Vodafone reckons it can guarantee the best prices for trading in phones

UK operator Vodafone’s app now includes an instant valuation and ‘unbeatable price promise’ when customers trade in smartphones.

Vodafone’s Trade-in Tool in the My Vodafone App now offers an instant evaluation of how much a smartphone is worth before you go to the trouble of taking it in store for the manager to have a disapproving gander at it, and the system is apparently price checked daily which it claims makes it ‘unbeatable’ on price.

Leaving the egregious sales spin out of it, the idea seems to be about making it easier to trade in old devices in a way that makes you feel confident you haven’t been ripped off, as you get a price before you’ve trekked in to one of its stores, an independent repair outfit, or a CEX type shop. Once the price is agreed phones can be dropped off to a Vodafone store or shipped back via a prepaid envelope.

“People across the UK are understandably extremely value-conscious right now, but we know many still want to get their hands on the latest tech,” said Max Taylor, Consumer Director, Vodafone UK. “So for anyone thinking about getting a new smartphone, we urge them to consider trading in with Vodafone as we can guarantee they won’t get a better price for their current device anywhere else. Getting better value for your current smartphone means that you’ll be able to get the latest handset at a more affordable price, saving you money at a time when it’s really needed.”

The cost of living crisis isn’t going anywhere soon, and on top of this there is an ever growing emphasis made on recycling old tech – so schemes like this are probably well placed to get some traction in the years to come. As people across the UK baton down the hatches and look for areas they can stem some unnecessary money leakage, upgrading to a handset that isn’t obviously much different to the one you’ve got bar some scratches might seem an obvious thing to forgo, so knocking some cost off by making it easier to trade in old devices may well help Vodafone shift some more units.

The trends are currently in the other direction, however. Last week it was reported smartphone shipments around the world declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, with China representing the biggest dent in volume, according to IDC. At 286 million units in Q2 2022, shipments declined 8.7% YoY and were around 3.5% lower than the research firm’s forecasts.

Mind you, it doesn’t seem to have impacted Apple much, as its quarterlies last week revealed iPhone sales remained strong for the segment and actually rose 3%, raking in Apple a very healthy $40.7 billion. If nothing else this just goes to show whatever is going on in the world, Apple devotees simply must have the latest gear.

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