Quick Best Buy Trade-In Values (With $200 T-Mobile Promotion):
| Model | before Feb. 7 | since Feb. 07 |
| iPhone SE (2nd generation) | $340 | $330 |
| iPhone 12 | $650 | $575 |
| iPhone 12 mini | $525 | $450 |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max | $650 | $585 |
| iPhone 11 Pro | $590 | $510 |
| iPhone 11 | $500 | $445 |
| iPhone XS Max | $275 | $425 |
| iPhone XS | $410 | |
| iPhone XR | $390 | $365 |
| iPhone X | $380 | $360 |
| iPhone 8 Plus | $340 | |
| iPhone 8 | $230 | |
| iPhone 7 Plus | $240 | |
| iPhone 7 | $190 | |
| iPhone 6s Plus | $200 | |
| iPhone 6s | $180 | |
| iPhone SE (1st generation) | $165 | $165 |
| Samsung S21 Ultra | $770 | |
| Samsung S21+ | $650 | |
| Samsung S21 | $550 | $550 |
| Pixel 6 Pro | $0 | $500 |
| Pixel 4a 5G | $325 | $325 |
This is not the full list of accepted phones (i.e. missing Google and most Samsung phones)
Looking for trade-in phones to buy? Here are your options.
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Q: Who can take advantage of this T-Mobile & Best Buy promotion?
Ans: T-mobile post-paid subscribers only. No prepaid, business, Metro, Mint, etc. accounts. Some business and government T-Mobile discounts will prevent Best Buy from accessing the plan from T-Mobile, and will result in an error (this promotion is not for you unless you remove your discount). T-Mobile insider discount is okay and does not interfere with Best Buy from accessing your plan.
Q: Do we have to pick a plan from Best Buy for T-Mobile if we are not a current customer?
Ans: You don't have to signup for a post paid T-Mobile plan from Best Buy to get this deal. You can sign up for the plan anywhere and have it active before trading in your device at Best Buy. In fact, other retailers like Costco have promotions
they run for new T-Mobile customers / lines, which you can stack with this promotion for extra cash. Also, the cheapest postpaid plan that works for this Best Buy promotion ($20 Talk and Text) is not available to signup at Best Buy, so if you want that plan you will have to signup elsewhere.
Q: What is the cheapest T-Mobile plan that works for this promotion?
Ans: The cheapest T-mobile postpaid plan that works for this promotion is $20/month per line. Plan name is "Unlimited Talk & Text Only". You cannot sign up for it online, you have to call in, chat, or visit a store / reseller. https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/u...hone-deals
Q: What are the acceptable methods of purchasing?
Ans: Order online for in-store trade-in and pickup (same time), or purchase directly in store. Your store must have stock of the phone model you want to purchase.
Q: Can we cancel the plan immediately out of the store?
Ans: If you cancel the plan immediately out of the store then you won't be able to unlock the phone because you are no longer with T-Mobile.
Q: Do they accept trade-in phones with a lightly cracked front / back / any other damage?
Ans: Depends on the rep helping you. We can't tell you what a best buy rep considers as acceptable wear and tear. Typically, the agent does a quick examination of the exterior of the phone and powers on the phone to grab IMEI and other information. Therefore, make it easy for the agent by removing the case, screen protector, resetting the phone, etc.
Q. Can I insert a SIM card from a different carrier other than Tmobile?
Ans: Due to Flex Policy, the iPhone is locked to the first USA sim card inserted. If you don't mind getting the phone unlocked in the future by your carrier, you can insert a USA sim card of your choice. Flex Policy blocks international sims from being used UNTIL the iPhone is fully unlocked (No SIM Restrictions).
Q. Can I trade-in multiple phones for a single purchased iPhone?
Ans: Only 1 trade-in will receive the T-mobile $200 bonus per purchased phone. You can trade-in as many phones as you want for Best Buy gift cards, but that will not include the $200 T-mobile bonus.
Q. Can I trade-in multiple phones for using the same T-mobile phone number?
Ans: Only 1 active trade-in & pickup order per phone number. Once your trade-in and pickup is completed, you can reuse the same number to order another trade-in and pickup. There is a cap on this, but it's unknown / differs by person. Best Buy may block your account by automatically cancelling orders if they suspect you are a reseller or abusing the promotion.
Q. Why does my trade-in receipt only show the value of the phone, without the $200 T-Mobile bonus?
Ans: For online order for in-store trade-in and pickup, this is normal. The receipt (titled "Best Buy Trade-In - Trade-In Receipt) will only show the trade-in value of the phone, not the $200 T-Mobile bonus. The charge to your credit card should be right. Do not hassle the agent about this.
For in-store purchase. your receipt will contain 3 sections:
Was Price: Current Price of the purchased phone
TRADE IN ALLOW 1: Value of trade-in (negative)
T-MOB TRADEIN 2: 200 T-Mobile bonus (negative)
Q. If I fully paid for the iPhone from Best Buy, how do I unlock?
Ans: If you fully paid for the iPhone from Best Buy (no monthly charges), you may be eligible for unlocking from the carrier of your choice. Select your carrier carefully since the Best Buy iPhone will lock to the first carrier sim that is insert in the phone.
T-Mobile
Call, Facebook Message, or Twitter T-Mobile to ask for the unlock. The official unlocking policy is 40 days on an active T-Mobile line, but SDers have reported successful unlocking anywhere between 1 to 40 days. What they need is a screenshot or photo of the Best Buy receipt showing the IMEI of the phone.
AT&T
AT&T Unlock portal works for some Best Buy iPhones for automated unlocks between 1 to 24 hours. You can check to see if the AT&T Unlock Portal supports your iPhone's IMEI without locking it to AT&T. The full instructions is in post #1534
Verizon
Verizon's official policy is automatic unlock after 60 days. YMMV, there is a paid Verizon unlock service.
Other Carriers
Other carriers are not recommended because they may not be able to unlock phones that weren't purchased directly from them. Use at your own risk.
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Tips for the first timers, keep your trade-in simple and ordinary to avoid questions and minimize time needed.
1) Trade-in a phone that looks used. Take your trade-in out of the box. Remove factory plastic wrap. Jingle it in your pockets to get some dirt and lint on it. Get some fingerprints and oil on it. You don't have to actually use or activate the phone, just make it look used. Trading in a perfect, spotless phone invites questions because it is out of the ordinary.
2) Trade-in the phone only. Remove the box, accessories, and case / screen protector. BB doesn't want them.
3) Factory reset the trade-in phone at home. Per the terms that you agreed to when you signed up for the trade-in, you must sign out of all your accounts (apple, google, etc.) and factory reset the phone. Do this at home to minimize the time at BB. Your trade-in should be at the "hello" screen when you hand it over to the BB agent.
4) Remove the sim card from the trade-in at home. You don't want to accidentally give away your sim card (some agents don't check). Also, you don't want to raise suspicion if the agent does check and finds a tracfone sim card on a "verizon" phone. Remove your sim card at home.
5) Charge your trade-in. Your trade-in just needs to be charged enough for the BB agent to get the necessary information off of it. Don't bring a dead phone and expect them to charge it.
Doing this keeps your trade-in time to under 5 mins at BB.
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Everything below is a copy from the very helpful wiki of the previous BB Tmobile iPhone thread https://slickdeals.net/f/15340573-for-t-mobile-plans-trade-in-apple-iphone-and-save-up-to-975-on-iphone-13s-or-other-brands?v=1
Slickdeals Rule 1 | You don't talk about Slickdeals.
Note for NYS: Apparently all Long Island stores are not eligible for this offer as they don't have the appropriate licensing with T-Mobile. Must go to an NYC store.
Folks not receiving verification text from BestBuy - Opt for text messages from BestBuy by sending 'HELP' to numbers - 332211 and 22891 (do both). You should receive verification text on the next try
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If you get the message "We're sorry, there was an issue processing your request. Please try again later." when trying to validate your T-Mobile account, try the follow procedure below. It seems to help some users but not all YMMV!.
Go to your T-Mobile account and turn OFF every block for "chargeable" things including sms, downloads, etc. If they are already OFF toggle them ON and OFF just to clear the system of residual blocks. You CAN leave scam block ON. Then send "HELP" (without quotes) text message from each of your mobile no. that you are trying to upgrade to 22891, 332211 and 66803. Wait 30 minutes after completing everything above and try again. If it does not work, you might an account that has employee discounts or something else.
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I got the message that the "Package could not be added to cart". I went to the BB store to get the line added and found that i had the "International Long distance Barrring Call feature turned on which is causing the issue. We spoke to a T-Mobile Rep who removed the feature and then the order went smoothly.
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Top Comments
T-Mo is still the best in value overall.
2,860 Comments
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I have 4 payments left on an iPhone SE, but also getting credits equal to the amount of the payment.
Good morning I'm and it's good to meet you here on Twitter today.
You came to the right place for help with unlocking phones! It will be our pleasure to help you with the unlock steps for your phone. The first step is to review our unlock policy, which is available at https://www.t-mobile.com/responsi...ock-policy
You'll see quite a few rules on that page that we must follow when unlocking a phone, but the three main rules I work with here are that the phone is paid off, that the account is in good standing, and that 40 days must have passed since the first time you used that phone with your number on our network.
So that I can check and see where we are in that process, and what needs to be done in order to get the phone unlocked, please let me know the last 4 digits of your phone number that phone has been used with, and the IMEI number (found by dialing *#06#) of that phone
after I gave him the information:
Thanks for bearing with me I appreciate your patience.
The phone with IMEI xxxx started out as "unlocked but ready to become locked to any phone company" when it was sold by Best Buy, and Apple says it is now locked to T-Mobile/Sprint.
What we'll need to do from here is to put your SIM card into it and place one call. It doesn't matter who you call, only that the call is completed through a T-Mobile US tower. That's how we get that IMEI into the system where unlocks are performed, and it takes about 72 hours.
While that's happening on your end, I'm going to get a special request sent up on my side, to have a special Unlock Team send Apple a message to tell them to unlock that phone through its iCloud connection. This kind of request takes 3 *business* days, so you can expect me to loop back with you on Monday to confirm that it's completed.
I'll get to work on that special request right now
Let's see how it goes.
I did an unlock previously via twitter but it was faster than this
wish the ATT method still worked.
I have 4 payments left on an iPhone SE, but also getting credits equal to the amount of the payment.
many of us traded in our 12's from the mothers day deal under 24 bill credits and traded them in for the 13's
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank ouloat
Statement: iPhones purchased at Best Buy come unlocked, and is locked to the carrier of the first SIM card that is inserted into the phone.
Example: I trade in a phone to Best Buy. I get an iPhone 13 and the representative does not insert the T-Mobile SIM card that accompanies the phone. I insert an AT&T SIM card into the phone. At this point, the phone is then locked to AT&T, not T-Mobile.
Thank you,
Tofu Vic
SICKW.COM IMEI Check
Warranty Status: Limited Warranty
Device Age: 1 Day
Replaced Device: No
Locked Carrier: US Reseller Flex Policy
Country: United States
SIM-Lock: Locked
https://sickw.com/
Free - iPhone Carrier
many of us traded in our 12's from the mothers day deal under 24 bill credits and traded them in for the 13's
Just wondering what is going to happen next billing cycle. Do the installment payments and credits go away completely or both remain as id I still own the phone? Or do the installment charges remain, but the credits go away (meaning I have to pay the balance of the phone off (like $60).
Just wondering what is going to happen next billing cycle. Do the installment payments and credits go away completely or both remain as id I still own the phone? Or do the installment charges remain, but the credits go away (meaning I have to pay the balance of the phone off (like $60).
I did it on 2 of my lines and am still getting the iPhone 12 bill credits.
I did it on 2 of my lines and am still getting the iPhone 12 bill credits.
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Statement: iPhones purchased at Best Buy come unlocked, and is locked to the carrier of the first SIM card that is inserted into the phone.
Example: I trade in a phone to Best Buy. I get an iPhone 13 and the representative does not insert the T-Mobile SIM card that accompanies the phone. I insert an AT&T SIM card into the phone. At this point, the phone is then locked to AT&T, not T-Mobile.
Thank you,
Tofu Vic
Anyone with a fully paid off Best Buy iPhone that is locked to AT&T and the AT&T unlock portal isn't recognizing the IMEI, pm me the IMEI. I found potential solutions that I would like to try out.Please do not send any more IMEIs.If he plans to use it and then resell it to another ATT customer there is NO issue with him inserting his ATT SIM straight away - the question is "what happens when he wants to unlock down the road?"
Thank you,
Tofu Vic
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Thank you,
Tofu Vic
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