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IPhone Trade-ins Fund New Apple Purchases

What would you do with a little extra holiday cash? Of the thousands who traded in their old cellphones last month, many plan to buy a shiny new Apple iPhone, iPad or iPad mini.
/ Source: TechNewsDaily

What would you do with a little extra holiday cash? Of the thousands who traded in their old cellphones last month, many plan to buy a shiny new Apple iPhone, iPad or iPad mini.

SellCell.com today (Dec. 18) released a survey of consumers who traded in their old cell phones during  Black Friday  week. More than 40 percent said they plan to use the extra cash on an Apple device, while less than 30 percent said they'd save the cash or use it to pay bills.

And if you're considering trading in your old iPhone for a new model, now is the time.

"IPhone 4 trade-in values last year varied during the holiday period, between $225 and $180, but a clear trend emerged: the longer you wait until the New Year, the further down in value the  iPhone 4  was worth," Colin White, the company's managing director, said in a statement. "The lesson to consumers is clear: trade-in your device now to lock in your payout and avoid the value drop once consumers receive their gadget gifts and look to trade in their older ones around January 1."

Between Black Friday 2011 and January 8, 2012, the average value of the iPhone declined by nearly a fifth of what the phone had been worth on Black Friday.  SellCell.com  is a trade-in comparison site and guarantees sellers will find the highest trade-in price available for their phones. Most trade-in services guarantee or lock-in a price for up to a month after the customer receives an estimate from the company. Using White's figures, it seems you're apt to get a better price today than you will when the holiday hoopla ends.