Apple Australia’s iPad Trade-Ins are meant to be easy… but they’re not.

From terrible shipping to laughable trade-in offers, based on my own recent experiences, Apple needs to do a lot of work to make its trade in process in Australia as easy as it claims it is

Not that long ago, a family member of mine worked out that they wanted to update their iPad Air, fresh off the back of the announcements of the refresh of the iPad Air and iPad Pro lines.

True, the M2 iPad Air hasn’t quite generated the same hype as the M4 iPad Pro, but it’s less expensive… albeit not what you could really call “cheap” at Apple’s typical pricing.

It’s Apple. “Cheap” simply isn’t in the official-approved-by-Tim-Cook dictionary, and that’s that.

Buying an iPad when they’re new in market is a smart way to arrange your upgrades if you can. The technology is the newest and you’ll get the longest time with fresh tech as a result.

Still, the price wasn’t cheap, so we sat down and looked through the affordability and possible models before deciding on a model to buy, essentially as an early birthday present. This wasn’t a 100% “need”, but instead absolutely a thing that was a “want”. I think it’s OK to treat yourself from time to time.

In Australia, Apple provides a trade-in system for older hardware…

Actually, it doesn’t, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

My family member (not me) had an iPad Air 3rd Gen to trade in, in essentially spotless condition.

It was 100% functional and working, but it wasn’t likely to be used all that much once the new model arrived.

Look, here it is (I’ll get into where this photo was taken in just a second) (Photo: Alex Kidman)

If you’ve ever read any of my phone reviews, you’ll know that I’m remarkably careful with hardware as a rule. Everything goes in a case, no exceptions, with a screen protector. So it shouldn’t be surprising that I get my family members to do likewise.

The iPad Air in question had lived its entire life in a case, with a screen protector on it. About the worst thing that ever happened to it were too many games of Pokémon Café Remix, really.

Your opinions on that game may of course differ from mine, but the point here was that outside expected usage (battery capacity and the like), this was an iPad in pristine condition. There was nothing wrong with the screen, the back was clean and clear and so on and so forth.

Estimated trade-in value as quoted by Apple wasn’t super high at $195. I expected that, these systems do run on making profits for those picking up the devices for either refurbishment or as parts.

Ultimately we decided we were willing to accept that there’s a convenience price paid for going with the official Apple trade in system as distinct from selling it ourselves. That way you avoid all the online buying scams and the tyre kickers, so we went ahead with doing so. After all, Apple promises that it’s quick, easy and stress free, so that was going to happen, right?

I think you can see where this is going, but keep on reading.

The easiest way to manage that trade in was to send the device back in, have it assessed and then get the effective “refund” for the price they would offer after buying the new iPad. You can either get the refund as actual cash or as Apple Store credit, though I’d always opt for cash, as it’s accepted everywhere.

Before doing, so, I captured quick video of the device, because it’s not exactly in a reseller’s best interest to offer the best prices if they can get away with it, and the trade-in price wasn’t that high anyway.

I was wary, but also interested to see what the process was actually like from a journalist’s perspective.

Still, this was initially purely family business, not something I was looking to turn into a story… until it became one.

When “Apple” isn’t “Apple” (but keeps talking to you like it is)

It’s worth noting at this juncture that “Apple Trade In” is in this context not exactly a clear label of what you actually do.

You’re not trading anything in to Apple, but to a third-party reseller acting as Apple’s agent.

This is not entirely upfront, but instead buried in very small print within the Apple web site.

I was aware of this, because it is something of an industry standard. If you trade in a phone through Samsung, for example, you’re doing a very similar deal, trading in to a third party middleman kind of company.

The issue here is that I do think a lot of consumers would not be aware of this. Apple’s trade in page does still bear the “Apple” branding on it – especially as you can do the same thing in an actual Apple store with an actual Apple employee.

Here’s the Apple trade-in page, hosted on the Apple site with plenty of Apple logos and links directly to other Apple products you can buy.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that most consumers would think they’re dealing with Apple here. (Screenshot: Apple)

What you’re actually doing – again, via the Apple Australia website, with lots of Apple logos on it – is dealing with a third-party reseller.

In this case it’s a company called “Likewize”.

Dig deep enough and you can find this out, because It’s there in the fine print… sort of.

Apple’s fine print on its own site really just talks about “reseller partners” in considerably more vague terms.

It becomes slightly more obvious when you realise that queries about Apple trade-ins go to “au.appletradein@likewize.com” if you choose to make them, but then equally a lot more murky when you discover that any actual correspondence coming from that transaction comes from an Apple Store do not reply email, hosted by Apple itself.

Sending in an iPad… is badly handled

The new iPad Air arrived (and it’s a nice bit of kit, no question), and then it was time to send the older one in to actually get the trade-in money for it.

Specifically, this involved taking a QR code into an Australia Post store where we’d get the approved packaging materials, and it would be sent through for evaluation.

All good, all fine and I can 100% accept that some consumers are going to send in little Timmy’s vegemite-streaked iPad with the cracked screen and the charging port full of sawdust from time to time.

That photo above? Taken at the Australia Post office mere seconds before it was put in the approved packing materials.

Bye-bye little iPad Air. No more Pokemon Café Remix for you! (Photo: Alex Kidman)

Which as it turns out was a standard envelope with a single layer of bubble wrap around it.

No, I’m not kidding, here it is.

I approve of recycled packaging… but not in this context. (Photo: Alex Kidman)

This was something of a jaw dropping moment for me.

I’ve reviewed more devices than I’d care to think about, and I’m always careful about returns of those products, especially if I’ve been sent a pre-production unit, or the packaging wasn’t likely to stand the rigours of transport. But as it was dropped into said envelope by an Australia Post employee and then whisked away, the die was very much cast.

In the back of my mind, I figured that Apple’s own documentation suggests more robust packing boxes are used and, critically provided for you when you turn up.

Maybe this was just transitional packaging to deal with getting it, and it would be more carefully be shipped out as part of some back-of-store deal.

Well… maybe, but I suspect you can see where this is going, once more.

At worst, I figured, if it arrived and they said it was in parts or shattered, I had that photo of it just before it went into the slim envelope, though I didn’t really want that to happen. Who needs the stress?

Hey, want nearly nothing for this?

So, we waited for a week for a response, and we got one.

A response that stated that the trade in value was going to drop from $195… to just $45.

$45 for a working iPad Air – OK, not a brand spanking new one, but still – is a ridiculously low offer.

If you saw that as an eBay offer, you’d wonder if it was in fact on fire.

And if you think I’m being hyperbolic, here’s an eBay listing for that generation model for MORE than their trade in deal WITH A FAULTY POWER BUTTON.

Hang on… if the power button doesn’t work, HOW DID THEY TURN IT ON? (Screenshot: Alex Kidman)

$45 for a working iPad Air 3 is a reseller seriously taking significant micturition quantities, if you know what I mean.

So why was the offer suddenly so low? It was because the screen had “white dots on it”…. Which 100% was not the case when going in.

To give that ridiculous trade in figure some context, by the way, while Apple Australia still (years later) doesn’t offer self-service repair in Australia, in the US, the sum for repair is roughly analogous to what Apple will charge you for about 3 replacement iPhone SIM trays. You know, those tiny little plastic and metal fragments, not like, say, an entire tablet all by itself with all of its parts. Literally every single other part on an approved repair device is worth way more than $45 as official Apple parts.

$45 was an insulting joke in this context, so we said no, we’ll have it back, thanks.

Remember that photo of how it looked just before it got sent in and how it was mailed in a slim Australia Post envelope?

This was what it came back in (address obscured for obvious reasons) (Photo: Alex Kidman)

It came back, and at first I didn’t spot what they were on about… until I started to use the iPad Air, and discovered a whole host of white screen areas.

They were the most noticeable if the display itself is showing lighter coloured or white content. Like most web pages, for example.

Really bad ones. Ones that would have had my relative opting for a new device some serious time ago had they existed when it was sent in, but of course, they didn’t.

This is what an iPad Air looks like after Shrek’s had a go at it.
Back in a case, because like I said, I take device protection seriously. (Photo: Alex Kidman)

What’s happened here is pretty clear; the method of sending the iPad Air in has led to it bumping around in an Australia Post truck for a while, thumping the screen and causing the damage.

Every single bright white spot you can see on the screen above is a very heavy pressure point, especially noticeable towards the base of the iPad Air.

To say that happiness did not reign supreme would be understating it, and this is where I was kicking myself for only taking photos of it while not on, because it did very much feel as though we’d fallen into the bad side of a discussion where we had some proof but maybe not enough.

Journalism time!

That’s when the journalism instincts that have been baked into me through millions of cups of coffee kicked in.

I decided that it was time to do a little research, if only to turn this into a cautionary tale.

So I put some time aside, and headed to my nearest Apple store.

I’m not going to say which one it was, because – shock, horror – the staff there did talk to me and (spoiler) they were quite helpful.

So why not say where? Because while they were helpful, I’m all too well aware that Apple has a horrendous track record when it comes to staff being quoted or mentioned without explicit approval.

Simply being quoted as being from Apple without prior permission in any way can see you summarily chucked out at Apple.

You might think that I’m kidding or perhaps exaggerating.

The OG example here comes from Australia, where some years ago Apple summarily dumped its then-head-of-PR for the horrendous crime of… releasing a positive story about Apple. That was some time ago, but I don’t want to see people out of a job for actually helping me.

Computer says no… maybe…. Yes… nothing… perhaps…

Apple’s retail store staff, as you might be aware, are trained to within an inch of their lives to maintain a pleasant outside exterior even if working there can be quite stressful behind the scenes.

I’ve known a few folks who have worked for Apple retail, and (off the record) they’ve all had very similar stories about how while it’s all smiles and pleasantry on the shop floor, it’s not a particularly “fun” place to work.

Dor clarity’s sake, I did identify that I was a journalist at this point, because I was more chasing a story, figuring that actual satisfaction in this case was unlikely. I’d already burned through every part of “easy” that the process was meant to be by then.

Ethically, it didn’t feel right to make this a “gotcha” case, and I was curious to discover, for example, what Apple might charge me for a screen repair to an iPad where it wasn’t my fault outside of warranty, but instead theirs.

That needed data, which was why I’d headed in there in the first place. While you can investigate repair pricing on Apple’s web site, all it will tell you is the price for consumer who have purchased AppleCare for their devices. That wasn’t the case here, but then in this situation I didn’t feel like I was at fault for the damage anyway.

I figured I would be bumped around to their reseller partner, but that didn’t happen.

I was instead led to a store manager who commented that this wasn’t an entirely unusual circumstance, but that in-store they would have packed the iPad in a box – I’d bought in the return box with me to show at least how it had come back – and that she would see what she could do.

This involved inspecting the iPad Air, taking photos of it and seeing what their in-store system would make of it.

At first it wouldn’t accept the idea at all, then it decided it would scan and work, and that’s when it came up with a truly magical figure.

A magical figure of zero dollars precisely.

At this rate, before long, I was going to have to start paying Apple to take it back!

The staff were aware that I’d seen that price flash up, and they laughed, and said of course they wouldn’t do that, but that they would see what they could do.

Hurried quiet conversations ensued, and they finally said (after some time) that they could do so in-store, but that it would involve a full refund process on the new M2 iPad, and then a trade-in on the iPad Air 3 for a completely fresh and new M2 iPad Air.

That’s a convoluted way to work it, I thought, and problematic too, given the data already on the new M2 iPad Air, and the fact that it already had a glass screen protector on it and case.

Like I said, I’m serious about cases and device protection, and both were put in place before the new M2 iPad Air was even set up.

However, the store staff said, we might find it easier to contact online sales/trade-in and state the case, because they should be able to process just the refund. All we would need to do then was drop the iPad Air 3 into the store.

This shouldn’t be a problem, they assured me.

So that’s what we did, putting an email through to the queries line for trade-ins (because Apple doesn’t have that many direct public-facing email addresses at all)… only to be met with a big fat no. Nothing could be done if the assessment had come back and we had refused it, they said.

About that whole “great deal” thing that Trade Ins are meant to be Apple?

Sure didn’t feel like it at this point.

To my great surprise – and this was a plus in the whole sorry affair – the same manager at the Apple store phoned me the next day to see what the response had been.

She then offered if I could bring it in that day – critically within the 14-day general return window Apple has on products – they could, in fact just process the trade-in offer for the iPad Air 3, no need to swap out or clear M2 iPad Airs at all.

Apparently a “computer outage” had been the issue the day before when I’d been in store.

Didn’t seem to stop the rest of the store from working and selling Apple products, or affect anything else at all that Apple was doing in a retail sense in that store at that time… but that’s what I was told.

So (sigh), back off I trudged, and about 20 minutes after I’d walked into the store, the refund was issued. A day later, it actually appeared as a bank refund, story done.

Except… it really shouldn’t be this hard at all.

Apple Trade In: What’s the takeaway value here?

It’s not a bad idea to use the value in your existing tech gear – no matter what it is – to finance new purchases, especially if someone else can either make good use of them or if they can be used in the most environmentally friendly way possible as parts.

However, while the big sell on using “official” trade in channels is that it’s significantly easier than dealing with selling it yourself, that’s not always the case.

If you’re going to go down this route – or, to be fair to Apple, using any of the other third-party resellers who offer similar mail-in systems – document the heck out of everything, from condition to touch sensitivity. Take lengthy timestamped videos to show the condition of a device, make triple sure that however they’re packed is essentially bulletproof, and even then, be prepared to fight.

This is not how it should be.

If I wasn’t so particularly stubborn (not always a trait that earns me friends, honestly), then we might have sighed and accepted the terrible $45 offer, or just written the whole debacle off as a bad waste of a device.

Me being me, that wasn’t going to happen, but it should not take considerable time and stress just to get one of the planet’s biggest tech companies to do the right thing.