Samsung Price Tracking: When To Sell Your Samsung

With the new Samsung Galaxy range announced, it is time to update you all on when is the best time to trade in your old Samsung phone to get the most cash.

We will look at how well Galaxy devices hold their value, how much they are going for right now and how much you can expect the price to change in the run up to announcement and release.

But first, here are all the Samsung phones for the past two years in one handy little graph:

Overall Trends in Samsung Price Tracking

When we look at the iPhone prices in our iPhone price tracking articles, there are clearly defined patterns. Pricing on Samsung devices is, in fact, a little more subtle than that:

• Samsung Galaxy devices do not follow the same heavy fluctuations in offer prices prior and post release as Apple devices.
• Prices dropped abnormally sharply for the latest models around December.
• Prices will fluctuate more in the run up to the S10 range is released.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Price Tracking

The S7 was released sometime before the graphs above began, however, we can see that even today, a good condition S7 can net you over £100 towards a newer model.

Prices tend to converge around the general value of the screen and internals at around £100 or drop until they are completely out of demand. The value of the S7 has held up really well.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Price Tracking

The S7 Edge is getting a little dated now, but the technology in them is still in reasonable demand, curved screens and a strong processor help it still retain its value of over £100.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Price Tracking

The S8 was retailing for £689 when released and the highest trade-in price that was on offer ever from our recyclers was in May 2018, the month after the S9 was released. As a lot of the prices that recyclers offer are based on supply and demand, sometimes there can be spikes when recyclers really need to increase the number of handsets coming in.

Whilst this isn't a clear indication that you should hold onto your S9 for two months after the S10 is released, it shows that the Galaxy ranges do hold their value quite well and do not suffer from the same daily fluctuations in price as Apple devices do.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Price Tracking

Price on release was £779, and here, two years later, the phone in a good condition will return you around £230. This is a disappointing return on what is still quite a high-tech phone.

However, considering you can purchase a new S8 for around £300 it shows a huge depreciation across the whole range of Samsung mobile phones.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Price Tracking

The retail price on release was £739 and a little under a year later, you can find the Samsung S9, brand new for £500 if you shop around. If you were to trade in an S9 in really good condition today, you would get around £340.

That's over 50% drop in a year for the Samsung S9. It seems that more and more people are choosing to keep the S9 compared to the previous years. But we will see how this is affected by four new Samsung devices coming our way.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Price Tracking

With a premium price tag of £869 on release and one year later, the recycling price of a good quality Galaxy S9 64GB is just shy £300. As a consumer, 60% depreciation of value for a single year's use represents a terrible return.

Conclusions

• It's lucky that the technology inside Samsung phones tend to hold up for some time as they do not retain their recycling value (or retail price) for as long as Apple devices do.
• The longer you hold onto the Galaxy, the better the value retention per year. The device is worth more in a working condition after 4 years relative to its release price, than an iPhone.

We say it every year - if you are a keen phone updater and love having the latest tech every year, then Samsung provides some of the best tech around, however their phones do not hold their value anywhere near as well as iPhones do.

Additionally, with current retail prices that are over the top, it's worth checking our refurbished ranges after 2-3 months post release of your desired phone. You will get the latest phone for less, your upgrade will be more eco-friendly and you won't break the bank.

What does the future hold for Samsung Recycling Prices?

As the new Samsung S10 family is available for pre-order, we have seen an increased  focus on closing the loop, and now Samsung are accepting old devices for their own recycling programs. When the supply of recyclable devices drops for our merchants, they may be willing to pay more for devices, but this could all take time. So if you're really considering that the S10 devices are worth upgrading, check your options and don't forget to trade-in your old phones.