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NextWorth
Company typePrivate
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
DefunctAugust 2021 (2021-08)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Billerica, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
David Chen, CEO
ServicesUsed electronics trade-ins
Revenue$31.4 million (2012)[1]
Websitenextworth.com

NextWorth Solutions, Inc., was an electronics trade-in and recycling service. Users of the service exchange used electronics for cash or discounts on newer models.[2] NextWorth was founded by business students at Babson College in 2005. It started as a commission-based service to help businesses setup online auctions for their used items, then changed its business model to focus on electronics trade-ins in 2006. As of late 2012, NextWorth was one of the best-known and largest electronics trade-in and recycling services in the United States, although it handles only a small percentage of total trade-in traffic.[3][4]

The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth had signed the company's certificate of dissolution in June 2019.[5] Although the company seemed to operate in some capacity for the next two years, NextWorth's website went dark in August 2021.[6]

History

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NextWorth was founded by David Chen, Andrew Walsh and Scott Richardson while they were students at Babson College. The company was selected for Babson College's 2005 Business Hatcheries program, which provides free resources to student-led startups.[7] NextWorth Inc. began operations the following year. It was originally a service that helped businesses and non-profits prepare luxury items for online auctions in exchange for a 20-33 percent commission.[8] In the spring of 2006, NextWorth changed its business model and services to focus on electronics trade-ins.[9] In January 2007, NextWorth raised $1.5 million in its first round of funding.[9]

Services

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NextWorth purchases used electronics[10][11] and resells about 80-85 percent of them, while the remainder are sent to a network of partners for recycling.[12] Many used iPhones are resold in countries where new ones are more expensive.[13] Sellers can fill out an online form to describe the used products they want to sell, then get a quote through the website.[14][15] After receiving the quote, sellers have thirty days to ship the product using a pre-paid shipping label provided by NextWorth.[3] The company wipes the device's memory and inspects the item before sending the seller reimbursement in 3–15 days depending on the payment method.[11][16][17] If NextWorth appraises a product at a lower condition than the seller expected, they can get an explanation from NextWorth, challenge the quote, or reject it and get the product back.[16]

Sellers can also do trade-ins in-person and get reimbursed immediately at partnered retailers like Target.[18][19][20] The Target trade-in program began as a pilot project in 2009, and expanded to 190 locations by 2010 and almost 1,500 stores by 2011.[21][22] Their partnership with Target ended in late 2016 when Target selected CExchange as their new partner.[23] A similar partnership was in place with Circuit City before it went out of business in 2009.[24][12] A company spokesperson stated in 2009 that the company was also partnered with 15 smaller retailers for in-person trade-ins.[12]

Pricing

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NextWorth sets its prices through an algorithm developed by MBA students and a professor at Babson College.[25] Sellers can obtain better prices by reselling their electronics directly through services like eBay or Craigslist,[26][27] but services like NextWorth are more convenient and have predictable pricing.[27][28] A CNET editor found most of the trade-in prices at NextWorth to be "pretty fair", though he was expecting higher prices for some items.[29] Variations in price between trade-in services and products depend on timing (release of new models and market fluctuations), the model being sold, and the product's condition.[30]

According to About.com, how fair the seller is in describing the condition of the product "will determine whether your experience with NextWorth is satisfying or not." Some sellers get higher or lower prices than they were originally quoted, depending on how NextWorth's assessment of the product's condition compares to the seller's description.[16]

NextWorth had experienced spikes in trade-in activity from sellers when some newer models are announced, such as when the iPad 2 was announced in March 2011,[31][32][33] and when the iPhone 5 was announced in September 2012[26][34][35] These announcements also caused the trade-in price of older models to decrease, due to over-supply.[35][36] as well as after the holiday season.[37]

References

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  1. ^ Kirsner, Scott (July 6, 2014). "Market burgeons for pre-owned smartphones". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  2. ^ "NextWorth". Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b Dominguez, Robert (September 11, 2012). "Get the most for your iPhone 4s – before the new one drops". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  4. ^ Fottrell, Quentin (October 24, 2012). "iPad resales surge over 700%". MarketWatch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  5. ^ "NextWorth Solutions, Inc". OpenCorporates. n.d. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Home page". NextWorth. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2022. Compare with previous archive snapshot.
  7. ^ "Student tech companies selected by Babson hatcheting for fall term". Mass High Tech. October 24, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  8. ^ Viscarolasaga, Efrain (January 16, 2006). "Babson spinout aims to ease online auctioning setup". Mass High Tech. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Viscarolasaga, Efrain (April 13, 2007). "New funding, biz plan puts NextWroth in next phase". Mass High Tech. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  10. ^ Gill, Ronnie (March 18, 2013). "Web Sightings: Trade in old electronics". Long Island Newsday. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Cha, Bonnie (August 8, 2013). "Turn old gadgets into cash: a guide to selling electronics online". AllThingsD. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Viscarolasaga, Efrain (February 5, 2009). "Second Rotation, NextWorth Solutions offer cash for 'e-waste'". Mass High Tech. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  13. ^ Reardon, Marrguerite. "Is it time to ditch the iPhone for the Samsung Galaxy S4?". CNET. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  14. ^ Worley, Becky (October 16, 2012). "Where to get the most money for your used gadgets". Yahoo! News. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  15. ^ Pacheco, Walter (September 27, 2012). "iPhone owners trade in old models for big money". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c Costello, Sam. "NextWorth Review – A used iPod Buyer/Reseller". About.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  17. ^ How it Works, NextWorth, archived from the original on February 7, 2016, retrieved December 12, 2013
  18. ^ Gyrta, Thomas (September 28, 2012). "Second-Hand iPhones a Boon for Resellers". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  19. ^ Magee, Joan (November 25, 2009). "Gadget Trade-Ins Gather Pace; Retailers Hope Programs for Used Devices Attract Holiday Shoppers". pp. B.7B. As a result, more companies are getting in on these programs. Target Corp., Amazon.com and J&R Music & Computer World all work with NextWorth.com.
  20. ^ "NextWorth offers iPad trade-ins at Target stores". The Boston Globe. March 22, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  21. ^ Puleo, Gary (December 16, 2011). "NextWorth, Target team up for electronic trade-ins". Times Herald. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  22. ^ Vomhof, John (August 25, 2010). "Target launches full-service mobile centers". Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  23. ^ "Partner List | CEXchange". cexchange.com. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  24. ^ "Timelines of Circuit City Stores Inc". The Associated Press. March 8, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  25. ^ Kharif, Olga (2008-09-02). "What's Hot: Used Apple iPhones: After the iPhone 3G launch, consumers want the original, hackable iPhone, and vendors are springing up to sell them—for a premium". Consumer Electronics. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  26. ^ a b Yu, Roger (September 11, 2012). "More iPhone owners looking to sell before possible iPhone 5". USA Today. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  27. ^ a b Gilbert, Jason (September 10, 2012). "Want to sell your old iPhone? You better do it before Wednesday". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  28. ^ Terms and Conditions, NextWorth Solutions, archived from the original on February 4, 2016, retrieved December 11, 2013
  29. ^ German, Kent (February 28, 2011). "NextWorth values your cell phone". CNET. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  30. ^ Horn, Leslie (September 11, 2012). "Where to sell your iPhone 4s for the most money". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  31. ^ Warren, Christina (March 4, 2011). "iPad trade-in economy explodes". USA Today. Mashable. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  32. ^ Yu, Roger (February 28, 2012). "iPad 2 prices fall with next model looming". USA Today. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  33. ^ Peckham, Matt (February 29, 2012). "The Next iPad's Nearly Here: Are You Dumping Your iPad 2?". TIME. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  34. ^ Etherington, Darrell (October 24, 2012). "Gadget-swapping site sees 1,000% spike in iPad trade-in volume post-apple event". TechCrunch.
  35. ^ a b Choney, Suzanne (September 12, 2012). "Where to trade in your old iPhone and sooner is better". NBC News. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  36. ^ Fitchard, Kevin. "When is the best time to sell your old iPhone? Probably right now". Giga Om.
  37. ^ Tuttle, Brad (December 30, 2013). "Peak Season for Gadget Trade-ins: Best Time for Buying or Selling Old Electronics?". TIME Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
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