Updated on December 14, 2023
Free iPhone 7 – Just Trade In Your Old iPhone 6
Get an iPhone 7 (32GB) for $0 when you trade in your iPhone 6 at Verizon Wireless, Sprint, or T-Mobile! That's a very generous trade in offer…especially from Verizon! In the past they would do trade in offers around $300, so I think it is an awesome deal! Yesterday I wrote about where to pre-order. Details below! Some might try to go to eBay to find a cheap iPhone 6 to trade in but there is not much savings and many of the eBay phones are stolen/locked/won't qualify. Unless you are very familiar with eBay and iPhones, I don't recommend playing this game.
REMINDER: Make sure you turn off iCloud lock (“Find My iPhone”) before you trade it in otherwise you will not get the full trade in value. Wiping/erasing the phone does not remove iCloud lock. I forgot to do this on my iPhone 6 and the trade in value came up as $40 instead of $650! So I had to set it up again, turn it off, then erase again.
Other options? Last year, I compared the best and worst places to trade in your iPhone. I don't think think these guys will be getting ANY business as long as these trade in offers continue.
2 year contract? TheVerge.com points out that this looks a lot like the old 2 year contracts and it does. However, with the old 2 year contract, I paid $40/line, which then dropped to $15/line currently when I moved to the Verizon Edge plan. In the new plan it'll be $20/line but the new data plans give more data for less per month so I'll be able to drop to a lower plan and overall pay equal or less than before. Also here's what my alternative was: Sell my iPhone 6 for maybe $300-350 after fees+hassle and buy iPhone 7 for $650; not upgrade the iPhone 5 because its only worth ~$100. Yes, I'd be able to cancel but I don't plan on making any changes.
Verizon Wireless
Trade in any iPhone 6 at Verizon and get an iPhone 7 (32 GB) for $0 $100. This new offer expires 10/31/16 (The free iPhone 7 with trade in expired 9/30/16). That means you can get a $649 $550 trade in credit by trading in any iPhone from any carrier. The only catch is you need to sign up with the monthly payment plan and receive credits against those charges. That's to make sure you stay with Verizon. So, you'll get billed the monthly device payment plan and then the credits will offset this charge. If you want more storage or a 7 Plus, you will just pay the difference. I posted screen shots of the trade in values at the bottom of this post.
This new offer is not as good as the one in September but… you snooze you lose. At least they still have this offer. All credits come in monthly installments so you have to keep it active for 2 years to get all the credit.
- iPhone 6S / 6S Plus = $550 trade in credit
- iPhone 6 / 6 Plus = $450 trade in credit
- iPhone 5 and 5S (all models) = $300 trade in credit
DELIVERY DATES / BACKORDER DATES as of 10:30am (Sept 9, 2016)
- iPhone 7 (32 gb) Silver and Rose Gold: Sept 16
- iPhone 7 (128 gb) Jet Black: October
- iPhone 7 Plus (128 gb) Black: end of September
- iPhone 7 Plus (128 gb) Jet Black: [BACKORDERED] end of October
OFFER EXPIRES 9/30/16
Q. But I only see $220 for my iPhone 6??
A. Just continue and when you get closer to the checkout you will see the full $650 or $400, depending on which phone you have. I posted screen shots way at the bottom of this post of what it should look like.
Q: Do I have to change my plan?
I didn't have to but the new plan worked out better for my family plan.
If you have an old plan where you are only paying $15/line like I had, this will change to $20/month. That's because I was getting a $25 discount per line which changes to $20, so I lose $5 per line. On the flip side, my jetpack monthly fee drops from $20 to $10/month
Q: Will they take BROKEN/CRACKED SCREEN / ITUNES LOCK / STOLEN?
No. But if your screen is broken you can get it fixed and then they will accept it.
Q: When does this trade in offer expire?
9/30/16. I'm not exactly sure. The store manager said there is no expiration date currently but I also saw a possible date of next week (9/15). DO NOT WAIT if you want to do this!
Q: Do I trade in my old iPhone in store on mail it in?
It depends and this is a bit confusing. You must mail in your old phone if you order via the website and request a trade in. If you just order your phone online (without requesting a trade in) then you will have a choice to bring your old phone to the store or mail in. If you order your phone in store, then you can bring your trade to the store. Read that a couple times and check with your local Verizon store in case they change the rules.
SPRINT
Sprint has a similar trade in offer: Get the iPhone 7 32GB for $0 with eligible trade in. Eligible phones include iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung Galaxy S7, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
EXPIRES 12/31/2016 ! (or “while supplies last”)
AT&T
AT&T has a free iPhone 7 after trade in offer as well which expires 9/30/16!
How to get your iPhone 7 32GB for $0**:
- Buy the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus on AT&T Next® or AT&T Next Every YearSM and activate with qualified wireless service (starting at $50/mo. for new customers, or existing customers may add to an eligible plan). Pay tax at sale.
- Make sure your current iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, or iPhone 6s Plus is in good working condition and is paid in full. [Unlike, Verizon, AT&T doesn't appear to be allowing iPhone 5 trade ins for $400 credit].
- We’ll send you a message with the information you need to complete your trade-in.
- Once we’ve confirmed your purchase and received your trade-in, in up to 3 bill cycles we'll begin to apply your monthly bill credits. As long as you stay in good standing with eligible service on your installment agreement, you'll receive monthly credits totaling $650. That is equivalent to making an iPhone 7 32GB $0 or taking $650 off the price of the other variants or iPhone 7 Plus.
**Ltd-time offer (ends 9/30/16 in PR). Priced $650 to $970. Req’s port, well-qual. credit, and 0% APR 30-mo. $21.67/mo. agmt. Up to 3 mos. due before credits start. If svc. canceled, device balance is due. Activ., other charges & restr. apply. Void in CT, RI & Miami-Dade. Can’t be combined with the $650 Switch Offer.
T-Mobile
Free iPhone 7 with trade in of an iPhone 6. You'll get $650 (see update below) credit for any iPhone 6 and $400 $300 credit for any iPhone 5, similar to Verizon.
UPDATE 9/27/16: T-Mobile changed their promotion. Now you can get an iPhone 7 for $100. That means if you trade in an iPhone 6S/6S Plus you get $549 credit and an iPhone 6/6 Plus gets $449. iPhone 5 gets you $299 credit. Upgrading to iPhone 7 will now cost you $100, $200, or $300 depending if you trade in an iPhone 6S, 6, or 5.
Expires 10/3/16.
Verizon Screen Shots
Here are screen shots for a Verizon trade in of a iPhone 6 ($650 credit) and iPhone 5S ($400 credit). You might see a lower number initially which is just an estimate but the full trade in amount would show up when you get to the screen below.
This is a shitty offer designed to lock you in overpriced service.
super annoying how you delete comments that don’t fit your agenda. no point in me following you
which comments were deleted?
This sounds good but what if I want to upgrade to the 8 next year and I’m in the middle of this deal?
If you upgrade then you won’t get the remaining credits in the second year. But you’ll have a 7 which you could sell for a decent amount at that point. Check eBay, 6S’s are selling for a good amount.
Initially that sounded like a great deal. But, further review….I can get $215 trade in value on my Iphone 6 at Verizon. And I can get a new 7 for $199 on a 2 year contract. Am I overlooking something in my logic….How is that not a better deal than the offer described above?
Consider this. In the old way with 2 year contract I was paying $40/month/line on my family plan. Then Verizon Edge came along and after I paid off my phone in full, I got a $25/month discount per line so I’m now paying only $15/line/month. So if your example you don’t get this…. $40/month/line vs $15/month/line. I’m on a family plan not sure about individual lines.
With this new plan, my $15/month/line goes up to $20, but my Jetpack drops from $20/month to $10/month and my data plan ($100 for 15 GB) drops to $90 for 16 GB. That’s 1 GB more, $10 less, and allows carryover data. Overall my price is the same, but I have 1 GB more and carryover data.
Your line access fee would be $40 for a subsidized 2-year phone on the new verizon plan.
what if your 6 plus phone screen is cracked?
you need to get it fixed before they will take it.
Can I trade in my iphone 6 for the iphone 7 and keep my unlimited data and the current calling plan that I have?
I was not required to change my plan but the new plan was better for me. You’ll need to check with VZ.
so after taking advantage of this deal I got confused by the terms of the trade in credit. It says the $650 credit ends when the device is paid off or when the line is removed. The credit doesn’t start rolling in the 2-3 billing cycle but i’ll start paying off my device before that credit starts. If i’m understanding it correctly i’ll be done paying the phone off before the credit is applied for a full 24 months. So what happens to the credit if it’s supposed to stop when my device is paid off, which hypothetically will be before the a full 24 months of credits.
meant to say “doesn’t start rolling in *until* the 2-3rd billing cycle”
According to the manager at the Verizon store I did my upgrade in, the credits that start after 2-3 billing periods will include credits for months 1, 2, and 3 if its on the 3rd billing cycle. At that point you’ll be caught up.
glad you asked!
I signed up as well. Wanted to wait a year to switch but wth…did it. still best service out there
Or you could keep your old iPhone and go to a service like Straight Talk with no contract that still uses the Verizon Network for a lot less per month, plus no “Locked in” credit offsetting. No need to always have the latest and greatest but those who aren’t frugal will jump on these offers I’m sure!
I think this probably more worth looking into on individual plans.
On my family plan, I was paying $15 per line, now $20 per line x 4 = $80. Plus another ~ $80 for data after discounts. In total $160 / 4 = $40 per line. I’ve looked into Straight Talk in the past but didn’t see much savings. Each plan costs $45 per month or if you prepay for a year $41.25 per line. Tablets and MiFi are $10/month each on Verizon, not sure how much this costs on StraightTalk or if they even have Mifi.
Can you do the whole trade-in process at the store and still get the $400 credit for an Iphone 5s? Or is this promo only available through verizonwireless online? Thanks for your help in advance and GREAT website you have!
Can be done in the store or online/mail in.
I placed a couple orders in store and one online and plan to bring in my trades in to the store so I know immediately they were accepted and hit my account. I rather not do such a high value transaction by mail.
Thanks for your quick reply. So if I bring my Iphone 5s to the store, they can tell me right there if it is eligible for the $400 trade-in credit? And also, if so, will they give me time to transfer everything from one phone to another (I would let my wife get the better phone and I would take her old phone and I would trade in my 5s if that makes sense).
And lastly, do you know when this iphone 5s $400 trade-in deal expires at the stores?
Thanks again!
not sure when it expires.
They should be able to tell you if it qualifies. I understand that as long its in good condition/not stolen, its good for $400. And yes you’ll have some time after you get your new phone delivered, though I don’t know the exact time frame yet.
Is this only good for one line in a shared family account? I can add my iPhone 6s and see the trade-in credit in the shopping cart, but then there is no option to add an additional device for the same trade-in deal for my wife’s phone.
I did 3 lines in the store then 1 online. If its just the two of you, then try doing 2 separate transactions. If its more, its prob easier in the store. I’ve been dealing with the same guy for a while which helps.
I’m at an impasse. I am still using a 16gb iPhone 5 — it 5 has treated me well and I love the fact I can comfortably, confidently use it one handed… but I need to upgrade.
As with a lot of people, I am somewhat underwhelmed by the 7 and am wondering how the 5S is holding up. I’m compared the specs online, but its difficult for me to qualify the differences in real world use. I’m looking at used options because I’m not going to buy the 7 I don’t want to pay full price. Anyone have experience with this company https://www.getorchard.com/us/iphone-5s-for-sale/ ?? Thanks! – David
Since Verizon gives $400 trade in credit for a iPhone 5, you would be paying the difference… $250. Never used that website but they have a used 5S for Verizon for $260. There’s also a risk in buying a used phone. After 1-2 years, the battery will not hold so well and you dont know how it was treated by the previous owner.
Or just use it for 1 more year… I doubt you’ll see much improvement to justify going from 5 to 5S.
I currently have an iphone 6 64gb – and am paying $27.08/month for it (Verizon). The iphone 7 for 27.08/month is only 32gb. My husband has an iphone 6 with 32gb and pays @22.91/month. Not a good deal for us – would have to pay more for more space. How is this free??? Am I missing something?
It’s a “free” upgrade to an iPhone 7 32gb, which costs $650. It’s only the base model. If you want more memory you have to pay extra.
If you trade in any iPhone 6 you will get a new iPhone 7. The amount you paid or are still paying doesn’t change that. This is the “best deal” for people with iPhone 6 16gb and becomes a worse for those who bought more memory or have a 6S.
Also I dont think you can upgrade if you are still making payments on your account. I believe you’d have to pay it off first. A while back, I just paid off my monthly payments with the “Verizon Edge” program because doing so dropped my monthly price per line from $40 to $15.
Exactly why this is an AWESOME deal for me and anyone else with a almost 2 year old iPhone 6 16gb!!!
After I saw THIS I called them, done deal, just gotta pay tax on the phone upfront and the dreaded $20 activation fee, 78 bucks total, and I have 3 months left on my contact (“courtesy”)
Thank you Boss.
Can you still do this if you are in one of those old contract plans? I can’t upgrade until June of 2017 (unless I do so at retail price) and I’m still paying the old $40/month because I’m not on the pay-per-month for the device.
I believe they would let you pay off your device then you would be eligible to upgrade. When you switch to the new data plan you will pay:
Line access fees
Smartphone $20/mo. Tablet & Hotspots $10/mo. Connected devices $5/mo.
How do I know if the phone i bought from ebay is stolen or not eligible to trade in?
I just placed an order for iphone 6 on ebay to trade in. now your article mentions that would not work. Could you explain about that?
Short version: If you know what you’re doing, it can make sense to buy from eBay. If not, you might be barking up the wrong tree and about to waste a lot of time to save a little bit of money.
Longer version: The carriers can tell you if a phone is stolen but you’ll need the IMEI # and some sellers may not want to provide that to you. Look through the listings and you will notice that many of them are icloud locked and the carrier won’t accept these because the next person can’t use them. These are most likely stolen and so the seller can’t unlock it for you. You can check if a phone is iCloud locked here but again you need the IMEI or serial #. The few iPhone 6’s that are clean will sell for more. Sure you can probably still save money by trading in, how much is the time and hassle worth if you buy a stolen phone which doesn’t qualify then try to return it/dispute your purchase. Last time I checked most of iPhone 6’s that were cheaper were either broken or icloud locked (aka stolen).
Hello again. I notice on the fine print for the deal if you trade in an Iphone 6 they give you a iphone 7 but it says that credit won’t show up for 2-3 billing cycles. So does that mean you have to pay $27.08 for 3 cycles and then do they credit you back those 3 months of paying $27.08 or do you have to pay that money for 3-months and never get it back?
Thanks!
They should give you 2-3 months worth of credits after 2-3 months so you should get it all.
Did T-mobile just drop their rebate for the IPhone 7 to $550 for a trade in of an IPhone 6? I notice it now costs $100 to upgrade from the 6 to the 7 on their website….
Yes, looks like it. I have updated the post to reflect this. Verizon’s promo is still going at least until 9/30/16.
I’m confused exactly how you get a ‘free’ iPhone 7 with a trade in. Not a single iPhone 6 through 6s plus trades in for a $650 aka the price of the 7. For example my 64gb iPhone 6 has a trade in value of $220, which means I would still be paying the difference of $430, that’s not free at all. I mean I expect to pay for a phone but the advertisement is so confusing bc no phone gets your a free 7.
Take a look at the Q & A in the Verizon section. I also added the screen shot of the Verizon offer which shows the fine print at the bottom. Offer ends in a couple days so if you want to do this don’t wait much longer.
I traded my 6 in filled out the online tradin form with the promo code and put insurance on it which I had to pay for the shipping over again. Then when it was received I checked to see what they were going to give me and they said 145 in credits which it was supposed to be 650 in credits so I called them and the girl on the phone said she didn’t know what happened but she would guarantee that it would be 650 but I won’t know for sure until the first 2 to 3 months billing passses. I’m very nervous about this deal specially since AT&T change the wording from $650 credit to up to $650 credits. Very suspicious. We’ll see in three months I guess since they said they will not send me my phone back in either case. Which I could’ve sold the phone for more than 145 to anyone.
I bought mine online and in the store (2 separate orders) and traded in all the phones in the store. After I did that, I got a receipt showing a $650 credit. What I would suggest is calling them back and make sure another rep can see $650 credits noted on your account. Make a note of the rep’s name, date and time of the convo for future reference.
After I did my trades, I upgraded my Verizon account to the new plan, at which point the rep was having trouble because doing so would remove my $650 credits. He said the plan should have been upgraded at the same time when I ordered the phones… which is the opposite of what the employee told me when I was upgrading my phones. In any case, the Verizon phone support rep had to escalate it to a supervisor and was able to take care of it. Why did I do it via telephone? The new plan has a 2gb bonus per line…which is not available in store…and is meant to be part of the upgrade promotion. They could not give me the 2gb bonus in store.
My trade in was with AT&T, I hope they honor it like Verizon did with you.
I traded in an iphone 6 16gb in mint pristine condition and they only gave me $107.50 credit! I was horrified. I called and they told me my screen was unresponsive. I disputed it and had to file an appeal. They said it will take a few days to review, but I ‘should’ get the $650. If not, I want my phone back. I could have gotten a lot more money than that back!
That’s the type of thing I was afraid of so I took my trade ins into the store so I know right then and there if it was accepted.
The trick which they didn’t say anywhere was you could only do the trade in-store if you did *not* process the trade in online. In other words, you could order your phone online, but no trade in. In this case it was your choice – trade in online or in-store. There are too many things that can happen — I forgot to turn off the iPhone lock on one of my trade in but I was able to quickly resolve that in the store.
Let us know how the appeal turns out.
Just a heads up to anyone reading this story now, I got my trade in credit QUICK, the full 650 for a 16GB 6 is happening now and I got the credit within a week of sending the phone in. The weird thing is it is 4 credits for the 27.08 on my next bill. Just wasn’t sure where the 4 credits came from since it did not take a full 3 cycles to happen. Oh well, it works.
I did switch to Sprint, 4 months ago, send them 3 iphone 6s, only getting credit for 1 line((
Complete fraud
Called them 5 times, they act like they dont understamd what the deal is, that i have to wait more blalala
So be careful , dont go with Sprint, they will screw you big time
Ouch! I would definitely recommended doing such a transaction in person. I hope you have tracking numbers or some sort of proof for everything you shipped. It’s not just sprint, you need to be careful with all of the carriers.
Would it be the same value if I trade in with metro?
Not sure, you’d have to check the current offers.