Selling the Verizon GNex

[Karuk]

I just switched over to a new phone with the intention of selling my Gnex for a decent amount. What a slap in the face!1

I posted the ad on craigslist for over a week. I received 1 inquiry. I had to reduce the price from $280 down to $200. He wanted to pay $160.

My phone was in pristine condition with otter box and diztronic case, regular and extended battery, orig box and cable/charger.

I have sold several phones on cl in the last 3 years and I have always received at least a dozen email, text, or calls. Getting 1 call after several days was unreal. Make any excuse you want but the reality is the Galaxy nexus has a very low resale value and even lower demand on the resale market. This is not something I usually think about when buying a phone but this experience has been awful.

I'm not saying anything again the phone itself. It just seems that google is so focused on bringing low priced devices to the market they are driving prices down.

Best of luck to any other Gnex sellers. Consider ebay and set your starting bid under $200.

 

[Rxpert83]

With a brand new nexus about to be announced... I'm not really surprised

 

[SlyFerret]

I havent had much luck selling handsets on craigslist. The buyers are really flakey and they all want to low ball you on the price. A gave up on craigslist for selling phones and went back to ebay.

-SF

 

[HuskyKMA]

$200-250 seems to be the going price on eBay. Disappointed as well. If I could have gotten $300 or more I was going to pick up a Droid Maxx HD, but I guess I'll hold off another year.

 

[trophynuts]

should have tried swappa

 

[JE78]

I picked one up on a RC message board for $75 shipped with the extended battery. It was in near mint condition, a few scratches on the corners but overall in great condition.

Android phones don't hold the resale value like an iPhone does. I told my iPhone 4 a week before the iPhone 5 was due out for $240

 

[jova33]

Hipswap - I posted my last phone on there. Sold it off craigslist though. Bought my GNex off there too $320 back in April or March

 

[Jay3]

Seems like your expectations were too high. This phone is almost a year old. I love the phone and wouldn't pay that for a used one.

 

[Karuk]

My price may have been high but the fact that I only received 1 inquiry is alarming. I didn't even get the usual half dozen low ball offers. That would have let me know there is interest in this phone on the resale market. In my area there was no interest.

I was tempted to buy a backup Nexus from someone on CL and offer them $75. I would be one of the very few offers they would have received if their experience was similar to mine. I would get GSM only this time.

 

[gregs887]

Considering you can buy one brand new from Google for $350 and that there is probably going to be a new one announced next week, $160 doesn't seem too bad. These things are like cars, you lose %10 the second you take possession.

 

[XLS125]

I've been running into the same problem. I have had mine up on Craigslist for a week now with no interest.

 

[jova33]

I'd say hang on to it. Some idiot like me who doesn't believe in insurance for cell phones is going to break his and need a replacement

 

[nj02vette]

May I suggest the For Sale section here. No better area to target your potential customer base than an Android Phone site.

I do agree that the Galaxy Nexus isn't a very popular phone in the grand scheme of things.

 

[red66charger]

Not to start a debate, but it might have something to do with the VZW specific Nexus. Real or perceived...the device has not been without its detractors as far as performance.

 

[gone down sout]

Hey, if you really want lowball offers.... $50! Take it or leave it!

 

[aurora40]

Verizon phones are always cheap. Because people don't think they paid much for it. You can get a GNex now for one cent, and a $10 add-a-line commitment (to your $100+ monthly plan). That's $240.01 extra for one brand-new.

There are always some people who want to upgrade and don't want to extend their contract, or already burned their upgrade, etc. But those people are trying to do this on the cheap, so they aren't going to pay $2-300 to do it.

Also there is a new Nexus coming out. But really I think the issue is it is a Verizon phone.

 

[Tallmike00]

There were other factors not mentioned. Was the phone still under warranty? If so, could that remaining warranty period be transferred to the new owner? Assuming a "no" on both questions, then being able to receive about half the price of new is actually a fair price or somewhere in the ball park. Mentioned above was the fact of a new Nexus coming out soon, which has a deleterious effect on the value of the previous edition. Phone cases, for reasons mostly not understood, don't really add value to a used phone.

 

[jova33]

Warranty requires sales receipt. I would think that since the new buyer's name wouldn't be on the sales receipt, he wouldn't have the warranty?

 

[nj02vette]

Verizon phones are always cheap. Because people don't think they paid much for it. You can get a GNex now for one cent, and a $10 add-a-line commitment (to your $100+ monthly plan). That's $240.01 extra for one brand-new.

Sorry, but that won't work like that.

Adding a smartphone automatically adds the data plan cost, so that $10/mo for each line goes up to $40/mo per additional smartphone. That's $960 over a 2year contract. Cheaper to buy it outright brand new from Verizon.

And that also requires updating your contract, which doesn't help if you have grandfathered unlimited data.

Yes, you could dump your current smartphone plan down to a regular non-smart phone, but now you have to have a regular phone available to activate.

 

[gone down sout]

Yeah, I tried to sweet talk my way into adding a $49 GNex to my Verizon account, and it's $40/month for a new device. If you try to cancel your old device before the contract is up they'll charge you an ETF even if you keep the account active on the new device.

 

[aurora40]

Sorry, but that won't work like that.

Adding a smartphone automatically adds the data plan cost, so that $10/mo for each line goes up to $40/mo per additional smartphone. That's $960 over a 2year contract. Cheaper to buy it outright brand new from Verizon.

And that also requires updating your contract, which doesn't help if you have grandfathered unlimited data.

Yes, you could dump your current smartphone plan down to a regular non-smart phone, but now you have to have a regular phone available to activate.

A friend did exactly that. It is possible depending on your current plan and phone situation. As you said, you would need a dumb phone to add, and he swapped the sim from a razr to the gnex. I believe the line he added was for one of his kids.

Anyway, the important thing is most people who have a Verizon one paid very little for it, so they don't mind selling it cheap. And the market of people who want a used Verizon phone is small, because most people get their phone as an upgrade or similar.

If people did the 2 year math, less people would use verizon at all...

 

[AntimonyER]

Also Verizon is selling CPO Nexus for $229, so anyone in the know on that is going to go that route, as it comes with a 1 year warranty.

 

[jmlivingston]

Also Verizon is selling CPO Nexus for $229, so anyone in the know on that is going to go that route, as it comes with a 1 year warranty.

Yup, got mine yesterday. Very clean, looked brand new like it had never been used. Pricing needs to take this into account, as a refurb'd unit with warranty is going to beat out a few extra accessories in my mind.

John

 

[gone down sout]

Also Verizon is selling CPO Nexus for $229, so anyone in the know on that is going to go that route, as it comes with a 1 year warranty.

Or got to Amazon and get it new for a penny
AmazonWireless: Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

 

[Rxpert83]

Or got to Amazon and get it new for a penny
AmazonWireless: Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

That requires a new contract though and the deals are typically for new customers only