Best Buy Wants Your Apple Money Real Bad!!!
Read on….
Best Buy wants to be the go-to destination to trade-in your electronics. Late last month the retailer offered a free iPhone trade-in deal — you bring in your old iPhone 4 or 4S and you can get a new iPhone 5 for free. Now, it is offering a deal on your old iPad.
On Friday and Saturday you can bring in your iPad 2 or the third-generation iPad into any Best Buy location and receive a minimum of $200 in Best Buy credit in exchange. If your iPad is in better than regular working condition, Best Buy says you may receive additional cash. iPads with cracked screens or with water damage will not be accepted.
However, Gazelle, a consumer electronics trade-in website, which specializes in Apple gear, does accept broken iPads. A broken Wi-Fi, 16GB model should get you about $60 on the site.
After you hand in your iPad to Best Buy, the company either recycles the tablet or resells it. Gazelle and other trade-in programs do the same thing. However, Gazelle CEO Israel Ganot says that even broken iPads are worth something.
“We sell the broken items to repair shops that will repair the devices and then resell them as refurbished,” Ganot told ABC News. “There is no reason not to accept broken iPads if they can be repaired.”
There’s been speculation that Apple may to start its own in-store, trade in program, which would presumably offer customers a discount on new phones and tablets in exchange for older devices.
Best Buy is encouraging those who trade in their iPads to get the newest fourth-generation iPad with Retina Display, but there have also been rumors that a new iPad with a similar design to the iPad Mini on the way.
“It’s a great way to drive revenue and clear the shelves of the older generation iPad and start to make room for the new generation that is likely to come out later in the year,” Ganot said.
For those who aren’t interested in the next or current iPad, Best Buy has recently revamped some of its stores with specific Samsung and Microsoft sections so those respective companies can better explain their smartphone and tablet offerings.
By Joanna Stern, ABC News