You get close to Rs 7,000 under buyback for a smartphone which won't fetch you even Rs 2,000 in the market
Under buyback, companies offer the benefit of a few thousand rupees to the dealer, which is passed on to the customer.
If there is no buyback, you are likely to get less amount for your old, outdated smartphone.
The
'Buyback' offer Apple introduced in India last year has changed the
dynamics of the smartphone industry in favour of buyers. At that time,
it was all about offering schemes on the older devices or getting rid of
the old stock as the new flagship smartphone was just a few months
away. Today, consumers get a discount on the new flagship smartphones
which are priced exorbitantly.
For instance, the recently launched
Samsung Galaxy S5
isn't doing well in the market. A sampling of retailers claimed there
aren't many buyers. In less than one month of the Galaxy S5 going on
sale, Samsung has introduced a buyback offer where a customer can get a
minimum of Rs 7,500 off on exchange of a smartphone and Rs 5,000 against
a non-smartphone. This brings down the cost of the Galaxy S5 to Rs
44,000.
There is a new buyback scheme on the
iPhone 5c
as well. As per the advertisements, on exchange of a smartphone in
working condition, the iPhone 5c can be obtained for Rs 34,400, instead
of Rs 41,900. One can avail a buyback of Rs 5,000 on LG G2 too and Rs
7,500 on the Apple iPhone 4s too.
But what if you plan to buy a
different phone, not one of the above? Well, other than the buyback
scheme, many retailers and dealers today are willing to buy your old
smartphone as you buy a new one. For instance, you can get rid of your
HTC One dual SIM for close to Rs 25,000.
So if you are planning
to upgrade to the HTC One (M8) in exchange of the HTC One, the new phone
is likely to cost you only Rs 25,000. Similarly, if you have the Sony
Xperia Z1, you can get approximately Rs 20,000 if you sell it. According
to a few retailers, the current running Nokia and Sony smartphones,
which are retailing for Rs 20,000 upwards are likely to fetch 50 per
cent of the retail price if sold. The only condition is that the phone
should be as good as new in terms of looks.
It should not have
scratches and should work fine. Interestingly, the resale value of the
old iPhone 4 8GB is Rs 7,500 and 16 GB variant is between Rs 8,000 to Rs
10,000. Where under buyback schemes you can get up to Rs 7,500 off on
the old Nokia E7 or N8, you will hardly get Rs 2,000 if you sell it
individually.
The biggest reason for getting a higher value in the
buyback offer is the company support. For every buyback offer, the
respective company passes on the benefit to the retailer. For instance,
for the iPhone 5c where one can get minimum Rs 7,500 off, the dealer
gets Rs 5,000 off on the every iPhone 5c sold from the company. He can
recover rest by further selling the smartphone he took from the buyer.
On the basis of resale value of the exchange smartphone, further
discount is quoted.
