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Trade-in deals are a staple of modern carrier phone promotions. Most people buying a new phone from their carrier aren’t just going to finance the device over two years without a good reason. That reason, of course, is trade-in promos.
Sometimes, though, customers accidentally break their phone before it’s time for an upgrade, and for T-Mobile, that usually means it’s worthless. Until now, that is.
According to leaked docs shared with us here at The Mobile Report, T-Mobile is planning to begin accepting damaged and broken devices towards high-value promotions.
Variable Trade-in Promo Values On Broken Devices
As shown in the image above, there are three key points to the news. The primary point is that broken devices that would otherwise be ineligible for trade-in will now be eligible for partial value.
Previously, the company has offered to take in damaged devices towards promos, but usually only for low-end “free” 5G phones. One exception was the iPhone 16 series deal back in December of 2024, where damaged devices were eligible for the full value on T-Mobile’s premium plans.
Beginning with these new changes, devices with broken screens or water damage will get 50% of the value they would if they were in good condition. Devices that are non-functional entirely or have Find My enabled will still not receive any value. This is outlined in the graph below.
Note that the “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” shown above likely refers to which tier of promo you qualify for based on plan. For example, Experience Beyond would be Tier 1, while Experience More would be Tier 2.
Trade In Value-based Eligibility
Beyond the primary point of broken trade devices having value, the doc also mentions “Trade In Value-based Eligibility”.
We’re not 100% sure what this is referring to, but it’s possible this could mean that devices not on the pre-approved list of eligible trade-in devices for a promo might still net you a promotional value.
If so, it would be quite a change, as prior to this devices traded in that weren’t on the list would only receive the inherent value of said device.
Only On-Network Devices Qualify For Broken Trade
Then there’s the third and final bullet point, which is that devices being traded-in as damaged will only qualify if they’ve previously been used on the T-Mobile network for at least 30 days during the last 12 months.
The document claims this is to deter fraud, which makes some sense. However, this might also cause a few people to miss out on a promotion if they have a broken device laying around that wasn’t actually used on their plan. It’s also going to prevent people from buying cheap broken devices off the used market for the purposes of redeeming a trade-in promo.
Hopefully this IMEI on-network requirement doesn’t spread to the good condition trade-in promos. I myself have purchased used (but fully working) devices as a trade-in towards a promo, and would hate to see that taken away.
How It Stacks Up To The Competition
Both Verizon and AT&T have accepted broken trade-ins for a while, so how does T-Mobile’s way of doing it stack up? It’s complicated.
Verizon accepts damaged trades on most of their active trade-in promos, and even gives full value towards the new device (again, for specific phone promos), like their iPhone 17 series promo.
That’s a step up compared to T-Mobile. The downside is that Verizon requires the trade-in device to be on-network for 60 days compared to T-Mobile’s 30 when doing upgrades.
AT&T on the other hand requires that the trade-in device’s inherent value is at a certain minimum, whether it’s damaged or not. If an iPhone with a broken screen still counts as being worth $130 or more, for example, it qualifies for AT&T’s latest iPhone 17 promos.
Even with those requirements, it’s still a lot better than T-Mobile, so I’d say T-Mobile still has a ways to go to catch up with the excellent broken device support of the other two big guys.
Damaged Device Trade-In Deals Begin Soon
Finally, the end of the leaked document details the upcoming phone trade-in promotions that will qualify for damaged trades.
Starting October 2nd, T-Mobile is launching two brand new promotions that will accept broken trades. Both Google Pixel flagships (likely both the Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 series being sold at T-Mobile) and Motorola flagships will qualify for $1000 off with eligible trade.
This means that, according to the chart from earlier, an eligible trade-in device that has a broken screen or water damage but that still powers on will receive $500 towards a new device. Not too bad.
Overall, the new damaged trade-in offers are a step in the right direction. Hopefully T-Mobile works to expand these changes in the future, perhaps matching competitors by offering full value towards new devices.
Keep an eye out for these new promos to launch on October 2nd, 2025.
