Apple Inc. launched its popular iPhone trade-in program in China on Tuesday, giving consumers there the opportunity to receive store credit toward the purchase of their next Apple product at any of the company’s 18 stores countrywide. Now it appears Apple’s trade-in values for used iPhone’s are significantly lower than trade-in offers from private shops offering smartphone recycling programs.

According to a news report from Sina (first spotted by ZDNet), Apple is offering around $240 for an iPhone 5s, $80 for an iPhone 4s and $40 for an iPhone 4. This is only about half of what consumers are getting when selling their used iPhones to private recycling shops, where they can expect to get up to $176 for an iPhone 4s and up to $463 for an iPhone 5s.

Along with the higher trade-in value, consumers also feel they get a better deal at private shops as they get cash back instead of store credit.

The diminutive trade-in credit offered by Apple does not go very far toward the cost of the latest iPhone models. In China, a 16GB iPhone 6 Plus costs $973, an iPhone 6 costs $846 and an iPhone 5s will set fans back $718.

Unlike to U.S. iPhone trade-in program, notes the report, Apple stores in China offer the same trade-in price for iPhones of the same generation regardless of the phone’s physical condition or whether it has 16Gb or 64GB of memory. The most a consumer in China can expect to get for a “new” iPhone 5s at trade-in is $240.

It is not clear why Apple offers lower trade-in values in China than consumers are accustomed to, nor is it known what happens to used iPhones recycled via Apple in China.

Last week we learned that Apple supposedly partnered with Foxconn Technology Group, its Taiwan-based manufacturing partner for iPads and iPhones, to refurbish and resell the used iPhones via its e-commerce sites. If Apple is not making any money from this transaction, it may well be the reason for the lower trade-in values. Apple has not confirmed an agreement with Foxconn in this regard.

According to Apple Store staff questioned by Sina, the iPhone trade-in program “targets concerns of environmental protections.”

photo credit: Four Generations of iPhone: Original + 3G + 4 + 5 via photopin (license)