

Zero accounts left on the phone

The most important number has nothing to do with money. Before any buyer or company gets the phone, Apple's checklist for selling or trading in an iPhone comes down to this order:

1. Back up the iPhone to iCloud or a computer. If your new phone is ready, Quick Start can move everything across (our guide to setting up a new iPhone from your old one covers that).
2. Unpair your Apple Watch if one is paired.
3. On iOS 26, go to Settings > [your name], scroll down and tap Sign Out. On iOS 18 or earlier, tap Sign Out, enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off.
4. Moving to Android? Deregister iMessage first so texts reach your new phone. Our walkthrough on moving from iPhone to Android explains the rest.
5. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings, enter your passcode and confirm. If the phone uses an eSIM, choose to erase the eSIM profile when asked.

Erasing turns off Find My and Activation Lock, which is what lets the next owner set the phone up. If you already handed it over without erasing, sign in at icloud.com/find, select the phone and click Remove This Device. Apple's checklist also suggests looking for an unfinished repair notice in Parts and Service History before you sell.

Worked example: one $400 iPhone, two payouts

Say a buyer pays $400 for your iPhone, you offer free shipping, and local sales tax is 6%, the same assumption eBay uses.

On eBay:

1. Total sale amount: $400 + ($400 × 0.06) = $400 + $24 = $424
2. Final value fee: $424 × 0.136 = $57.66
3. Add the per order fee: $57.66 + $0.40 = $58.06
4. Your payout: $400 minus $58.06 = $341.94, before your shipping label

On Swappa (paid through PayPal):

1. Seller fee: $400 × 0.03 = $12.00
2. PayPal fee: ($400 × 0.0349) + $0.49 = $13.96 + $0.49 = $14.45
3. Your payout: $400 minus $12.00 minus $14.45 = $373.55, before your shipping label

That's a $31.61 difference on the same sale. Now compare both to the trade in quotes for your model. If Apple or Back Market offers within $30 to $50 of your private sale payout, the trade in may be the better deal once you count the time spent answering buyer questions and the risk of a payment dispute.

Matching the route to your phone

• Recent model in great shape: a private sale usually pays the most. Buyers will check it the way our refurbished iPhone checklist describes, so photograph the battery health screen and any marks honestly.
• Upgrading at Apple anyway: trade in at checkout and the credit comes off the new phone, with no listing work.
• Cracked, old or not working: Back Market accepts non functional phones, and Apple recycles ineligible devices for free.

Whichever route you pick, be wary of buyers who want to pay outside the platform, send more than the asking price or change the shipping address after paying. Those are classic scam patterns, and if one gets you, here's how to report a scam. More phone guides live in our gadgets section.

One last check before you seal the box: turn the phone on. If it greets you with the Hello screen instead of your lock screen, it's ready to go.