How To Know if Your Old iPod is Worth Any Money
The iPod has just been discontinued. However, it has had a very good run. After all, the iPod was launched in 2001, with the result that it played a very important role in Apple's remarkable success over the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, that couldn't last forever. The iPod and other portable music players have been declining ever since the popularization of the smartphone.
Simply put, smartphones have become ubiquitous. As a result, people can just use their smartphones if they want to listen to music while they are on the go, so there has been less and less need for them to buy something specifically for that purpose. Under those circumstances, it is no wonder that Apple has at last discontinued the iPod. People might wonder whether their old iPod is worth any money. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a simple and straightforward answer for this particular question. Instead, the answer depends on what people have on hand, what condition it is in, and a number of other factors.
How Can You Find Out If Your Old iPod Is Worth Any Money?
Interested individuals can look up their old iPod to see if it is worth any money. The first step would be figuring out what they have on hand. If interested individuals already know what they have on hand, that is good; if interested individuals don't already know what they have on hand, Apple has a support page that should be able to help them out.
Regardless, once interested individuals know what they have on hand, they can use a suitable resource such as this article from The Penny Hoarder to get a general idea of whether it is worth something or not. Apparently, an iPod Classic is capable of selling for as much as $1,000. However, chances are good that interested individuals won't be getting that kind of price for theirs if they still have one.
This is because an iPod Classic won't be selling for that much money unless it is of the first generation while still in its original packaging. Anything other than that will see a huge drop in its value. They might be able to hit the $300 mark if they have an iPod from the first generation that is still in good condition. Other iPod Classics can go anywhere from $30 to $180.
They Often Sell For Less
Unfortunately, other iPods tend to sell for less than that. To name an example, the iPod Mini tops out at around $150. However, it won't fetch that kind of price unless it comes with its original box while still being in excellent condition. Other iPod Minis will be much closer to the lower end of their price range, which would be $20 for something that is still in good condition.
Similarly, the iPod Shuffle goes from $10 to $160, though to be fair, these iPods were always meant as a more affordable alternative to their more expensive counterparts. Other than these, there is the iPod Nano as well as the iPod Touch. The iPod Nano can go for $20 to $350 while the iPod Touch can go for $20 to $600.
There are a number of factors that tend to have a noticeable impact on the value of an old iPod. For example, the condition is a big one. If an iPod is in bad condition, interested individuals will struggle to get any value out of it. In contrast, interested individuals will find the selling process much smoother as well as much more lucrative when the iPod is still in excellent condition.
Original Packaging
Naturally, an iPod that is still in its original packaging will be best in this regard, though that tends to be rare outside of the hands of collectors. Meanwhile, certain generations of certain kinds of iPods are seen as being more valuable as well. The first generation of the iPod Classic stands out in this regard because it possesses enormous value for collectors.
Sadly, being the first generation of a particular kind of iPod is by no means a guarantee of value. Still, it does seem as though both the first examples and the last examples of a certain kind of iPod tend to be capable of fetching a higher price while those that fall in-between tend to fetch a lower price in comparison. Once interested individuals have gotten a general idea of what their old iPod might be worth, they might want to spend some time looking up prices for the same iPod.
After all, this isn't what anyone would consider to be an exact science, meaning that the numbers that they come upon may or may not prove to be exactly correct for their particular case. Instead, interested individuals are going to want to get a range of prices that their old iPod can sell for, which should make for a truer set of expectations than otherwise possible.
What Should You Do About Your Old iPod?
If interested individuals think that they can get a good price for their old iPod, they might want to see whether they can sell it or not. The Internet is a good option because it will enable them to reach more people than otherwise possible. However, some interested individuals might be willing to sell elsewhere as well.
Alternatively, there are those who will want to hold on to their old iPhone as well, particularly if they have one of the oldest models that is still in excellent condition. So far, iPods have been around for about two decades' time, so it isn't unreasonable to think that the oldest models might become more valuable with the passage of time.
Something that is particularly true because iPods did actually play quite an important role in the pop culture of the 2000s. As for those who can't get anything out of their old iPod, they might want to put some thought into getting rid of it. As always, they should start by erasing any of their personal information that might still be stored on the device.
After which, interested individuals should send their old iPod in for recycling rather than send it to a place where it will be either incinerated or tossed into a landfill. Electronic devices contain materials that can be very polluting, so both of the latter options have serious issues with them.
You can also read:
Written by Dana Hanson
Read more posts by Dana Hanson
