Trade-in

Make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar for service. If you need to find an Apple Store - Find a Store - Apple. Also, see How to find your nearest Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) or Distributor (AAD). 

"Your Apple-branded or Beats-branded hardware product (“Product”) is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE (1) YEAR from the date of original retail purchase (“Warranty Period”) when used in accordance with Apple`s user manuals (refer to www.apple.com/support/country). Under this warranty, you will be able to direct your claims to Apple even in situations where you purchased the Apple Product from a third party.” [Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty – Accessory - For Apple and Beats Branded Products Only.]

They only ask if the iphone turns on ...

I don't think so!

UPDATE - I read the "See what this means" and note it matches your description. You would take your chances, though, if you answered "yes" here. Consider saying "No".

You will need to bring it with you to the Apple Store in order to make the exchange and pay the fee or price differential. If you do the trade online, then you must ship them the phone after which they will credit your charge card if they accept it.

You cannot "fake it" through the process. They will not accept a device that is not at least in working condition.

I traded through the Give back program. They give you information on what they mean by good condition. The amount they offer is conditional on their examination of the item once it's received. Apple is not making this offer. It's made by a separate company working with Apple to facilitate the trade-ins.

You must pay full purchase price upfront. Once your trade-in is received and approved, then the amount is credited back to your charge card. In my case it took about two weeks before the money was credited back to me.

I agree completely. I also have traded using their program. My experience is just as you described.

What I have not done, however, is send in a device in less than optimal condition for trade. I don't have personal experience there.

Nor have I. But were I to do so then I would not state it was in excellent or good condition when it was not. But then I don't usually believe in cheating, having been had once long ago. I hope I'm savvy enough to avoid that nowadays. But con persons ( is that correct for here?) usually say it's easier to con someone who thinks they can out-con the con person.

I usually avoided trade-in programs because you can generally do better selling. But selling on eBay, like buying on eBay, is a whole lot less reliable than it used to be.

Yes, I've never used eBay and almost certainly never will.

I have used other services to sell older Apple devices (Gazelle, Buybackworld). In days past, they seemed to offer considerably more for devices than Apple's third party. But I think that's changed over the past year or two.

Been my observation as well. I don't mind using eBay but I do try to do my research in advance to try not to be taken. But in recent years I've only used eBay two times. Most recently I bought a new iPhone Xr that was new and locked to T-Mobile. Didn't have a box, power block, or Lightning cable. Fortunately, I have lots of those. Had to open a T-Mobile account and buy a SIM. This cost me $25. T-Mobile's SIMs are a little expensive! But I saved much more than that on the price which made up for that. The phone has been working perfectly, so far.

I haven't used the buy back services like Gazelle, but they did out bid Apple. But you typically get about half of what you would get on an outright sale since these other services have to resell and make a profit. So they can't give you market value. Just a business game, it all is.

Yes. Just be honest when you answer the questions ... or you would be disappointed later during the process.

Trade in with Apple GiveBack - Apple