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There was a time when I just threw old smartphones I had into a box when they outlived their usefulness to me. They would usually just sit there and collect dust or I’d turn them back on every now and then just to feel nostalgic. After I had kids, many of these old smartphones got handed down to them so they could use them to play games or watch videos with them. There were some instances where I did sell some old phones on services like Ebay or Swappa and these were mainly for smartphones that were on services I was no longer on, but usually, my priorities weren’t on selling them.

However, my feelings towards old phones have changed with age as I now realize that hoarding all these old phones wasn’t very beneficial. Sure some got reused by my children, but I often wonder how much value I wasted by not trading many of these phones in or selling them at a premium in the second-hand market. That’s why recently, I traded in four used smartphones for brand new Samsung Galaxy S21s. My carrier was having some crazy trade-in deals where these phones were worth much more than they would be just selling them at market value. We’re talking Galaxy S7, iPhone 6s with a trade-in value of $800. I don’t even think these phones were worth that much when they were brand new.

Here’s an example. Sometimes a store like Best Buy will have carrier-locked phones at a huge discount. You can buy the phones there instead of at the carrier store. Then if they have a trade-in deal too, you can take advantage of that at the carrier store if you show that you activated a new phone from a 3rd party store. I did that with the Galaxy S21 and ended up with an extra $10/month in credit.

Anyways, my point is that instead of letting your old phones rot away, consider handing them down to someone, trading it in, or selling it to at least make back your investment. There are plenty of deals out there now where your old phone might be worth more than you think it is and you’ll get a much better phone in the process. It’s possible you might even make a little extra if you game the system a bit with sales and trade in offers.

So what do you do with your old smartphones? Let us know in the comments below.