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Businesses The Almighty Buck Apple

Apple Extends Its Trade-In Program 55

Mark Wilson writes "Earlier in the month it was reveal that Apple was about to start offering gift cards as part of a trade-in program for people buying new a new iPhone. The updated program has now gone live so you can take your old Apple device, or non-Apple smartphone to an Apple store, or mail it in to receive credit. The credit can be used in store or online against the purchase of a new Apple device, and this program expansion is the latest move from Apple to try to tempt users away from other platforms. You can check online to see how much you can expect to receive for your existing phone and decide whether it's worth your while. Hint: it might not be.
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Apple Extends Its Trade-In Program

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 30, 2015 @01:18PM (#49372107)

    I am so excited by this new and innovative scheme from Apple. It really just shows us yet again that they are at the cutting edge of technology. It is incredible that nobody has thought of this before, and just goes to show how well placed our confidence is in Tim and the team. And they are also so tolerant of minorities. And treat their workers well.

    • This is going to seem like magic. But imagine this. If you stop posting in and browsing Apple-related stories, then you will start seeing less and less of them over time.

      But, alas, then the world would not know how cool you are.

      • Missed advertising opportunity... You're offering "One KEY trick to hide Apple content. Slashdotters HATE THIS!"
        • by Anonymous Coward

          "I tried this technique for reducing Slashvertisements. You'll never guess what happened next!"

  • Complete fail (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rodrigoandrade ( 713371 ) on Monday March 30, 2015 @01:26PM (#49372229)
    I don't see this being an advantage for ANYONE:

    1. iPhone owners with an older model will get so little credit towards a new phone that they'll think twice before upgrading.

    2. Apple fanboys will buy the newest iPhone, trade-in or no trade-in.

    3. Android users with fancy devices (Note 4, S6) are fanboys and it'll be a cold day in hell before they switch to Apple.

    4. People with regular mid-end Android devices -- see #1 above.

    5. Blackberry users generally have company-issued phones, so they're not going to trade them.

    6. Windows Phone users are drinking the MS Kool Aid (tm) and anxiously waiting for Windows 10 and the secomd coming of Jesus.

    7. The trade-in program isn't available in developing countries yet, where Windows Phones are sold as budget devices (low end models only, of course).

    8. So, who's left? Maybe all 3 people who bought a Firefox OS phone?
    • The Firefox phone was like $30 and intended for developing nations, so see #7.
    • http://store.apple.com/us/brow... [apple.com]

      Now that that's out of the way... I've got devices from 2009. I can't find any way to even trade them in.

      Back in 2011, I had an iOS device failure out of warranty, and I got a $50 value for bringing in the back cover of my previous device. Didn't need to bring in the rest, just the back cover, and I got $50 off the replacement. This probably kept me from going with an Android device at the time, and now I'm locked into the iOS App walled garden.

      So not sure about how they'

    • I traded in a previous gen iPhone, I got enough to pay for AppleCare for two new phones. That happened on the spot, I don't see how that is any kind of "disadvantage".

      You can get more selling a device yourself for sure. But that's a lot of hassle, ant not everyone has eBay accounts.

      You can also get a little more selling to other companies that will give you cash for older phones. But not much more, and it takes a little longer than simply getting credit for Apple when your goal is to buy something new fr

      • by vux984 ( 928602 )

        You can also get a little more selling to other companies that will give you cash for older phones. But not much more, and it takes a little longer than simply getting credit for Apple when your goal is to buy something new from Apple anyway...

        Therefore Apple has managed to give a discount to people who were ALREADY going to buy apple products?

        So the point of the program is what? To make less money?

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Chaset ( 552418 )
          I figure it takes the wind out of the second hand market. Not sure whether that's a good or bad thing for them, though it seems they think it's a good thing.
          • the wind was already taken out of the second hand market by having an anti-theft lock turned on by default. if you went to craigslist to buy a phone, you need to know if there is an antitheft lock on, because if you try to reset and install your own stuff, you could have bought a phone that you can't use. There are more structured options like amazon (buying direct, not from a marketplace person) or gazelle, but they get their markups.

            Right now I'm still using my two-year-old iphone 5. Once I got out of my

        • Maybe timing? If you are planning to buy a new smartphone sometime in the next n months, and are undecided about exactly when to buy or what to buy, maybe this will tilt you toward buying an iphone, and now?
      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        You can get more selling a device yourself for sure. But that's a lot of hassle, ant not everyone has eBay accounts.

        That's really the reason why there's a big discount between what you can get off eBay, Craigslist or Kijiji over just doing it at Apple.

        There's a risk vs. reward (you could post it and no one replies, scams, etc), so it depends how many dollars you want for that, versus how much are you willing to give up so someone else "can do it for you". Plus, it also costs time - you have to drive to the

    • by sehryan ( 412731 )

      Apparently, if you do it online, you get an Apple Store Gift Card, as opposed to credit towards a new iPhone.

      This is an important distinction, because it opens up your options. Want an AppleTV? How about an iMac or MacBook Air? What about some of the non-Apple stuff they sell at the store? All can now be funded with your trade-in.

      And even if none of these options appeal to you, you have a gift card with a verifiable balance that is probably not tied to your account. So if you get an $85 gift card for that i

    • I have an Ubuntu phone you insensitive clod.

  • It will still remain money hogger with no benefit at all.
  • Wait, so we are hating on Apple for giving us more options now?

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday March 30, 2015 @03:22PM (#49373345)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by mccalli ( 323026 )
      You understand that the release of the latest iPhone generations produced the highest rate switchers away from Android and over to the iPhone [macrumors.com], right?

      I don't mind the debate - I've had an iPhone since the 3GS but was and am seriously looking at switching away for various reasons. The debate should be based on fact though, and the facts are that Apple doesn't have a dearth of people moving off other platforms and over to its own.
    • the problem apple faces is theyre in the same market as CocaCola and Phillip Morris:

      Reality check: Apple just gained a major number of new customers with the iPhone 6. At the same time, Samsung Mobile has been losing dramatically, having to give up most of its profits to keep prices down to prevent even higher loss of customers.

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