So those AirPods of yours are starting to get grimey and die quickly, and you want to upgrade to the latest generation? This guide should help you with that little problem. We’ll walk you through it, whether you want to sell them on eBay or another online marketplace, send them off to one of many recycling sites, or trade them in with our trusted partners to get quick cash for your old gear in just a couple clicks.
Trade in Your AirPods with 9to5Mac
9to5Mac has partnered with leaders in the iPhone/iPad/Laptop cash trade-in and repair industries. The easiest way to get cash for your device is to head over to trade-in.9to5mac.com for an instant quote. We chose this partner in particular because of their industry-leading paybacks, rapid payment service, integrity, and reliability. They’ll accept most iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iPod, Apple TV, AirPods, and more — as long as they are relatively recent and in working order, of course.
While 9to5Mac does do business, use, and endorse Decluttr, the sites are external and we cannot be held liable for your experience with them. We may receive a small commission if you are satisfied with and move forward with your cash trade-in or repair, which is a great way to support the site. We love Decluttr, and we use it ourselves.
Looking to trade in your iPhone/upgrade to iPhone 13?
Other Great AirPods Trade in Sites
Trade in your AirPods @ Apple Trade In/GiveBack
Just like with trading in old iPhones and iPads, you can also send your AirPods in to Apple directly through their Trade In/GiveBack program. You can get started on Apple’s website by choosing AirPods.
Apple Trade In/GiveBack isn’t the most generous trade-in option when it comes to trading in your AirPods — in fact, they won’t give you anything for them at all at the time of this writing. But you can rest assured that they’ll be properly recycled.
Trade In/GiveBack also isn’t limited to just taking old AirPods. Apple will take your iPhone or smartphone from a variety of OEMs, MacBook, iPad, and even iMac. They’ll also recycle anything that they won’t buy. Head over to Apple GiveBack to get started.
Trade in your AirPods @ Decluttr
Decluttr is our AirPods trade in spot of choice — as mentioned, we’ve partnered with them for our own 9to5Mac trade-in portal. At Decluttr, you’ll find an excellent combination of trade in values, seamless experience, and customer service.
Trading in your AirPods using our trade-in site is about as simple as it gets. Just choose the correct AirPods model, and Decluttr will present you with a quote. Like what you see? Click through and Decluttr will send you out a box and pre-paid shipping label to send in your AirPods. You’ll then get a check in the mail for the total value of your trade assuming everything checks out.
Best Online Marketplaces to trade in/sell your AirPods
eBay
eBay is undoubtedly the most popular place to sell used anything on the web, and it should come as no surprise that a fair volume of AirPods are swapped there indeed. It might not the be the easiest or most secure of destinations to sell your AirPods, but it does have the largest pool of potential buyers. And unlike Swappa, you can hold auctions to potentially juice those AirPods for every dime it’s worth.
It goes without saying that eBay is a pretty good place to get a fair price for your AirPods, but it also comes with a few downsides. It’s going to take way more work to list and watch and monitor and eBay listing than it will to just send in your device through a trade in site, and you’re also putting yourself at slightly higher risk of ending up with an undesirable buyer. eBay’s fees are also higher than many other sites. Check out eBay.