[leakycap]

Same with technology. If you aren't rich, selling around the time the next model comes out is actually a great way to avoid paying full price for your modern tech.

With Apple stuff, waiting more than 1-2 cycles means you've missed the ability to recoup most of your costs AND you got to use an old device for an extra year... yay?

[lotsofpulp]

More like extra 2 or 3 years, so yes, yay. Consumption is consumption, you don't get things for free.

If the phone only lasted 1 more year, then the resale price of the phone would reflect that. Either the collective market of buyers lacks the information to evaluate this (doubt), or you got lucky finding the one buyer willing to overpay.

You also always pay full price, because when you buy a new phone (or anything), you always have the option to buy the used or keep using the old one. Cost is opportunity cost, which is defined as your choice minus your second best choice.

[leakycap]

> Consumption is consumption, you don't get things for free.

While this is true, desirability in the used market doesn't work linearly. Apple devices fall off quickly in value after 2 years. If you buy early in the product cycle, selling as soon as you can buy the next year's model has proven to be the most economic way, because resale on last year's model is still great but 2 years ago is in the tank.

I've been upgrading yearly since 2007 and my spouse waits 3-5 years between phones. Doing the math, over the years I've spent less overall because of the value of sales when I trade up vs. their phone was worth sub-$200 when I sold it recently, because it was older than a few years.