Remember Gazelle? Gazelle was one of the major used iPhone buyback services. Every time Apple released a new phone, Gazelle was there, buying folks’ previous generation phones, giving them cash to pay for the newest shiny.

Erin Griffith, writing for Fortune, describes Gazelle before Apple entered the Gazelle space:

Gazelle, a Boston-based e-commerce company which buys and sells used smartphones, has raised $61.9 million in venture backing from RockPort Capital Partners, Venrock, Craton Equity Partners and Physic Ventures, according to CB Insights. In 2013, the company had $113 million in revenue.

$113 million in revenue, just two years ago. Pretty healthy.

That year, Apple launched its own trade-in program. This year it launched one for non-Apple phones.

Apple’s move may have hurt Gazelle’s sales. Last week, with hardly a peep, Gazelle sold to a kiosk business called Outerwall for just $18 million.

Think about that fall. From annual sales of $113 million, and a valuation way north of that figure, to a sale at $18 million, just two years later. Wow. Just a reminder of the mercurial nature of the tech space.

While it is not certain that Apple’s move directly impacted Gazelle’s sales, it’s not an unreasonable conclusion to draw.

Personally, I appreciate the convenience of trading my device in at the Apple Store. Though it’s possible I could get a better deal shopping my used iPhone around to sites like Gazelle, going directly to the Apple Store means no hassle for me, and the knowledge that Apple will either repurpose my used phone or recycle it, both things that work for me.

[H/T the psionically enabled not Jony Ive]