When's The Best Time To Trade In Your Old Galaxy Phone?

Today is the day that Samsung unveils its newest Galaxy phones to the masses. A lot of fans are eager to trade in their current devices to upgrade to the new Galaxy S22 phones. However, according to Decluttr, if you want to trade in your Galaxy phone, it’s all about the timing.

Galaxy phones are expected to drop in value pretty quickly

Hot take: Galaxy S phones are expensive. Thus, so many people get their phones by either getting a carrier contract or by trading in their old phones. Trading in a device with a good trade-in value can knock hundreds of dollars off the price of the new device. However, that’s only for a phone with a good trade-in value. This is why you need to trade in your old phone at the right time. Over time, the trade-in value of your phone will diminish.

People trading in their Galaxy S21 phones will get the best average trade-in value, but they will need to get in at the optimal time. According to Decluttr’s analysis, the Galaxy S21 phones could lose up to 11% of their trade-in value two months after the S22’s launch. Imagine scraping about $58 off of the value. That will only double after about six months to about $112 taken off.

So, when is the best time to trade in your Galaxy phone?

If you really want to get a good trade-in deal on your old Galaxy, you don’t want to wait too long. If your phone qualifies for a high trade-in amount, you’ll want to trade it in within two months. That’s the peak time when you’ll get the most money back. Keep in mind that this is based on speculation and past data; who knows if it will be different this time around?

If you wait until two months after the Galaxy S22’s, it won’t be the worst thing in the world, but waiting much longer than six might make trading it not worth it all. You may be better off selling your device on a site like Swappa or eBay for more money.

Here’s some more information on trading in

There are other factors that affect your phone’s trade-in value. Firstly, 5G phones seem to depreciate in value quicker than non-5G phones. According to the report, the Galaxy S20 5G actually dropped about 27% after six months, which is higher than the average of 21%. With that in mind, if the Galaxy S21 Ultra was to drop that much, it will lose about $144 of its value when six months pass. The Galaxy S22 phones are being announced today, so you’ll want to get your trade-in deal as soon as you can.