Many retailers and online resellers run trade-in programs. They offer a certain value for your current device which you can put towards the cost of your new phone. So switching phones becomes as easy as handing in your old device and getting a new one in exchange.
Keeping an eye on the trade-in values can give you an idea of what your current device might fetch at trade-in. You'd be interested in knowing that if you had any plans of changing your device in the near future. If you happen to have a Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ or Galaxy S21 Ultra, you're going to be surprised, and not pleasantly.
Galaxy S21 series has lost almost half of its value already
Online trade-in service SellCell has come out with a report on how different smartphones hold their value. The report is based on the used price of every handset on its platform. The prevailing price reveals just how much depreciation a device has had since it hit the market.
The Galaxy S21 series came out just three months ago in January. According to a report, its trade-in values have plummeted between 44.8-57.1% since launch. Galaxy S21+ 5G 128GB has lost 44.8% of its trade-in value and it's actually the best of the rest. The Galaxy S21 5G 256GB has lost out the most, seeing its trade-in value evaporate by 57.1%.
Brand loyalty, or lack thereof, is cited as one of the reasons why Samsung phones tend to lose their values faster compared to others like the iPhone. It's important to note that as outrageous as they may be, these figures are only representative of the values on SellCell's platform.
You might be able to get better trade-in values elsewhere. Samsung itself isn't accepting trade-ins of the Galaxy S21 series just yet. It's far too soon for that. We'll see what value the company assigns to its 2021 flagships likely when it unveils the new foldable phones later this year.
