(WTNH) – The iPhone 15 and 15 plus came out recently, leaving many people with old phones they don’t need anymore. If you are among those looking to sell one, we are Stretching Your Dollar with how to start the process.

Looking to sell your phone? Experts say the earlier the better.

“The best time to sell your phone is as soon as that next generation of that device is announced. It’s better to do it even now, a few weeks later, it’s better than waiting a few months,” Trends Reporter at CNET, Abrar Al-Heeti said.

Al-Heeti said that sellers should explore the various places to sell their phones.

“The idea here is to really shop around because each place is going to have different deals and different values for your device,” Al-Heeti said.

One quick and easy option that Al-Heeti suggests is using a buyback service that specifically deals with buying old phones, like Decluttr, Buyback Boss or GadgetGone.

“On the one hand, you can get, you know, instant quotes and you don’t have to deal with dealing with buyers one on one. You can kind of let the sites take care of that. The drawback here is that maybe you might not get as much money as if you did sell it on your own,” Al-Heeti said.

She says selling the phone yourself may require some patience since you’ll probably deal with a lot of people who express interest but never follow up. The main sites for this are Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and eBay.

“Make sure that if you’re meeting with someone to buy the device from you, you’re doing it somewhere safe and that you’re doing as much as you can to kind of vet that person just for your own safety,” Al-Heeti explained.

Before handing over your old device, Al-Heeti said to back up the phone, including your photos, apps and contacts.

“And then very importantly, you’re going to want to wipe your device. So go into your settings, clear your phone, you can factory reset it just to be safe. And then another critical step is to remove your SIM card, because oftentimes that’s the only way that you can kind of keep your number on your new phone,” Al-Heeti said.

Trading your phone straight to the store is another option, but experts say they often are less forgiving for damage to the phone than the average buyer.