Trade-In Laptop program

[Melanie Kern-Favilla]

I purchased a new laptop in June of 2007 (Gateway) from Best Buy. It wasn't anything super-fancy. I had paid about $865 for it. These are the ballpark specs:

Processor Speed
2.0GHz

Display Type
WXGA widescreen TFT-LCD with Ultrabright technology (1280 x 800)

Screen Size
15.4"

System Bus
667MHz

Cache Memory
2MB on die Level 2

System Memory (RAM)
3GB

Type of Memory (RAM)
PC2-5300 DDR2

Hard Drive Type
SATA (5400 rpm)

Hard Drive Size
160GB

Optical Drive
Double-layer DVD±RW/CD


As luck would have it, the motherboard fried 13 months after purchase. The warranty ran out after a year (of course!). So I looked into purchasing a new laptop.

I checked out the Costco website and found a Trade-in & Recycle program for used electronics. You don't need to purchase anything from Costco, but if you turn in your electronics that you no longer need, you get a Costco cash card in return.

They have a form that you fill out (easy), based on the specs of the laptop, desktop, monitor, etc., that you want to trade in. I filled out the info and was thrilled to learn that I was getting back a Costco card for $240. Super! I sent in my damaged laptop and three weeks later, I got an email from the trade-in company. I wasn't getting back $240.....I was getting back $440!!! That's more than half of what I paid for it. We got the cash card in the mail yesterday.

All this for something that I probably would have thrown away!

Check out this link for more info:

http://costcotrades.greensight.com/Common/equiptypes.aspx?SiteXfrMsg=1

It's not just for laptops! I was lucky because the computer was perfect except for the motherboard. I suppose if the case was damaged or I was missing the power pack, I would have gotten back less.

Just wanted to share this info w/you. I'm not sure if you have to be a Costco member or not, but if you're talking about a several hundred dollar return, it might pay for you to become a member for $50.

Melanie

 

[Jay Barnes]

Thanks for the link Melanie! I've got an IBM laptop I need to get rid of, and this sounds like an excellent idea!

 

[Steve Miller]

I wonder what the heck Costco does does with all the used electronics? Any ideas?

 

[Melanie Kern-Favilla]

I wonder what the heck Costco does does with all the used electronics? Any ideas?

Hi Steve --

I don't think Costo is the company that literally handles the electronics. I think it's a sub-contractor that cannibalizes the equipment and re-sells the working parts for other uses, I guess. You can check out the link that is in the orig post and I think you can find a FAQ for the company.

Mel

edit: here are a couple of additional links......

http://costcotrades.greensight.com/Common/docviewer.aspx?doc=3

http://costcotrades.greensight.com/Common/docviewer.aspx?doc=4

Quoting from the website:

All equipment received by GreenSight will either be reconditioned or recycled. Some equipment may be sold into the secondary, or used, marketplace, in its whole machine form and some equipment may be disassembled and sold off as usable service parts. Recycled equipment will be broken down into its raw material format and used to produce new materials. GreenSight employs a zero tolerance landfill policy.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

This sounds like a great program. we have one here in Fort Wayne, one small start-up company does all the reconditioning...I have donated to them at least 5 machines in the last few months and got nothing for it...maybe I should have looked at costco

 

[fplowman]

This is good stuff. I wonder if it would be profitable to buy old used laptops and send them into Costco for cash?

I bought a laptop at a garage sale once and it was old, slow and basically for my uses worthless. I was able however to sell it on ebay and make $100. Thanky again for the info.

Fred

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

This is good stuff. I wonder if it would be profitable to buy old used laptops and send them into Costco for cash?

I bought a laptop at a garage sale once and it was old, slow and basically for my uses worthless. I was able however to sell it on ebay and make $100. Thanky again for the info.

Fred

I have a couple of older dinosaurs that I checked out on this site and they told me they were worth ZERO. I think that is why I built new ones anyway. I guess I will keep them in the attic for awhile longer, though I don't know why.