Apple iPad 2: upgrade for the best price

The launch of iPad 2 has led to a surge in the number of people selling the original iPad, as they seek to upgrade. According to Money4UrMobile.com, 50 times more requests to recycle tablet computers have been received in the three weeks to 25 March compared to the period 1 January to 2 March 2011.

This week, Price check has researched the various options for consumers (looking at Wi-Fi only) for examples of recent pricing. Be aware that prices will fluctuate depending on the condition of your tablet.

Prices for the iPad 2 start at about £399, and in some instances you could have paid as little as £125 by selling your 16Gb Wi-Fi original.

If you've sold your iPad recently, please share the details in the comments section below.

Auction sites

It seems the phrase "Comes from a smoke-free home" has been usurped by "Only selling due to buying the iPad 2" as the top line in the eBay listing description box. Auction sites let you trade directly with the consumer, and having monitored eBay for a few days, the prices achieved were the best of all those produced by all the different resale options.

For instance a "used but great condition" 16GB iPad was selling for about £270, with the 32GB slightly more than £300 and the 64GB about £380. Obviously there is a risk your item won't sell, and you may incur costs regardless. If you also use PayPal there will be further charges.

Recycling sites

There are numerous sites offering money in return for old iPads, and some companies will even take "non-working" units, but for the benefit of comparison we have kept to "fully working and in very good condition".

Price comparison sites such as SellYourMobile, which list prices offered by several recycling sites, but the prices are sometimes better if you go direct to the site.

The best price we saw for a 16GB iPad was on SpeedSell. If you were happy to recommend them on Facebook you were offered a price of £215.34, otherwise it would have been £201.25. Gadget Xchange was best priced at £209 without the need to recommend them.

The 32GB version was £258.35 on SpeedSell with the Facebook recommendation, and £242 with Gadget Xchange.

The 64GB version was top priced on SpeedSell at £301.38 with the recommendation and £281.66 without.

SpeedSell collect your iPad by courier for free and say you will receive a cheque or payment via your PayPal account within seven days of it receiving and approving your tablet.

Gadget Xchange will send you a pre-paid envelope, but strongly recommends you send the item by recorded delivery with you funding the difference. It will be in email contact throughout the sale process.

In both cases the offer is based on an inspection of the item, and depending on this the offer could go down.

Retail outlets

You can take an iPad irrespective of memory size to a Currys or PC World store and get £150 off the price of an iPad 2. It needs to be in full working order and not have a damaged or broken screen.