General wear and tear and iPhone trade in

The third party recycler/reseller Apple partners with is a for profit company. Damaged devices have no value for them so they typically offer nothing for them.

Sorry, but condition severely affects value when dealing with any for profit used device buyer. To a company, that device has zero value, or very low value.

kamahl112 wrote:

how do we solve this problem quickly

You can't really. It's either going to meet the requirements for full trade-in value or not. I suppose one could just get an official Apple repair, but that's going to cost more than the difference in trade-in value.

It's really up to a human evaluating it. But the big reason for accepting trade-ins is to refurbish them to build up supplies of replacement devices. So it's really a matter of whether or not they believe that a chip in the glass is going to be acceptable to a new end user. Obviously the user may have to accept a certain bit of cosmetic wear in refurbished devices, but it's supposed to work perfectly and be up to a certain physical standard. If it isn't, they might accept the trade-in but with the caveat that it's worth less because they'll need to replace the front screen assembly.

I have a little crack in the corner of my iPhone. Doesn't really bother me, but I would think that it would result in the front screen assembly being evaluated as damaged. I certainly wouldn't accept that if I was receiving a replacement device. But there are a variety of light scratches on mine that I'd think would be OK. But Apple says "The touchscreen is free of cracks, chips, and scratches" as meaning it's acceptable. For an iPhone 11 that would drop Apple's US trade-in value from $300 to $70.

Perhaps you can post a photo of it? However, if you can notice it quickly, I'd think it would be evaluated as damaged.

They clearly ask if it is chipped and you already said it is so to be honest with yourself you would have to check yes. It doesn't matter if you post a picture hear no one on this site will be making the evaluation. You could spend more than $200 to repair the iPhone to get the $300 but that really isn't worth it. Your other option is to sell it to someone privately and get the most you can for it.

Smilin-Brian wrote:

The actual cost is $199. 😉

That's not so bad then. However, I'm not sure it's worth it since the repair (at least in the United States) would require sales tax. All that aggravation just to get around $10 more in trade-in value. I agree that selling it outside of Apple's ecosystem is probably a better option.

You could try to get your screen repaired if you’re willing to pay.

Check ▷ AppleCare Coverage Here.

Then ▷ Get Screen Repair Here.

kamahl112 wrote:

how do we solve this problem quickly

I don’t understand your question in this thread? What problem? Your’s or the op?

Resellers who purchase used electronics only purchase them and offer the seller value if that product is in turn something the buyer can turn around for a profit. Companies that buy up used electronics are for profit companies - they have employees to pay an income to, expenses to cover as a business so they cannot offer more than they can get for an item.

It’s great when someone has an item in good enough condition that a recycler/reseller can offer them money for it, and then resell it so their own company can thrive. But when the item is damaged beyond resell value, all anyone can do is recycle that item for its recyclable raw materials and components. But that means it has no profit value to the recycler/reseller so they will not offer anything to the owner for it.

The actual cost is $199. 😉

I don't think they will take your phone since your screen is broken.

A chip missing out of the screen is major damage.

how do we solve this problem quickly