Just sharing a hardware-adjacent experience for others.
I recently swapped from my Series 4 to a Series 6 Apple Watch, mostly thanks to jealousy and the evil participants of this thread.
In doing so, I opted to trade in my old watch for a possible $170. Usually I’d sell my old tech via classifieds (in Canada, Kijiji is popular). If current ads are any indication, it looks like they’re going for around $300. However, this is always a hassle (dozens of people messaging with scams or off-the-wall offers) and even successful sales are an awkward experience (last time I met a teenager in a Tim Horton’s while his mom—I assume, anyway—watched from her vehicle outside).
Also, the plague’s going around.
Also also, the watch has a few tiny scratches, which probably meant knocking off $50 from the asking price. (And I really didn’t want to haggle.)
So, I figured I’d try out this trade-in thing. $170 seems like a not-bad price considering I’d have to go through the trouble of used sales for ~$80 more.
Here’s how it worked: I bought the Watch full price, but Apple promised a possible $170 refunded back to my payment method. This total was based on the results of three questions: which model was it; does the Watch turn on; and are there any major scratches or dents?
I got the new Watch in-store (pay and pick up). A couple of days later, I received a box in the mail. Putting the old device in and shipping it back is as simple as you’d imagine. (Apple’s instructions are available online here, if you’re curious.) The box comes with a little folding cardboard piece with plastic. Unfolding the cardboard releases the tension in the plastic, allowing you to slip the device in and have it stay in the middle of the box. It seems super secure, and took all of 30 seconds. Then, you give the box to UPS (or FedEx).
That’s the stage I’m at now—shipping off the box. I’ll report back on if the couple of tiny scratches lead to a lower refund than the promised total.
However, there was an unexpected bonus with this option: Apple doesn’t want the watch band ($60 new) or the charger ($40 new)! Usually these would go with whoever buys my second-hand device, but now I get to have two bands (glad I ordered a different colour this time) and two chargers. So, if you squint a lot, the trade in is (potentially) worth $270. A great deal!