How To Wipe an iPad Before You Sell it Online

Published in

Mac O’Clock

4 min readOct 6, 2021

Are you looking to sell your preowned iPad online? Before you do, there are few things you must do first. This blog post will guide you through the preparation process of your used Apple iPad for further resale step by step.

Before Erasing Your iPad, Do the Following

Back it Up

Before selling your iPad, go through its data, like photos, documents, notes, settings, applications, etc., to make sure you have it all saved on the cloud for future use. Usually, everything is synced to your i Cloud account anyways, as long as you are connected to a network. However, we recommend checking for the most recent iPad backup before you can erase it. And if you don’t have all of your most current information backed up, here is how to do it:

Open your Settings app and tap on the Apple ID.
Select iCloud.
Scroll down until you see the iCloud Backup option and tap on it.
Tap the switch to turn it on and choose Back Up Now.

If you are upgrading to a newer iPad, make sure that your old one has the latest version of iPadOS before making the final backup. To run the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

Sign Out of iCloud, iTunes, and App Store

Don’t forget to sign out of all accounts. Even if you reset your iPad while logged in, the system will prompt the new user to enter an original password during a setup. Besides, you don’t want anyone to have access to your data, especially the App store.

To sign out iCloud and iTunes:

Go to Settings and tap on your name.
Scroll down and opt to Sign out.
Enter your Apple ID password and select Turn Off.

Removing Your Personal Information From the iPad

Once you have your backup, it is time to erase and reset your tablet. If you have a passcode set, do the following:

Open the Settings once again and tap on Touch ID & Passcode.
Type in your passcode and tap Turn Passcode Off.
Tap Turn Off to confirm this selection.

Do the same for Touch ID if you have it set.

Now that your iPad is free of accounts, passcodes, and fingerprint scans, it is time to wipe it completely. All iOS devices are hardware encrypted, which means you can quickly get rid of any data by deleting the encryption key.

Here is now to eraser your iPad:

Follow the Settings > General > Reset path.
Tap on Erase All Content and Settings and select Erase.
Confirm the reset by tapping on Erase again. And that is it: you have initiated a factory restore.

Where To Sell Your iPad Online?

More and more people choose to resell their technology online, as opposed to dealing with marketplaces. With an online buyback company, sellers don’t have to deal with the whole listing process, communicate with interested parties, haggle, etc. Instead, the sale is instant, convenient, and final.

There are many-many buybacks and trade-in companies for preowned technology out there, but they all work more or less the same. For example, to sell an iPad online, you just need to pick a buyback site, calculate the offer, send the tablet in, and wait to get paid.

However, it is important to wet the buyback first: check how old the business is, look up what others are saying about it on Reseller Ratings, Trustpilot, and Better Business Bureau.

Used iPad Trade-in Value

The resale value of a used Apple iPad varies from model to model, but here are a few pricing examples nonetheless:

A fully functional preowned Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch 256GB tablet can get up to $471 money in your pocket*.
2020 Apple iPad Pro 4 11-inch Wi-Fi with 512GB of storage in flawless condition yields up to a $424 estimate*.
Used Apple iPad Mini 4 Wi-Fi+ 4GB LTE with 128GB storage gets up to $107 cash offer*.

Bottom Line

Reselling your unwanted tech online couldn’t be easier nowadays. For example, you can sell your used iPad online with just a few clicks without having to leave your home. But before you hand it over to the new owner, be sure to remove your passcodes, sign out of all linked accounts, and reset the tablet to factory settings, following the instruction above. Passcode and iCloud locked iPads have no resale value, so please do those things beforehand to ensure your check arrives in the mail.

*Priced on 10/05/2021. Subject to change.

Originally published at https://www.gadgetsalvation.com on October 6, 2021.