Kevin Bostic
Best Buy's initial iPhone trade-in program proved a smashing success, and now the retailer is going back for seconds, giving consumers the chance to once more swap an iPhone 4 or 4S for a "free" iPhone 5 starting on Friday.
As USA Today reported, the new trade-in program will run for nine days beginning June 21, with customers able to bring in a working iPhone 4 or 4S for a credit of up to $150. That credit will go toward the purchase of a 16GB iPhone 5 at the retailer's current price.
Taken in combination with an instant $50 rebate, customers can get Apple's newest handset for free on a two-year contract. The only costs customers are likely to incur are applicable sales taxes and carrier activation fees.
The retailer determines the worth of a phone based on its physical condition, and interested customers can check the potential value of their devices on Best Buy's website. If the trade-in phone is deemed to be worth more than $150, the store will make up the difference with a Best Buy gift card.
Customers will have to sign up for a two-year deal with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. The trade-in credit is applicable only in physical Best Buy and Best Buy mobile stores, and not on the retailer's online portal.
Best Buy told USA Today that the iPhone trade-in promotion it held earlier in June led to the biggest day ever for its four-year-old trade-in program.
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
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4 Comments
Yeah, like Best Buy is gonna value any phone more than $150. In fact, they will most definitely undervalue it. I'd be blown away if they give anyone more than $50 or $100.
Unfortunately this sounds just like AT&T's free upgrade. How can they call it an upgrade when you turn in a 64gig phone and get a 16 gig phone back. A true free upgrade would be the smae memory in the Iphone you get as the one you turn in.
Where is BestBuy getting all these iphone 5's? Did they get shipped too many iphones and now they have to sell through them to make way for a new iPhone (iPhone 5S) maybe in a few months?
So could the author have done 5 minutes of research and looked at offers on gazelle etc?. Which btw is 205 for iPhone 4S 16G in good condition. And 215 for 64G. If BB will make up they difference... Perhaps that's ok, but I would prefer the gazelle amazon credit(extra 5%). Your Milage may vary based in time of offer etc. Also a phone call to BB to ask what is a typical offer for various models? Ie will they match gazelle AND give the 50 instant rebate? That would be pretty good deal compared to gazelle.