What Kills Your Phone's Trade-In Value (and What Doesn't)

Condition decides most of what a phone is worth on trade-in, and the two biggest programmes handle it in completely different ways. Samsung publishes an explicit list of what disqualifies a device. Apple publishes no damage list at all and instead revises your quote after it has the phone in hand. Neither one publishes a battery-health percentage that changes the price, which is the number most people assume exists.

Here is what each company actually commits to in writing, and what to do with your phone before you ask for a number.

What Samsung puts in writing

Samsung's trade-in programme is unusually specific. To be eligible, "your device must power on, hold a charge (if applicable), and not power off unexpectedly" and "must have a functioning display (if applicable)". The screen must have "no breaks, cracks, or other defects that go beyond normal wear and tear" and "no black spots or pixilation of any kind", unless a Cracked Device Offer applies, in which case "your device may have cracks anywhere".

The disqualifiers are named too: "multiple scratches, dents, or dings", "water damage", and a "corroded charging port, SIM, or battery terminal contacts". Samsung also requires "a fully functioning charging port that is able to support charging & data transfer", and the device "must not be on a banned list of any kind".

That last one catches people. A phone still tied to a carrier blocklist or reported lost has no trade-in value regardless of how it looks.

What Apple publishes, and what it does not

Apple's Trade In page says value "depends on the device, model, manufacturer, and condition" and stops there. There is no published grading scale, no list of what a cracked back costs you, no battery threshold.

What Apple commits to instead is a process. "The condition of your trade-in needs to match what you told us." If it does not, "we'll provide a revised value", which you can accept or decline. And the clock matters: "your trade-in estimate is valid for 14 days after you receive your new device."

The practical read: with Apple you are self-assessing, and the protection against a surprise is describing the phone accurately rather than optimistically. There is no published standard to argue against, so an honest description is the whole game.

The battery is where a trade-in quietly dies

Samsung is the one that says this out loud. A device gets recycled rather than valued "if your device does not fully charge, if the battery runs hot while charging, or if your device needs to be charged multiple times during the day". And if the phone "has a battery, it must not be damaged or swollen".

Read that list again, because it is behavioural, not numerical. Nobody is reading a percentage off a settings screen. They are asking whether the phone still works like a phone.

Apple does publish the underlying design spec, in its guide to battery and performance on iPhone 11 and later: "batteries of iPhone 14 models and earlier are designed to retain 80 percent of their original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles under ideal conditions", and "batteries of iPhone 15 models and later are designed to retain 80 percent of their original capacity at 1000 complete charge cycles". That is a durability rating, not a trade-in rule, and it is worth keeping those two things separate.

If you are trying to work out where your own phone sits, we covered what the percentage means in is 87 percent battery health good and how the count behind it works in iPhone cycle count explained. The replace-or-upgrade version of the same maths is in replace the battery or buy a new phone.

Repair history follows the phone, and a wipe does not clear it

On iPhone, Apple keeps a per-device record. Its Parts and Service History page explains that "if your iPhone has been repaired, you can check Parts and Service History to find out if it was done using genuine Apple parts", and defines four labels. Genuine means "the repair was done using genuine Apple parts and processes". Unknown appears "if the part was replaced with a nongenuine part or the part isn't working as expected". Unverified is shown "if the Logic Board was previously used in another iPhone". Used means "the part was already used or installed in another iPhone".

So a cheap third-party battery swap can show up as Unknown on a screen a buyer or a trade-in assessor can open. That is the same record we told buyers to check in how to check a used phone's battery health before you buy. If you are the seller this time, assume the other side is looking.

Do these before you ask for a quote

Apple's own checklist for what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad runs in this order:

1. Create a backup.
2. Transfer your information to the new device.
3. Check that there is no pending repair or service.
4. Sign out of iCloud, iTunes, or the App Store.
5. Unpair an Apple Watch if you have one.
6. Cancel or transfer an AppleCare plan.
7. Deregister iMessage if you are moving to a non-Apple phone.
8. Erase All Content and Settings, which Apple notes also turns off Find My and Activation Lock.
9. Remove the device from your account's trusted device list.

On an eSIM device, Apple's guidance is to erase the device and the eSIM profile when prompted. A phone that arrives still locked to an account is the most common reason a trade-in stalls, and it is entirely avoidable.

What none of them tell you

There is no published number linking a battery-health percentage to a trade-in value at either Apple or Samsung. We looked for one. Samsung gives functional triggers, Apple gives a process and a design spec, and any specific "below 80 percent knocks off X" figure you see quoted elsewhere is not coming from either company's own pages.

That matters because it changes what you should fix. A battery replacement before trade-in is a gamble against an unpublished number, and on iPhone a non-genuine one leaves a record. Making sure the phone powers on reliably, charges fully, does not run hot and is properly signed out is not a gamble, and it is what both programmes actually test.

If the phone is staying with you a while longer

Plenty of people read this, work out the trade-in is not worth it yet, and keep the phone another year. If it is at the stage where it needs topping up before the evening, that is the same condition Samsung uses to recycle a device rather than value it. Rental networks exist for exactly that gap: power bank sharing means you pick up a charged powerbank where you are and drop it at any station, instead of carrying a spare you have to remember to charge.

FAQ

Does battery health affect trade-in value?
Not as a published percentage. Samsung uses functional tests instead: a device that does not fully charge, runs hot while charging or needs charging multiple times a day gets recycled rather than valued. Apple publishes no battery threshold at all.

Will Samsung take a cracked phone?
Only where a Cracked Device Offer applies, in which case Samsung states the device "may have cracks anywhere". Otherwise the screen must have no breaks, cracks or defects beyond normal wear and tear, and no black spots or pixilation.

What happens if my phone is in worse condition than I said?
Apple states that if the condition differs from what you described, it will provide a revised value, which you can accept or decline. Your original estimate is valid for 14 days after you receive the new device.

Does a swollen battery void a trade-in?
Yes at Samsung, which requires that a battery "must not be damaged or swollen". A swollen battery is also a safety issue, so stop charging the phone and get it looked at rather than posting it anywhere.

Can I clear my phone's repair history by resetting it?
Apple's Parts and Service History is a per-device record of whether repairs used genuine Apple parts, shown with the labels Genuine, Unknown, Unverified and Used. It is not something a user wipe is documented to reset.

How many charge cycles is an iPhone battery rated for?
Apple states iPhone 14 and earlier are designed to retain 80 percent of original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles, and iPhone 15 and later at 1000 complete charge cycles, both under ideal conditions.

The short version

Describe the phone accurately, charge it fully and check it holds that charge, sign out of everything, and erase it properly. Those four things are what both published programmes actually measure. Everything else is guesswork against a number neither company prints.