iPhone 4: Questions about selling it

[DP]

I have only read here on this august forum about iPhones and only somewhat familiar with them because I have had only Android phones mainly because I have never paid for a phone until the one I have now. As a result, I don't have an iPhone myself but my wife does. Now, she has used it as a phone, for texting, and light surfing. She is talking about getting a new one now because she's had this over two years (Verizon) but I realized that if we put it out there for sale, I have no clue what it might be worth. Plus, I also realized-and never asked her-if she's ever hooked it up to her computer! I don't think she ever has!
Reading posts here over the years, my first worry is that if I connect it to my computer to back it up, can I do so without it automatically downloading iOS7 and having it possibly messing things up, as I've read here happening to some folks? There is also an issue with a notice that keeps popping up saying something like, "This accessory is not optimized..." and seems to pop up randomly. The forum told me that it came from some sort of damage to the phone, and she told she had dropped it in the sink one time and got it wet!
So my questions are:
Should I even try to update to iOS7? Would it effect a selling price?
Can I back it up before selling without it automatically updating the iOS? And how do I nuke and pave an iPhone before selling?
Can I do something to stop the pop up notice?
And, what would be a good price?
I think it's a 16GB.
Thx for the help!

[deckeda]

Gazelle and Nextworth and Swappa can give you an idea of the phone's value. Updating the OS is optional when syncing or backing up. The message I wouldn't worry about at this point. You can remove some thing during a sync by deselecting them/replacing with nothing etc and the phone has a Reset settings function look around. Don't fear iTunes, just read the dialogs you come across.

[DRR]

Don't bother updating to iOS7, it won't drastically affect selling price but AFAIK there's no easy way to downgrade to iOS6. So if they want the update let them do it themselves.

You can back it up without automatically updating the OS. like deckeda says, read all the dialogs carefully.

I get the "unsupported accessory" popup mostly with third party cables. Make sure connectors are clean and use a genuine cable if you can.

To nuke and pave and iPhone go into Settings/General/Reset/Erase all content and settings. That'll delete the hardware encryption key and your original data will be safe.

[DP]

Thx, deck. I also asked my wife some more questions and I found out that, besides dropping it in the sink, she dropped it in the toilet, and a friend knocked over her glass of wine onto the iPhone! I'm surprised it even still works...

[DP]

The cables are Apple cables. I have cleaned the connection best I can using an old toothbrush. Still get the pop up.

[mstudio]

I'm sorry, but will you be comfortable selling it knowing it's been in the sink, toilet and drinking at a bar?

[deckeda]

That's like asking, "Are you comfortable selling the car with 200K miles on it, when it needs repair?"

All a person can do is disclose what they know and the buyer beware, or am I missing something else?

[DP]

mstudio wrote:
I'm sorry, but will you be comfortable selling it knowing it's been in the sink, toilet and drinking at a bar?

It still works. The only issue I see is the pop up. Yes, it's been cleaned and she said it was a "clean" toilet-it wasn't dropped in after the toilet was used and before flushing. How about I take $20 off?
I would also bet that any forumites who have bought any phone off eBay or CL might be surprised at any undisclosed information about that phone. Being dropped in a toilet might be the least disgusting thing that has ever happened to it...

[SteveO]

LOL

[gulzarbegum]

you can backup by an application named allyourtext. May be, I am not sure.

Don't bother updating to iOS7, it won't drastically affect selling price but afaik there's no easy way to downgrade to iOS6. So if they want the update let them do it themselves.