The situation is similar to the pandemic, a CEO says
May 20, 2025
- Tradeins and sales of used electronics have gone up recently, likely due to economic uncertainty and expected price increases from tariffs, companies tell ConsumerAffairs.
- But 94% of Americans are still hoarding used electronics they don’t need, a recent survey finds.
- Now may be a good time to turn in old electronics to save cash ahead of a potential recession.
More Americans have been sellingused electronics lately, followingfears of a recession and price hikes from tariffs.
Swappa, a website where people can sell their used electronics for cash, told ConsumerAffairs that tradeins went up around 12% in March from February, the same month President Donald Trump ordered the first tariffs ofhis second term.
Tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods that companies pay, are expected to raise prices for smartphones, laptops and other electronicscoming from China, trade groups say.
Tariffs and economic uncertainty are also driving people to buy used now to upgrade sooner than they planned, saidWard Johnsmeyer, Swappa’s chief business development officer.
“The primary change were seeing that we believe is related to economic uncertainty is an increase in sales activity, presumably in anticipation of scarcity or a significant increase in prices,” he said.
Swappa’s salesgrew around 12% in March from February, compared with about 2% sales increase in 2024. April notched a nearly 6% sales increase from February this year, compared with a roughly 6% decline in 2024.
Generally, shoppers can expect to get a 20% to 50% discount for used electronics, while people who tradethem in for cash can get 30% to 50% of the retail price back.
Americans buying usediPhones highlightthe trend:Swappa said there was a nearly 16% increase in sales for iPhone 13s in March versus February and an around 13% increase in April from February. The older iPhone 13 sold for an averageof $289in April on Swappa.
Hoarding electronics
Still, Americans are overwhelmingly hoarding used electronics despite the increase in demand and tradeins.
Around 94% of Americans say they are keeping old tech they don’t need, with 79% holding onto smartphones and 69% holding onto laptops, according to a survey by Secure Data Recovery, which polled 2,486 people in February.
But evenmore Americans will likely sell their used electronics if economic conditions worsen. Chances for a recession are as high as 79% among 2,000 companies sensitive to the U.S. economy, JPMorgan Chase said in April.
PayMore, which has storeswhere people can get cash forand buy used electronics, told ConsumerAffairs that trade ins for video game electronics are up 60%, laptops are up 30% and and digital cameras are up almost 70% over the last 60 days.
Activity has almost doubled at some stores and it is now often taking only a few hours to sell premium products, such as iPhones, instead of days, said PayMore CEOStephen Preuss.
“We are seeing higher demand across the board,” he said.
Preuss said fears about tariffs raising prices have been a boost for the company, likening it to the pandemic’s economic downturn when more people turned in electronics for cash.
“It forces the masses to evaluate how they shop and where they do so,” he said. “We strongly believe that once the customer adopts these trends it will become a shopping habit, and widely acceptable.”
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