Much of this censorship exceeds Apple's legal obligations in Hong Kong, and we are aware of no legal justification for the political censorship of content in Taiwan," Knockel and Ruan wrote. "We found that part of Apple's mainland China political censorship bleeds into both Hong Kong and Taiwan. The researchers found that phrases referencing the 2014 Umbrella Revolution and the city's pro-democracy movement also faced blanket censorship from Apple's engraving service. The Chinese phrase "最高領導人," or "The Highest Leader," a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping, was disallowed in Taiwan. In China, for instance, the engraving "8964," a reference to the Tiananmen Square protests on June 4, 1989, was not allowed. It's something we don't see often." But apart from the more artistic engravings, it's in most consumers best interests to avoid personalization along the lines of names and addresses, as these engravings will likely depreciate the value of the device."Within mainland China, we found that Apple censors political content, including broad references to the Chinese leadership and China's political system, names of dissidents and independent news organizations, and general terms relating to religions, democracy, and human rights," wrote CitizenLab researchers Jeffrey Knockel and Lotus Ruan. "It was kind of unique and cool," he says. Scarsella recalls an iPod touch that had a highly stylized and elaborate "tattoo of a unicorn" etched into its metal back cover. However, on rare occasions, engraving can actually be a selling point. "They may put a case on it and never notice it has been engraved." "They expect to trade it, sell it, or hand it down."Īt the same time, many buyers in the secondary market are extremely price-sensitive and may not care about engraving on a device if it saves them even a few dollars, Trachsel says. In less than a year there will be a new device to replace the current device," says Scarsella. "Consumers are very aware that Apple products hold value exceptionally well. In general, the consumer electronics engraving trend is on the decline. Instead, he recommends a personalized case and the Find My iPhone app, which is more effective than engraving in case of loss or theft. Kilinski also goes as far as to describe engravings as "illogical" since most consumers use some sort of protective cover for their device anyway. "If you think of the life of your device, and whether you want to maximize the resale value, it's probably not a great idea to have it engraved." "Because the process degrades the rating from good to fair, the value can be 30% less."įor consumer electronics that outlive the 2- to 3-year mark (at which point many people tend to trade up to a newer device), engraving is best avoided, says Nextworth's Trachsel. "We have a process whereby we can buff the engraving to sell the device on eBay or Amazon," explains Scarsella.
"Engraving doesn't really affect wholesalers they are going to change the part or professionally remove the engraving anyway." Because wholesalers don't pay Gazelle less for engraved devices, the company is able to offer the public the same price for engraved and un-engraved iPads of similar specs.īut in those cases where Gazelle sells used devices directly on third-party websites, an engraved iPad could net far fewer dollars. Most iPads that Gazelle buys through its website are sold to the company's international and domestic wholesale partners. Similarly, Gazelle's Scarsella also agrees that engravings don't necessarily lower the buyback value of used devices. But if it has a name or address, the drop in value can be significantly more than 30%." "If it's minor and doesn't identify a person, we don't change the value. The type of engraving affects the amount customers selling their devices will net, says Kilinski. However, not all inscriptions affect the resell value of electronics.
However, similar engraved products would get 25% to 30% less. Bob Kilinski, Chief Marketing Officer at CExchange, says an iPad 2 or iPad 3 in good condition could fetch about $120 and $300 respectively. "If it's a phone number it's one thing, but if it's a love note to a significant other, it will turn a lot of people away."īased on numbers provided by these companies, an engraved iPad will sell for anywhere from 20% to 30% less than an unpersonalized device in the same condition. "The more personal the note, the harder it is to sell," he says. Jeff Trachsel, Chief Marketing Officer at NextWorth, says his company is upfront and clear about any engravings on the devices it resells - and demand for such items is thin. Officials at other trade-in and buyback sites, such as NextWorth and CExchange, also warn that engraved iPads and iPods may fetch fewer trade-in dollars than similar un-engraved models.
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