GameStop Turns Old iPods into Gold

[Greg Tito]

GameStop Turns Old iPods into Gold

The U.S. game retailer reports that iDevice trade-ins for store credit have exceeded expectations.

Part of the problem with being a technologically advanced society with baby's toys having more advanced electronics than the astronauts brought with them to the Moon is what to do with all those gadgets once they become obsolete. Case in point: the iPods that revolutionized music a mere ten years ago are near worthless to those of us with fancy new smartphones. Heck, even the first few iPhones are garbage now. After investing $500 or more a few years ago, most people feel bad that previously-prized devices will just collect dust in a drawer (or worse, poisoning a landfill) and that is where GameStop comes in. In September [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112867-GameStop-Would-Like-To-Buy-Your-Old-iPhone], the game retailer began offering a way to trade in old Apple devices for in-store credit to pay for games. So far, the ploy has worked.

"The velocity of this trade program has exceeded our expectations," said Tony Bartel, the top banana at GameStop. "We expect to see strong post-holiday traffic as customers trade in older models that were replaced by gifts."

While the amount of credit that GameStop offers is significant, the devices it accepts for the program is limited to recent models. GameStop will give credit worth "$180 for an iPod Touch, up to $300 for an iPhone and up to $400 for an iPad." The "up to" language is troubling: I wonder if truly old models get nothing or how much the value varies based on the condition. An iPad with a crack in its screen ain't worth 400 bucks worth of games, that's for sure.

And that brings up the question of what GameStop does with these models. The release doesn't say, but the whole trade-in scheme doesn't work if you can't move the old product. Who is buying these old iPads from GameStop? Are they being shipped to developing countries to be sold on some kind of black market? Can I head up an investigative task-force to find out that all these devices are being melted down to form a giant mecha-destro-robot armed to take over the world?

'Cause that'd be awesome.



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[Something Amyss]

This seems to be far better than other trade-ins I saw. I do wonder what's in it for them, though. There's just no way they're doing it to be charitable, so I do wonder what the catch is.

On the other hand, this is nowhere near as impressive as turning ipods into gold. I was worried they had discovered my secret.

 

[Something Amyss]

I should also add that "Up to" is fairly standard language as they're not going to pay full price for a broken iPad. The max price is like any used item: Best condition possible.

 

[Jikuu]

The GameStop at my closest mall has the iThings in a case similar to selling GBA and DS cartridges with prices. For what it's worth, the iPod Touches they're getting are 2nd gen, so these aren't exactly "just like new" products.

 

[Ariyura]

They're refurbishing them and then reselling them. I asked one of the guys in the shop and they said they're running a few test stores with them to see how well they sell before trying to integrate them into other stores.

 

[Zydrate]

I imagine they're simply reselling them to people who can't afford the super-new models.
This'll be good for me when I find myself in need of one.

 

[Hitchmeister]

"...up to $400 for an iPad." Yeah, I'm pretty sure if you go in with a brand new 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad2, they'll gladly pay you $400 for it. Anything else is going to be, shall we say, "significantly" less?

 

[DustyDrB]

I expect nothing less than $200 for my 3rd gen iPod classic with the loose headphone jack and the 15 minute battery life!

Actually, I did notice this in a Gamestop I went into on Christmas Eve. I didn't know it was a new thing for them (was my first time going into a Gamestop in a long while).

 

[Rad Party God]

I'll stick to my good ol' 1gb iPod Shuffle, thanks. I guess they'll build a bunker of sorts with all those iPods and start making illegal experiments on it, laughing maniacly and rambling something about taking over the world.

 

[TastySurvivor]

GameStop Turns Old iPods into Gold

The U.S. game retailer reports that iDevice trade-ins for store credit have exceeded expectations.


And that brings up the question of what GameStop does with these models. The release doesn't say, but the whole trade-in scheme doesn't work if you can't move the old product. Who is buying these old iPads from GameStop? Are they being shipped to developing countries to be sold on some kind of black market? Can I head up an investigative task-force to find out that all these devices are being melted down to form a giant mecha-destro-robot armed to take over the world?

'Cause that'd be awesome.



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Um...Greg, did you do any research on this? You can go onto the Gamestop website and buy refurbished ipods and iphones right now. Have been able to for awhile. My local store in Kona has been selling cases and chargers since they started taking the ipods.

 

[Doom972]

Gamestop is starting to look like a chain of glorified pawn shops to me.

 

[SaetonChapelle]

Not sure how I feel about this. I like my game stores selling... ya know... games. But who knows, Im most probably thinking too hard into this. Though I will admit the last thing I want to see is a full corner of my local gamestop being devoted to apple.

Here's to good luck for them! Hope it goes well.

 

[vrbtny]

And that brings up the question of what GameStop does with these models. The release doesn't say, but the whole trade-in scheme doesn't work if you can't move the old product. Who is buying these old iPads from GameStop? Are they being shipped to developing countries to be sold on some kind of black market? Can I head up an investigative task-force to find out that all these devices are being melted down to form a giant mecha-destro-robot armed to take over the world?

'Cause that'd be awesome.

Several things really. The less damaged ones, with say just a cracked screen, can simply be repaired for pittance (Well, 5 quid for a ipod touch/iphone) then sold as refurbished.

Or they are stripped for parts. Recently a massive market has sprung up for miniature technology, like the stuff found in iphones. So people buy damaged phones which maybe have one or two components which are bust, disassemble it, and sell all the working parts for a heck of a lot of money. Certainly more than what they paid to get the broken iphone.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Gamestop is starting to look like a chain of glorified pawn shops to me.

I'm starting to get this vibe too.

 

[Something Amyss]

You can keep your secret, but once I've finished my giant mecha-destro-robot, we'll see how long you have to enjoy it. Beware the I-rule Zachary.

Besides i'm pretty sure there's an app for that.

Bah! Fool! Do you think I would just amass gold with no end game? Like a poor chess player, you are only thinking in the now, while I am thinking three moves ahead! Mwahahahahahaha!

 

[BehattedWanderer]

From the title, I thought this was about urban mining, the process of mineral reclamation from consumer electronics. Maybe that's what Gamestop will do with it, I don't know, but you had me thrown for a loop there. Interesting that their plan took off, though it's understandable how it would work. Most likely, they'll just focus on reselling them, like a nonhaggling gaming-specific pawn shop.