A woman documented her father’s attempt to trade in some veritable iPhone history for brand-new models at a Verizon store.
According to her, it actually worked.
The video documenting the swap came from TikTok creator Soph (@radicallyenthusiastic) and has gotten more than 10.3 million views as of this writing.
In it, the father proudly shows off five phones that he’d saved up from when Apple was first producing iPhones. The oldest of the bunch, a 3GS, went to market in June 2010, and the newest of the four, the iPhone 6, was launched in 2014.
As she noted in the caption accompanying the video, “He was very proud to show off his collection that he safely kept in a gallon Ziploc for years.”
The video shows him sharing the model numbers he’s planning to trade in. “An iPhone 3GS, thank you very much. An iPhone 4 Color,” he says, for what appears to actually be a lime green 5c, “two iPhone 5s, and an iPhone 6.”
In a follow-up video, he unboxes four brand-new iPhone 16s and professes thanks, but he didn’t part with the lime green iPhone, which is clearly visible in the video’s foreground.
However, a quick visit to Verizon’s trade-in site shows that none of the models he brought in would fetch trade-in value, even in good condition and with the maximum memory possible—which, granted on these models, is not all that much.
What happens to old iPhones?
According to redditors on the r/tmobile forum, some iPhones find new life with smartphone insurance carriers. As one said, “Typically, they tend to get sent to a carrier’s insurance provider. In this case, that’d be Assurant. They get inspected, wiped and turned around as insurance claim replacement devices or sold by the insurance provider. Some of them are harvested for parts, some are sent to be recycled.”
That person continued, “The goal is to have them be turned around—which is why the carriers don’t like damaged devices turned in as a trade-in. The insurance provider makes less money off of damaged devices.”
Another mentioned an auction site, reporting, “T-Mobile has a auction every week for pre approved buyers. They keep the devices they need that are traded in and auction the rest off.”
One organization, More Than a Phone, provides what it terms “safe phones” for survivors of domestic violence. Its mission states, “We believe survivors of domestic violence deserve a reliable and safe smartphone. Through our program, we connect survivors to the world around them so they can build a strong foundation to support themselves and their families.”
While it solicits cash donations, it also does accept phones in any condition, though, as its site specifies, “Donated phones are recycled and turned into a monetary donation. We partner with TCC, the largest Verizon authorized retailer and accept donations at all their stores nationwide.”
@radicallyenthusiastic guess who just got four brand new iphones! he was very proud to show off his collection that he safely kept in a gallon ziploc for years. @Verizon #verizon #iphones ♬ original sound – soph
What commenters thought
Commenters maintained that there’s gold in them thar old phones, to borrow from Mark Twain.
“iPhone 3gs worth more than a new iPhone these days,” claimed one.
“He would have made thousands if he bid those phones on eBay,” another said.
“There’s a guy who buys old iPhone as collectibles and there’s one guy who sold their first iPhone for $4500.” (A quick search of the 3GS on eBay shows models selling for far less.)
“Lowkey shoulda kept all those cuz those are gunna be worth bank like Pokémon cards here in the next 10-20 years,” offered another.
One person who purported to work for Verizon noted, “I work at Verizon.. they will take anything iPhone 3 and above.”
Another self-identified Verizon worker noted, “I work at a Verizon and I’ll just say this, that’s probably one the safest trades I’ve seen. I’ve traded a phone that a guy ran over with a lawn mower.”
And one surmised, “I know the salespeople passed around the 3GS.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Verizon via and Apple email and the creator via TikTok direct message.
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