It may be rolling out on April Fool’s Day, but Verizon claims its new promotion isn’t a joke: starting today, Verizon will give you up to $1,000 for your “cracked or water damaged phone.” We tested it out and it seems to be a very good deal, so if you’re tempted to dig out your busted iPhone from the bottom of your cable drawer, there are a few things you should know.
Like most carrier deals, Verizon isn’t going to handing everyone checks for $1,000. The trade-in is actually $700, with the remainder coming in the form of a $300 Verizon gift card. If you qualify for the full amount, the remaining $700 trade-in value divided among 24 equal bill credits. Existing subscribers are eligible for $440 in savings as long as they add a new line to their account.
You’ll also need to sign up for one of Verizon’s 5G ultra wideband unlimited plans which start at $80 a month (plus taxes and fees) for a single line and drop to as low as $40 a month for five lines or more. Other caveats are you’ll need to buy a phone that costs at least $849.
For safety reasons, Verizon won’t accept phones with swollen batteries, but otherwise, there are surprisingly few restrictions to what can be traded in. Basically anything goes. I checked several iPhones that were cracked and wouldn’t power on and I got the full amount every time, up to the iPhone 8 and including the iPhone SE. It dipped from $700 to $350 for the iPhone 7 and 6, which is still very good.
Verizon says the offer is only available for a limited time, so if you’ve been looking to switch carriers, this might be a reason to jump. Click on the Verizon link below to start the process.
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He’s still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.
