How Much Are Old Samsung Phones Worth? Buyback vs Swappa

So, how much are old Samsung phones worth? In the October 23 snapshot, a like-new 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra could bring $291 from a buyback service, or an average completed sale price of $404 on Swappa, before fees (Engadget, October 23 snapshot). That's a $113 difference for handling the sale yourself instead of taking the instant payout (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Three main routes produce that kind of spread: a buyback site that pays instant cash, Swappa where you sell directly to a buyer, and Samsung's own trade-in program, which pays store credit only toward a new Galaxy purchase (Engadget, this week). A separate trade-in option through Likewize doesn't require a new purchase at all, and gets covered further down. This guide walks through confirming your phone's exact details, prepping the device, pulling quotes from each channel, and comparing the real numbers side by side. Every price below comes from an October 2026 snapshot and will move within weeks, so treat this as a method to rerun on your own phone, not a fixed answer.

How to compare old Samsung phone value before you sell

Open Settings and confirm the exact model number, storage tier, and carrier lock status before requesting a single quote. Most published Samsung Galaxy trade-in value comparisons use 256GB units, but the S20 Ultra example in this data set used a 128GB model, so pulling a quote for the wrong storage size will skew what you expect to get (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Support life is another detail buyers may consider, separate from the buyback and Swappa numbers above. Samsung is expected to support the S24 series with security patches into early 2031, the S23 series into early 2028, and the S22 series into early 2027, even though that generation has already received its last major Android version (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

A "Like New" cash quote and a Swappa average aren't the same transaction, either. SellCell's figures are top "Like New" quotes, not guaranteed payouts after inspection, while Swappa's reported averages are completed sales that don't disclose the time window behind them (Engadget, October 23 snapshot). Keep those as two separate data points rather than two versions of the same answer.

Prepare your old Samsung phone before you sell it

Whichever route you pick, the phone needs to be documented and cleared of account locks before it ships or changes hands. Work through this before requesting a final offer, not after:

• Photograph the phone from several angles, including any scratches or wear, along with the charger, case, or S Pen you're including in the sale.
• Confirm the device is fully paid off with a clean IMEI, no activation lock, and no cracked glass or water damage; Swappa requires all four before it will even accept a listing (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).
• Remove whatever account lock or screen lock the receiving service lists as a requirement, following that service's own instructions for your phone and account.
• Factory reset the device only after your backup is confirmed and you've matched the receiving service's checklist.

A buyback inspector or a Swappa buyer can reject a device that still shows an account lock or doesn't match the condition you reported when you requested the quote, so match your prep to whichever channel's eligibility rules apply.

How Samsung phone buyback offers compare right now

Run your phone through a comparison tool like SellCell first. In the October 23 snapshot, top "Like New" cash offers included $449 for the S24 Ultra (256GB), $291 for the S23 Ultra (256GB), $196 for the S22 Ultra (256GB), and $136 each for the S21 Ultra and S20 Ultra (Engadget, October 23 snapshot). Foldables followed a similar curve: the Z Fold6 drew $512, the Z Fold5 landed at $327, and the Z Flip6 came in at $278 (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Get a second quote from a different kind of channel before trusting any single number. Back Market's buyback program sources quotes directly from refurbishers and pays into your account after a physical inspection, giving you a second data point to weigh against SellCell's results (Engadget, this week).

Treat whatever comes back as a starting offer, not a locked price. Buyback payouts are conditional on the device matching what you reported when you requested the quote.

Compare that offer against a private sale on Swappa

If you're willing to deal directly with a buyer, Swappa can pay more than any buyback site. For the S23 Ultra, Swappa's average completed sale price was $404 against that $291 top buyback quote, a $113 spread before fees (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Check the quote type before comparing the numbers: a separate Swappa pricing pull from the same month put the S24 Ultra at $600, the S23 Ultra at $481, and the S22 Ultra at $383, all higher than the first set of figures for the same models (Engadget, October pricing data). Swappa doesn't publish what condition mix or time window either average reflects, so two legitimate pulls in the same month landed in different places. Pull a live quote for your exact phone rather than anchoring to either published figure.

Once you have a real number, subtract Swappa's 3% seller fee before comparing it to a buyback offer. On the $404 average, 3% alone brings that down to about $392, before payment-processing fees and shipping even factor in (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Swappa's eligibility rules are stricter than a buyback site's. The phone needs to be fully paid off with a clean IMEI, no activation lock, and no cracked glass or water damage, and any one of those failures takes the listing off the table (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Check Samsung's trade-in credit before you ship anything

Samsung's trade-in program only makes sense if you're already buying a new Galaxy. It pays store credit toward that purchase, not cash, so it's not a fair comparison against a buyback offer or a Swappa sale (Engadget, October 23 snapshot).

Read the terms before you ship anything. If your old device doesn't meet Samsung's eligibility requirements or doesn't match the condition you described, Samsung assigns it $0 trade-in value and charges back the credit already applied to your new phone's purchase price (Samsung trade-in terms). If that happens, you have only seven days after Samsung's written rejection offer to request the device's return (Samsung trade-in terms).

If Samsung never receives your trade-in device, or it doesn't match what you reported, Samsung can remotely disable the new phone you've already activated (Samsung trade-in terms). Photograph your old phone's condition before boxing it up, and ship it within 15 days of receiving the new one; miss that window and Samsung charges the full credited amount as a non-return charge (Samsung trade-in terms). If an S Pen came with the trade-in device, it needs to go back working, or Samsung adds a separate $30 chargeback (Samsung trade-in terms).

Credit amounts swing hard around launches, so don't assume today's quoted value will hold. Samsung credited $500 for a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra during Galaxy S26 Ultra preorders in February 2026, then cut that to $130 once the phone launched widely on March 11 (Engadget, this week). If you're not buying new, skip Samsung's program and look at Likewize instead. It doesn't require a new purchase, but it pays through a prepaid digital gift card rather than a bank transfer (Engadget, this week).

How the same Galaxy S23 Ultra compares across selling routes

The table below uses the figures above as a worked example for one phone: a like-new, unlocked, paid-off 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra. If you're holding a Galaxy A-series phone, a base S-series model, or an older Note, the same comparison process applies, but pull your own quotes rather than assuming these numbers transfer over.

For this S23 Ultra example, Swappa shows the higher observed headline figure, while buyback requires less selling work and skips the listing and shipping-coordination entirely. That reflects one model in one snapshot, not a guarantee that every Ultra or Fold lines up the same way, since depreciation curves shift by generation.

Broader resale data suggests the gap between Galaxy and iPhone values is narrowing. Samsung's Galaxy S25 depreciated 46.6% five months after launch versus 51.9% for the Galaxy S22, a roughly five-point improvement in retention (SamMobile, last year). Apple still holds the higher resale ceiling overall, according to Counterpoint Research, so don't assume a Galaxy Ultra now outprices an equivalent iPhone across the board (Counterpoint Research, last year).

What to do with your old Samsung phone now

Before requesting any quote, write down your exact model, storage, condition, and carrier status, then track the quote type and final payout for each route you check, a top cash offer, a completed-sale average, or a trade-in credit are not interchangeable numbers. Pick buyback if speed matters more than squeezing out every dollar. Pick Swappa if your phone clears its eligibility checklist and the premium survives the 3% fee plus processing costs. Count on Samsung's trade-in credit only if you're already committed to a new Galaxy purchase, and photograph the old phone's condition before the 15-day shipping window starts ticking.

These figures are an October 2026 snapshot, and they'll move before your next upgrade does, so rerun the comparison on your exact phone when you're ready to sell.