How Does the AT&T Phone Trade-In Program Work?

Are you an AT&T wireless customer? Are you thinking about upgrading your smartphone? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you might be interested in the AT&T phone trade-in program. When you swap your old device for a new one through this program, you can save money on your new phone while responsibly recycling your old one.

However, there are some important details you should know about this program before you use it. Does AT&T offer fair prices for trade-ins? Will you receive cash or store credit toward your new device? Do you have to wait a certain length of time (i.e., 24 or 36 months) before upgrading? Let’s reveal the answers to these questions and help you decide if the AT&T trade-in program is the right option for you.

A General Overview of the AT&T Trade-In Program

AT&T’s trade-in program lets customers swap their eligible used phones for store credit toward a new one. You can also use the credit on accessories for your devices, or even apply it to your next monthly billing cycle. In other words, if you plan on sticking with AT&T, this program can be a solid option, but it’s not a great choice if you’re thinking about switching carriers.

The program starts by checking whether your device is eligible using the trade-in tool on AT&T’s website (or you can visit your nearest AT&T Store). If it is, they’ll analyze your phone or tablet’s brand, model, condition, and storage capacity to provide you with a quote.

Then, you can drop off your phone at an AT&T Store or mail it to AT&T. Once the company receives your phone and verifies its condition, AT&T will provide you with store credit.

What Affects the Price of My Device?

Three important factors can increase or decrease the value you get from AT&T’s trade-in program.

• Brand and Model: Newer, more in-demand phones and tablets are worth more than older phones with lower resale value.
• Storage Capacity: Devices with more storage fetch higher prices than those with lower storage capacities, even among devices from the same product line. For example, an iPhone 16 with 512 GB of storage is worth more than an iPhone 16 with 256 GB of storage.
• Device Condition: Phones and tablets in perfect condition will always have higher trade-in value than those with cosmetic or functional flaws.

Another factor to keep an eye on is that AT&T occasionally offers promotions that increase the payout for your device or decrease the length of time between eligible upgrades. Time your trade-in right to maximize your value!

AT&T’s Strict Trade-In Application Policy

While you might think it’s as easy as giving AT&T your old device in exchange for a discount on a new one, it’s not quite that simple. Customers are often surprised by AT&T’s policy in this regard, as the carrier typically applies your trade-in credit incrementally over your next 36 monthly billing cycles.

What happens if you cancel your service or switch to a different carrier during that 36-month period? Unfortunately, in many cases, you’ll be forced to forfeit your remaining credits and pay off your bills in full. That’s why many AT&T customers look elsewhere to sell their old phones and tablets instead of using the company’s in-house trade-in program.

That said, there are times when you can get your store credit as a one-time trade-in credit paid in full (via gift card). However, AT&T says that this usually only applies if “the trade-in value of the device is greater than the credit you are eligible for under this offer,” which seems like a situation that probably doesn’t pop up too often.

Is the AT&T Trade-In Program a Good Bargain?

The answer to this is a mixture of yes and no. Take a look at a few of the advantages and disadvantages to decide for yourself.

Advantages

• Convenience: Because you have the option to mail your device to AT&T or trade it in at one of their stores, this program is usually pretty convenient.
• Promotional Deals: If you time your trade-in to coincide with one of AT&T’s promotional periods (such as Black Friday), you can get a significant boost to your trade-in value.
• Simple, Safe Transaction: There’s nothing too complicated about this program, and AT&T has a strong reputation for customer safety and security.

Disadvantages

• Lengthy Commitment: Since your credits are often tied to long installment plans (usually 36 months), you’ll need to stick with AT&T for several years to maximize your payout.
• Store Credit Only: While you can receive cash or instant digital payment when you sell your phone using other popular methods (such as using an ecoATM kiosk), AT&T only offers credit toward its own products and services.

AT&T Trade-In Program vs. ecoATM Kiosks

Now that you know more about AT&T’s in-house program, let’s compare it to the process of selling your phone at an ecoATM kiosk. Here at ecoATM, we have over 6,500 kiosks across the country that can pay you instant cash for your used phone or tablet.

Instead of settling for store credit paid out incrementally over the course of three full years, we’ll pay you real money today! You get the option of cash or digital payment through PayPal or Venmo. Isn’t that preferable to getting less than 3% of your phone’s total value paid back to you in the form of a store-specific gift card each month for the next 36 months? We certainly think so, and our customers agree!

ecoATM is simple, convenient, and lucrative for our customers. Use our online kiosk locator to find the ecoATM kiosk nearest you today! Not only will you get a great value for your device, but you’ll also help us pursue our goal of recycling 100 million phones and tablets.