New Delhi: If you’re looking to join the iPhone bandwagon with a (cheap) used device that better suits your pocket, you’re in for some disappointment. Turning the mantra of depreciation on its head, refurbished iPhones are actually getting more expensive as they get older.
For instance, a two-year-old iPhone 15 is now selling for around ₹48,000 on refurbished-phone platforms, Mint research across refurbished smartphone platforms such as Cashify, ReFit and ControlZ showed.
That is nearly twice the ₹25,000 that a similarly aged iPhone 12 cost three years ago. More strikingly, a used iPhone 12 is available at about the same price even today, despite having been launched six years ago.
The unusual price behaviour reflects a combination of rising prices of new smartphones, strong demand for Apple devices, and a growing shortage of phones entering the refurbished market. With consumers holding on to their existing devices for longer, retailers are finding it harder to procure used iPhones even as more buyers turn to them as a relatively affordable way into the Apple ecosystem.
According to Yug Bhatia, founder of Gurugram-based used smartphone retail platform, ControlZ, the effect on customers is compounded. “If they want to spend the same amount, they get a much older phone, or else they end up spending double for a newer phone.”
Used Android smartphones, including those from Samsung, are seeing a similar trend, but industry executives and analysts said the sharpest increases have been in iPhones, which continue to attract strong demand in both new and refurbished markets.
Nakul Kumar, co-founder of Cashify, India’s largest used-electronics retail platform, said the unusual price inflation has emerged over the past six months across laptops and mobile phones, partly because new-device prices have risen with memory-chip costs.
“With new devices getting more expensive by 40% or even more in some cases, refurbished and renewed devices are often becoming the only affordable options available for many consumers looking to upgrade their mobile phones,” Kumar said. In the case of iPhones, though, he attributed the rise in refurbished prices primarily to strong demand.
The demand is showing up in sales volumes as well. Saket Saurav, co-founder and chief executive of ReFit Global, another refurbished electronics platform, said the company expects to sell 800,000 refurbished mobile phones this fiscal, with iPhones accounting for nearly 18%.
Last fiscal, ReFit sold about 600,000 phones, of which 12% were iPhones. That means its iPhone sales are expected to roughly double in absolute numbers this fiscal. “Much of this demand is generated from tier-II markets and beyond,” Saurav said.
The growth is prompting refurbished-phone retailers to open more physical stores to meet demand. Cashify already has more than 250 stores in India, while ControlZ is targeting 100 offline stores across north and west India this fiscal. ReFit, which has opened six stores since last fiscal, is targeting 10 standalone outlets by the end of FY27.
Beyond opening stores, refurbished-phone platforms such as Cashify, ControlZ and ReFit are also using new-phone market strategies to bring in buyers, including monthly instalments, one-year warranties that can be extended, insurance and repair services.
“Customers can walk into our stores and claim service and warranty just like in new devices, giving increasing premium even to refurbished phones—which, even after higher demand and prices, are more affordable than new ones,” Cashify’s Kumar said.
To be sure, the growth in demand is running into a supply constraint that echoes the new-phone market. “Even though there is strong demand, customers are holding on to their phones for much longer than before, which means that I’m only able to supply just about 50% of my demand,” Saurav said.
Bhatia said ControlZ is paying 30-40% more to consumers selling their phones in an effort to secure supplies, but is still unable to procure enough devices. “We’re targeting sales of 100,000 units of refurbished iPhones this fiscal,” he added.
The supply crunch could keep refurbished-phone prices high, and analysts expect the launch of Apple’s next-generation iPhones to further disrupt the depreciation cycle.
Tarun Pathak, director of research at independent market research agency Counterpoint India, expects a price hike of nearly 10% on the iPhone 18 when it launches. “Once it does, the iPhone 17 will continue to be priced at its current pricing only, which means that the typical cycle of older iPhones getting cheaper will not play out.”
According to Pathak, that could make models such as the iPhone 15 even more attractive, particularly in tier-II markets and among first-time buyers of the Apple ecosystem who may not want to spend upwards of ₹75,000 on a smartphone.