We’re one week away from the debut of the 3G iPhone, and the question on everyone’s mind seems to be, “What’s going to happen to the six million first-gen iPhones that are on the fast track to obsolescence?” The iPhone - the ultimate in “cool” for the last twelve months - is about to board the lametrain, and the race is on to unload them before its resale value dips any further.
Ztail, the startup that wants to be a Kelley Blue Book for everything, is looking to help. The site is offering TechCrunch readers two options for selling their iPhones with as little hassle as possible. You can access both options here.
Option 1 - eBay Insurance:
The first option is an experimental insurance policy for eBay that guarantees that you’ll be able to auction your iPhone off for a reasonable price (see table). If your auction ends at a lower price, Ztail will pay you the difference, and if it goes higher, you’ll get to keep everything you earn. You’ll need to follow Ztail’s instructions for posting the auction (for example, they specify certain times for your listing to go up), but the process should be straightforward for anyone that has used eBay before.
This option is available to the first 100 TechCrunch readers that go here and enter the code “TechCrunchZtail”. Auctions need to start by Saturday to take part in the deal.
Skeptics may wonder why anyone would bother with Ztail when you can just list auctions yourself on eBay with a reserve price. Ztail’s Bill Hudak says that while using a reserve price does act as a safeguard, it also serves as a strong deterrent to bidders - it’s actually better to begin an auction at $.99 and let the market set the item’s value. The company will be using the iPhone offer as a test for their eBay insurance, which they hope to extend to other products in the near future.
Option 2 - No Hassle:
The second option requires less work, but you’ll get around 20% less cash for it. The site has set up an affiliate partnership with Venjuvo, a cash-for-electronics trade in site. To use this service you’ll just need to slap on a Venjuvo shipping label and throw the iPhone in a box. Shipping is free and you’ll get your money in a matter of days via PayPal or check. This option is similar to what’s offered by Flipswap, which we covered last week. Venjuvo and Flipswap’s pricing seem to be similar, though they will vary day to day.
Some readers may be wondering how Ztail is able to guarantee prices from $200-300 when the new iPhone is debuting at $199 in a week. In reality, the $199 sticker price for the 3G phone is really just a clever marketing ploy from AT&T - you’ll actually be paying more over the long term than you would with the first iPhone. 3G iPhone users will be paying at least $15 more a month for data and SMS messaging charges, while owners of the original iPhone will be able to keep using the old, cheaper plan. The new iPhone will also probably be harder to unlock for use with other carriers, which may increase the original phone’s value even further.
All users who are looking to sell their iPhones should remember to wipe their data. This guide includes a brief description on how to do this. Alternatively, if you’d rather hold on to your iPhone and use it as an iPod Touch (disabling the cellular radio), you can.
Option 3: Was too smart to buy first gen technology.
@Techlusive
You’ve also had an inferior phone for the last year.
The new Iphone is 199$ - asa if……..
Well not in Denmark.
The 16G is 416$ - Locked to a monthly 300mb data
plan at 124 $ for 6 months.
Which means you’ll pay 1164$ before the phone is
actually yours. Why dont they just give Iphones for
free and make the monthly plan just a tiny bit more
ridiculous.
On that note we got a great law in here. Providers can
only lock customers for 6 months - and they have to
include the minimum 6 months pay all inclusive in all
marketing. Makes things a bit more transparent.
@Jason Kincaid
i can copy/paste. blackberry is not inferior.
Woah, just saw this for any interested entrepreneurs: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA.....%3DSelling
@techlusive & buster: gloating about being a laggard on techcrunch = awesome.
am i bummed that i’m out the cost of a 16gig iphone? yeah. but would i change it…not for the world. i’m proud to have been an early adopter (even i i only had it a few short months before the 3g). taking risks on 1st gen tech is what it’s all about.
EBay insurance sounds ridiculous when you take a look at completed auctions. A used iPhone is still a hot item.
@Techlusive - poor way to spam your untasteful “blog”
“You’ve also had an inferior phone for the last year.”
Like people can’t live without that. AT&T practically gave me my samsung. It has a camera, takes pictures, does text, receives email and all sorts of stuff.
Who cares. I’m not a fashion, wooops, tech slave. I have common sense.
I bought the ipod on 3rd gen. Most people do.
If you have an iPhone and it still works, I doubt many people actually need an “upgrade”. I figure Apple will be doing this “new version” at least once a year, so it’s safe to say that breaking a contract for the “newest and latest” is a great way to waste lots of money on a yearly basis!
This “helps” AT&T and Apple’s bottom line but I fail to see the advantage to the consumer… the tech industry has made a fortune selling engineered obsolete products - we should hold all of them to far higher standards… it would save both our pocketbooks and the environment from a lot of waste!
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com - Create Unique Memories
Bold move guaranteeing an ebay price a week before the new iphone comes out, I like it! I definitely dig the ebay insurance too, reserve prices are good but definitely a deterrent.
Any chance there will be a follow up later to see how well this offer did?
I don’t see too many people paying more than $200 for a 2g iPhone. The reason being you could say to someone with a 1st gen iPhone that you will pay the $200 so they can have a shiny new 3g version. Most people I know with a 1st gen don’t care that much about monthly fees and extended contracts anyway being that they are in high school and their parents pay their cell phone bill (possibly different than most peoples situation that read techcrunch). I’m hoping the market for the 1st gen iPhone drops significantly enough so I can get one for around $100.
*If I get one I will unlock it
Genius.
Insurance for ebay. This is HOT.
I didnt get it untill I realised it means I can list for 0.99 cents and Im covered.
If Ztail can
1) Prove to etailers this makes them more money
2) Prove to ebay that it improves seller experience and will result in a net increase in listing fees and
3) they can make a profit doing so (option, as long as they loose less money that additional listing fees can generate)
Then = Acquisition by Ebay < 6 months
Jason and others:
Are you seeing problem with yahoo mail today? I cant access my mails. Its redirecting me to some other site.
All bad things happening to Yahoo!
The best way to sell your old iPhone is to sell it out of US. For example, take it to Venezuela (there is no distribution of the iPhone in that country) and sell it for 3X more than US. I will be going to Venezuela in October send me your iPhone and I will sell it.
I just sold a new condition 8gig iphone for $500 on ebay last week. There are plenty of reasons that people will buy old ones for more than they were going for from Apple months ago — ability to unlock new ones, etc. I won’t argue, I just sold mine though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA.....0254267565
Here’s a good article on how to sell your old iPhone:
http://gizmodo.com/394668/how-.....han-i-paid
Gee… already sold mine a few weeks ago for $520. Guess that beats their best guess. Kudos to a gizmodo article written on the topic. Just do a .99 reserve auction on ebay, run in 5 days or less and watch it soar. Be sure to unlock it though via ziphone or other unlocking services.
Or they could sell it to me for $250. I am willing to buy one. In Europe things are a bit costly.
use craigslist .
i sold mine for $400 (8 gb) - and even that was underpriced.
I guess I don’t see the harm in signing up for ztail but it might be a little soon for an insurance market on the 1st gen iPhone. I think there will be fairly strong second market support for the 1st gen phones because as far as I can tell they’ll be easier to unlock than the 3g phones.
I put mine up for auction last Friday and it ended Monday afternoon.
The phone sold for $455 on eBay
I originally bought it for $399 (8gb Model)
A new 16gb model is $299
Winner: Jimmy!
Who thought something like that would appreciate in value? In the meantime I’m stuck using my old phone for the next 9 days.
Ztail rocks - They have created a truly unique approach to the market, one it appears no one else has tapped and one that actually provides real value to consumers beyond those in the tech sphere. Hats off to the team!
As for the initial test with the Iphone, the timing is perfect. 98% of the people who own Iphones don’t have time to hustle their Iphones to other countries If they want to get rid of it, they don’t care if they make a profit so the insurance deal is pretty sweet.
It could work as long as the majority of bidders don’t know Ztail, but after a while I think there will be ways to detect Ztailed auctions and it will be worst than reserve prices, sellers and bidders letting Ztail pay for the items.
Definitely getting a 3G
accepting 300 or so for a 16gb doesn’t seem right when you can get 500 on ebay, just my opinion. interesting idea though
Wow! Sounds good, I am in
What a great service! I’ve been looking to unload my digital camera and this has made it easy for me to find a price point that I am comfortable with.
Hey this is Bill from Ztail. I’ll try to respond to the questions and comments I see here, if you have more, just email me: bill-at-ztail-dot-com
@ NJC: We will follow up on our blog to let everyone know how it went.
@ Renato A: Get your Entrepreneur on! Awesome.
@ Olivier: you sell on your own eBay account with your own username. The listing is created using our service and in the process you login to eBay through their API and list on your eBay account.
@everyone who sold theirs already for more: No reserve, $.99 starting price & worldwide shipping - YES! That’s the way to do it, but if you want the confidence provided by a reserve, try selling with guaranteed price on Ztail.
The guarantee provides a minimum selling price in a way that doesn’t interfere with a high final sale price, and if it sells for more, you keep it. Plus it’s easy - we take the guesswork out of creating a listing on eBay, and our listing process takes about 1 minute.
You are all morons… New Iphone cannot be activated outside of contracted carriers stores, which means that anyone who want an unlock phone will have to pay for a 2 year contract anyway..
I strongly believe that the price of the first Iphone will remain high as it is a very good commodity.
I suggested to anyone who has a first generation Iphone to wait a little while before selling it, because it’s going to worth much more money…
Professional iPhone 3G video Converter has new released. This multifunctional iPhone 3G video Converter including 6 iPhone 3G format and can convert video to iPhone 3G MP4, MOV and rip video audio to iPhone 3G WAV. http://www.daniusoft.com/video-to-iphone.html
Nice !!!
I found a very interesting and detailed article:
The Missing Guide to the iPhone 3G Price. (What Apple Forgot to Tell Us).
You should check it out!