AT&T to Take Trade-Ins on Old Wireless Phones
AT&T today announced it's working with FlipSwap to offer a trade-in service to all AT&T stores across the nation. Starting February 13, 2011, you can walk into any AT&T store and trade your old cell phone for a promotional card based on the device's trade-in value and condition. FlipSwap has the final word on how much it's worth.
"This is a new option we're bringing into our stores to offer even more value to our customers," said John Dwyer, senior vice president, Retail Sales Operations, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Customers can now trade-in phones they no longer need and use the trade-in value to offset the expense of their new device or other services. We're excited to make this available across all of our company owned stores."
Though AT&T won't say it, the well-timed promotion almost certainly is also an attempt to curb the expected mass exodus to Verizon. It took Verizon Wireless less than a day to sell out of iPhone 4 pre-order inventory, and the carrier sold more iPhone 4 models between 3AM and 5AM than any other phone on launch day. Those kind of numbers are hard to ignore, particularly when they only represent existing Verizon customers. AT&T subscribers fed up with spotty service will have their chance to jump to what they think will be greener pastures starting February 9th (online).
AT&T's trade-in program probably isn't going to entice those chomping at the bit to make the switch, but it could be a deciding factor for anyone still on the fence. And for anyone who's already decided to stay (or sign up) with AT&T, this is a chance to recoup a bit of jingle on an older device that would otherwise end up in the garbage bin. Take these numbers with a grain of salt, but we plugged the now dated HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) into FlipSwap's website and was told it's worth an estimated $34.12. We then looked up Motorola's Razr line, which is even older, and found a handful valued at around $14 to $19.50.
Check it out here.
"This is a new option we're bringing into our stores to offer even more value to our customers," said John Dwyer, senior vice president, Retail Sales Operations, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Customers can now trade-in phones they no longer need and use the trade-in value to offset the expense of their new device or other services. We're excited to make this available across all of our company owned stores."
Though AT&T won't say it, the well-timed promotion almost certainly is also an attempt to curb the expected mass exodus to Verizon. It took Verizon Wireless less than a day to sell out of iPhone 4 pre-order inventory, and the carrier sold more iPhone 4 models between 3AM and 5AM than any other phone on launch day. Those kind of numbers are hard to ignore, particularly when they only represent existing Verizon customers. AT&T subscribers fed up with spotty service will have their chance to jump to what they think will be greener pastures starting February 9th (online).
AT&T's trade-in program probably isn't going to entice those chomping at the bit to make the switch, but it could be a deciding factor for anyone still on the fence. And for anyone who's already decided to stay (or sign up) with AT&T, this is a chance to recoup a bit of jingle on an older device that would otherwise end up in the garbage bin. Take these numbers with a grain of salt, but we plugged the now dated HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) into FlipSwap's website and was told it's worth an estimated $34.12. We then looked up Motorola's Razr line, which is even older, and found a handful valued at around $14 to $19.50.
Check it out here.
