Gazelle Trade-in FAQ and Discussion Thread

RedGamer

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Gazelle.com

As the weeks have gone by, I have noticed discussion of Gazelle.com trade-in's within the Amazon Trade-in thread. I have decided to take it upon myself to create a thread solely for the purpose of discussing Gazelle.com and posting information pertaining to it.

This post will be updated to look.. spiffier with a full-fledged FAQ within a day or two, when I find the time.

For now, I'll list some basic information about Gazelle.com.

Credit Increases:

+5% Amazon Gift Card TIV: When trading in at Gazelle.com, if you choose Amazon Gift Card as your payment method, you will receive 5% more for your trade-in's.

Promotional Codes (entered during Checkout) ALL CODES ARE ONE-USE PER ACCOUNT, DO NOT STACK:
gazellebonuscode.jpg

*Credit to no_exit for above picture.

Flipping to Gazelle


Flipping refers to buying items at one place and trading in or selling them elsewhere at a profit (however, sometimes it is done to transfer credit from one place into credit at another or pure cash.)

FAQ

Q) What is Gazelle.com?

A) Gazelle.com is a site where one can trade in items ranging from Electronics to Video Games to Cell phones.

Q) Are there TIV's any good?

A) Some of their TIV's are -very- good, some are average and, like any other trade-in site or establishment, some trade-in values are poor.

However, from my experience and from the experience of other CAG members, I'd say the TIV's are above-average. Especially when one takes into account promotional codes or the +5% Amazon Gift Card TIV. To note, they seem to match Amazon.com's trade-in values on video games. However, they lag behind by around a day or two. So if a value plummets on Amazon, you can still lock it in at Gazelle.

Q) Is Gazelle.com a reliable place to trade-in games?

A) Many members of CAG have used Gazelle for trading in un-needed items and have had good experiences.


TIMING

Q) How long do I have to send in my items?
A) You have 30 days to get your item postmarked according to Gazelle. Don’t always wait because they won’t want to continue to offer 30 days if everyone takes that long & your post office may not want to send your stuff out.

Q) What happens if I send the item after 30 days?
A) You get the TIV as of that day.

Q) How long does it take to ship to Gazelle?
A) From West Coast up to 3-8+ days, usually about 6. From East Coast about the same, though frequently a day or two faster.

Q) How long does it take them to verify the item’s condition?
A) A few days, but can take longer.

Q) How long does it take to receive Paypal/AMZ credit email after item is approved?
A) Usually 1-4 days, but can take up to 10.

Q) I submitted a game but it did not show up on gazelle or email me...
A) It can take up to 24 hours for it to show up, but it's usually less than a minute.

SHIPPING

Q) Who pays to ship to Gazelle?
A) Gazelle pays.

Q) Do they give you a box?
A) If you want one but only for orders that have ~3-6 games (forget exact amount), they will mail you a priority mail box (but they give you parcel post label…). The box will arrive in ~3 days-1.5 weeks.

Q) Why did I get an email saying I’ll get a box when I did not request one?
A) When you delete games from a large order it will then default to giving you a box. Just un-request it.

Q) Can I cancel a shipment after I get a box?
A) Yes, but don’t abuse this or face possible sanction.

Q) Does Gazelle insure your shipment?
A) They claim they do, but no one has run into this problem yet.

Q) Shipping label does not fit on box, what do I do?
A) Set your printer to print 5x8 postcard and this will work fine & fit bubble mailers.

Q) Should I open my games before sending in if they’re new?
A) Does not matter.

Q) Why was it delivered to Cockeysville instead of Hunt Valley, MD?
A) They get them shipped to both of these addresses, which are streets away from each other.

WHAT TO INCLUDE/CONDITION

Q) Do I need to send the instruction manual?
A) No, but again don’t send everything without manuals if you want this policy to stay the same.

Q) Can I print out my own cover art or use generic?
A) Yes, possibly YMMV, again don’t abuse, and try to send cover art that has UPC label that matches the UPC for the game. To check this punch the UPC into Amazon searchbox.

Q) Will they take games without UPC Label on artwork and still give you full value?
A) Yes, YMMV though, as 2 people had this work but both sent in sealed games.

Q) Can I use a generic case?
A) YMMV, again don’t abuse.

Q) How picky are they over game condition?
A) Less picky than Amazon.

MISCELLANEOUS

Q) If I reject the new TIV they give me who pays to ship it back?
A) You do.

Q) How does Amazon credit get sent?
A) You will get a redeemable code much like an Xbox Live or PSN network DLC code. You just redeem that as a gift card on Amazon.

Q) Can I cancel games that I submitted on their site?
A) Yes, you can cancel games individually without the values of the others affected.
*credit to J7.


TC Notes: Please post about your experiences with Gazelle or anything else you think should be added to this post, I'm always up for more information. I apologize for not keeping it as up to date as I should.

~Thanks, RedGamer.
 
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[quote name='beerme']Can you use the "TWEET" and "TWEET09" codes on the same trade in order?[/QUOTE]

Since it says in the OP "no stack", what do you think?
 
[quote name='wynams']I had 4 payouts on 10/20 if you look a lil closer ... if $220 isn't massive I will use a different adjective.:lol:[/QUOTE]

I thought that was a rolling list, not just your's, so the last one was $66 and I was like :roll: $220 is a nice haul.
 
Got my $28 amazon gift card on the fourth day out of the 3-5 suggested. Very good trade ins, just be sure to use the $5 bonus promo code.
 
Has anyone figured out a TIV tracker for Gazelle yet? I had played with some web queries in Excel, but that required 6000 setups (1 for each game). I think there is some gold to be found in Gazelle, you just have to know where to look. Someone is clearly asleep at the wheel.
 
Both my packages were accepted. Kind of pissed off that they labeled by new games that I unsealed as "good" when they are obviously "perfect". I'm still getting my promised cash though.

$8.15 for Dark Spire.
$7.10 for PS2 Monster Lab.

This was just a test run.. I think I'll use them again for my other trade ins.
 
[quote name='mis0']Both my packages were accepted. Kind of pissed off that they labeled by new games that I unsealed as "good" when they are obviously "perfect". I'm still getting my promised cash though.

$8.15 for Dark Spire.
$7.10 for PS2 Monster Lab.

This was just a test run.. I think I'll use them again for my other trade ins.[/QUOTE]

From my 4-5 trade-ins with Gazelle that seems to be their standard policy. Games that are opened have always been marked as "good" instead of "perfect" even if they are indeed perfect but they've never changed the value they give.

Does anyone else think it's weird they require the case/artwork but there isn't even an option to check for the manual? Dunno if someone else has posted this already but I sent in a DS game with no manual and they did not seem to care (got the full value).
 
[quote name='sabanoo']

Does anyone else think it's weird they require the case/artwork but there isn't even an option to check for the manual? Dunno if someone else has posted this already but I sent in a DS game with no manual and they did not seem to care (got the full value).[/QUOTE]

I asked customer service about this yesterday because I noticed the option to select a manual was removed, it was there previously. They said it's no longer required, then they tried to tell me it's considered part of the original artwork. At this point I don't trust them so I'm going to make sure I have the manuals included when possible, but with the games I've been sending them I'm not concerned if they send one back every now and then.
 
[quote name='sabanoo']From my 4-5 trade-ins with Gazelle that seems to be their standard policy. Games that are opened have always been marked as "good" instead of "perfect" even if they are indeed perfect but they've never changed the value they give.

Does anyone else think it's weird they require the case/artwork but there isn't even an option to check for the manual? Dunno if someone else has posted this already but I sent in a DS game with no manual and they did not seem to care (got the full value).[/QUOTE]

I had a copy of Fallout 3 X360 (NEW) and a copy of Pure X360 (USED). However, when I sent them in, I marked them as "perfect". Both were open, not sealed, and accepted as "perfect". I would guess it depends on overall condition, but you do have more experience than me. Or, it could all be pretty YMMV.

Also, rather hilariously, my Fallout 3 case was missing a piece from the holder: it had broken off due to rough handling of the case (or poor/stressed plastic or both), the disc was rattling around in the case and looked a bit used. Using a microfiber cloth, I cleaned it up and it looked just like it really was: brand new. I have yet to find another good trade-in to Gazelle, but once I do, I'll let everyone know my experience with what they deem my games as.
 
[quote name='dualedge2']I had a copy of Fallout 3 X360 (NEW) and a copy of Pure X360 (USED). However, when I sent them in, I marked them as "perfect". Both were open, not sealed, and accepted as "perfect". I would guess it depends on overall condition, but you do have more experience than me. Or, it could all be pretty YMMV.

Also, rather hilariously, my Fallout 3 case was missing a piece from the holder: it had broken off due to rough handling of the case (or poor/stressed plastic or both), the disc was rattling around in the case and looked a bit used. Using a microfiber cloth, I cleaned it up and it looked just like it really was: brand new. I have yet to find another good trade-in to Gazelle, but once I do, I'll let everyone know my experience with what they deem my games as.[/QUOTE]

Interesting. Maybe they just know that it bothers me to have mine graded as "good" ;)
Either way Gazelle has been good for me so far although they have been extremely slow at times.
 
I've traded in at least 20 games. All were used and accepted in perfect condition. In one case i marked a few as Good but they up'd me to Perfect :)

But its been at least 8 weeks since i traded anything to them
 
The received my most recent package of trade-ins this morning, and all three items have already been inspected.

Two were accepted and will be paid for as per the agreement.

The third, an old MP3 player, they are returning. They claim they couldn't get it to power up even though it worked fine right before I shipped it off, as I fired it up to delete my files from it. All I can figure is that they maybe tried powering it up without the power cord, as the battery surely would have been completely depleted as it had been sitting unused in a drawer for many months. Seems like a stupid oversight if that's what happened, but it's possible, I guess. Not sure how it could have gotten broken during shipping, as I packed it well and the other two items (a phone and a digital camera) were similarly packed and arrived intact.

It was only worth $25 as a trade-in, but if I actually works I can either charge the battery and send it in again or use it as a tiny backup hard drive.

In any case, still happy with their service if very baffled about the situation with this MP3 player...
 
I have never had an issue with Gazelle downgrading my opened games to "good", but it probably is very YMMV depending on the inspector.

Consider myself lucky
 
I've done one trade in with them before, they gave me $15 for Rock Band 360, $16.50 in Amazon credit after bonuses. All went well. They also downgraded my condition from perfect to good, but retained the same value, even though the disc was pretty much flawless, so not sure what that was all about.

I have two more trade ins that should arrive tomorrow. Unfortunately I had a few gutted games from gamestop that were supposed to be brand new. When I bought them they had what appeared to be smudges, but they absolutely would not come off after about 15 minutes of scrubbing. I have no idea what the hell those guys did to those games, I've never seen anything like it in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if they countered the condition, but hopefully they won't lower the offer on me, cause the trade in value tanked to about 33% after I locked it in. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

So far though it's been a way better experience than Amazon and their POS 3rd party NorAm, the only problem is games with decent trade in values are pretty hard to find, and kind of random.
 
Gazelle is miles better than NorAM which somehow managed to destroy the ring in a disc i sent it because some monkey was too eager to pull the disc out of the case.

Unfortunately there are no good flips right now from Gamestop to Gazelle.
 
Not really a super great flip, but a potential deal for some. Halo 3: ODST is $49.99 used and in stock at gamestop.com. CAG16 and Edge take it down to $36.99 + tax w/ free shipping.

Currently fetches $37.75 straight from Amazon or $39.65 ($33 + 5% Amazon bonus + TWEET09) from Gazelle.

I plan to lock in a TIV and give the game a spin for a week or so while I wait for MW2 to come out. It will be close to a 1-to-1 credit swap and a free rental more or less.
 
[quote name='chuckywang']CAG16 only takes off the post Edge price. Therefore, it's $37.79.[/QUOTE]

It was -$8.00 (CAG16) and -$5.00 (EDGE) for me. I put it CAG16 first if it matters.

Moot point now, TIVs plummeted at both places today. Oh well. Now I have to get some enjoyment out of the game.
 
Took twelve days for my packages to ship, be delivered, inspected, and then credited to my e-mail.

I like this place much better than Amazon's trade in because I can actually track the status of the packages at all times. :D
 
Do they send you a shipping box automatically, or do you have to request it yourself? I submitted a trade and it's pretty unclear.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Gazelle is miles better than NorAM which somehow managed to destroy the ring in a disc i sent it because some monkey was too eager to pull the disc out of the case.

Unfortunately there are no good flips right now from Gamestop to Gazelle.[/QUOTE]

Yeah NorAm did the same thing to me, twice... luckily Amazon credited me for my lost bonuses and the value of the damaged games. Anyways my second and third trade-ins have been credited, they did change the condition to good on a few of them but kept the full value. Gazelle is great.
 
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I think I just blew a trade in for you guys. I emailed Gazelle about how I can trade in GTA: Lost and Damned since it's downloadable only and they said they will investigate. Then they emailed me again saying the game has been removed from their catalog and will not be accepted.

Whoops.
 
[quote name='dagger89']Do they send you a shipping box automatically, or do you have to request it yourself? I submitted a trade and it's pretty unclear.[/QUOTE]

When I submitted an order, from the screen they had (something like let me do it myself or they'd send me a box) it sounded as if they'd mail you a box to use if the trade is over $30. Not really relevant, but I declined that offer seeing as how I didn't really want to take the time to have them mail me something as simple as a box and I suppose if I really wanted I could simply request a bunch of free ones from the post office.
 
[quote name='chuckywang']I think I just blew a trade in for you guys. I emailed Gazelle about how I can trade in GTA: Lost and Damned since it's downloadable only and they said they will investigate. Then they emailed me again saying the game has been removed from their catalog and will not be accepted.

Whoops.[/QUOTE]

I don't think I would've traded that game in anyway, but c'mon man. That's more than a whoops. That's something only a complete moron would do.
 
[quote name='cheeky']I don't think I would've traded that game in anyway, but c'mon man. That's more than a whoops. That's something only a complete moron would do.[/QUOTE]

So what would you have done? Just try to trade it in (card only) and have it investigated, rejected, removed from catalog, and then mailed back to you? It's not like trading it in is any more or less subtle than an email. You would have alerted Gazelle of the item either way.

At least I didn't have to waste time sending in something I know they will reject. BTW the trade in value was $16.
 
[quote name='chuckywang']So what would you have done? Just try to trade it in (card only) and have it investigated, rejected, removed from catalog, and then mailed back to you? It's not like trading it in is any more or less subtle than an email. You would have alerted Gazelle of the item either way.

At least I didn't have to waste time sending in something I know they will reject. BTW the trade in value was $16.[/QUOTE]

Briefly, yes. I'd have traded it in at the risk of the game being returned to me. You've already reaped maximum utility from the card. Your risk is minimal.

Trading it in is far more subtle than an e-mail. It takes a bit more brainpower to answer a policy related e-mail than it does to judge the condition (or trade-ability) of a game.

Thanks for the question. I'd advise you pose any further questions of this nature to this thread, as opposed to company representatives. Wouldn't want to ruin everyone's experience every time a tricky situation dawns on you, would we?
 
This one's been out there awhile so I dont know how much longer it will hold up, but here's a nice flip for you GS to Amazoners:

Bomberman: Act Zero (360) is $2.99 Used/$4.99 New at Gamestop. Trades for $7 base to Gazelle.

I was able to get 2 surprisingly mint used copies from gamestop.com awhile back, OOS online now. Turned ~$5 GS credit into $19.70 with TWEET09 promo and Amazon bonus.

I have one other monster flip in progress that has been accepted, but I'm not mentioning it until I get the Amazon code in hand. :bouncy:
 
Update on a trade submitted to Gazelle about a month ago:

They rejected an old MP3 player I submitted. In their online review of the item, they claimed it didn't power on.

They offered to recycle it, but I asked them to return it, as it worked fine when I sent it in and still has use as a backup hard drive, albeit a small one.

A week later, the package arrived. They had not returned the ac adapter or the software disc. But even on battery power, the player powered on just fine.

I contacted customer service. They then claimed that they couldn't reformat it, and that's why they rejected it. I never tried to reformat it, so I have no idea if that would be a problem, but I do know it worked just fine when I shipped it off, and it seemed to work fine when I got it back.

But whatever. It was worth less than $30 as a trade-in, and as long as I got it back in the same condition I sent it, I didn't care.

Except, of course, I didn't get everything back. They apologized and said they'd return the ac adapter and software, but it took me two more messages before somebody actually moved on this promise.

At which point they said they "couldn't find" the software disc. They offered me no compensation for it and said only "You can find the files on the Internet." I don't need the files, but I think it's lame that they requested the software when I submitted the item only to lose it and offer me nothing but "find it online if you need it."

They did return an ac adapter a week later, along with some funky attachment that wasn't mine and indicates the ac adapter probably wasn't mine, either. But at least they did finally send that.

Overall, I found this a pretty disappointing experience, to say the least, and I would think twice before sending anything to them again even though I made a few hundred bucks in earlier trades without a hitch.

Mostly I'm glad I've already traded all my stuff in so won't have to deal with them in the future.
 
How long does it usually take them to send you the Amazon credit? They "accepted" my stuff on Nov. 4th and said to expect payment in 3-5 days, but no word yet.
 
Sorry to tease everyone with that "monster flip" comment, as I have received quite a few PMs on the subject. Alas, it does not matter as Gazelle has corrected the TIV I took advantage of, after accepting my trade(s) last night. And it was not a gamestop flip anyway.

I believe I mentioned this outrageous TIV on about page 2 or 3 of this thread, so you can figure it out from there.
 
[quote name='MarcSparks']Sorry to tease everyone with that "monster flip" comment, as I have received quite a few PMs on the subject. Alas, it does not matter as Gazelle has corrected the TIV I took advantage of, after accepting my trade(s) last night. And it was not a gamestop flip anyway.

I believe I mentioned this outrageous TIV on about page 2 or 3 of this thread, so you can figure it out from there.[/QUOTE]

Gazelle-tease :roll:

That wasn't much of an option for me as I couldn't find any via any outlet to even attempt it. I've been trying to go for the bigger profit margins as I've been able to make some money doing that. I still wish we could find something like the Amazon TIV tracker for Gazelle, because I know from what I've found there are tons of TIV's waiting to be exploited. They don't do a very good job of maintaining their TIV's and they don't seem to be interested on improving upon that either.
 
Yeah.

I sent in a basically perfect copy of Arkham Asylum (360). They downgraded it from Perfect to Good.

So.. I went from $34 + $5 promo to $20 + $5 promo. I'm not too happy about them dropping me $14 down. -_-;.
 
[quote name='RedGamer']Yeah.

I sent in a basically perfect copy of Arkham Asylum (360). They downgraded it from Perfect to Good.

So.. I went from $34 + $5 promo to $20 + $5 promo. I'm not too happy about them dropping me $14 down. -_-;.[/QUOTE]

Wow. I've never had that happen to me. They sometimes will downgrade to good for internal purposes but pay me the full "perfect" amount.

They are supposed to email you first and if you don't agree, they will send it back to you.

In my experience, gazelle is 10x better than NorAm and the way they handle your games.
 
[quote name='RedGamer']Yeah.

I sent in a basically perfect copy of Arkham Asylum (360). They downgraded it from Perfect to Good.

So.. I went from $34 + $5 promo to $20 + $5 promo. I'm not too happy about them dropping me $14 down. -_-;.[/QUOTE]

just to make sure, did they actually say their dropping your value? since like confoosious said they usually change the condition but keep the TIV the same.
 
Yeah, they dropped the value. And I got paid the dropped value. (As mad as I was, I don't feel like getting back the game and shipping it off somewhere else. I wanted to have all my trade-in's squared off before Black Friday, so I have some spending funds.)
 
[quote name='Zarkon']Is the 5% on only one order, or is it a 5% lifetime bonus?[/QUOTE]

If you're talking about the 5% boost if you choose Amazon GC, it's valid on multiple orders (until Gazelle decide to take it down, I guess). So right now, it's a lifetime bonus.

If it's the 5% boost from using the promo code (TWEET), it's one time use only.
 
[quote name='converse']Gazelle-tease :roll:

That wasn't much of an option for me as I couldn't find any via any outlet to even attempt it. I've been trying to go for the bigger profit margins as I've been able to make some money doing that. I still wish we could find something like the Amazon TIV tracker for Gazelle, because I know from what I've found there are tons of TIV's waiting to be exploited. They don't do a very good job of maintaining their TIV's and they don't seem to be interested on improving upon that either.[/QUOTE]

Well I am happy to report I received my credit today, so here's what I did. I guess it's not that big for some of you crazy flippers, but for me, it was huge.

Got 2x MUA Special Edition Platinum Hits from buy.com for $58 total. And turned it into a $154 Amazon giftcard with the Amazon and TWEET 5% bonuses.

Last time I checked copies of this were still available at buy.com, but Gazelle quickly dropped the TIV from $70 to $16.
 
[quote name='MarcSparks']Well I am happy to report I received my credit today, so here's what I did. I guess it's not that big for some of you crazy flippers, but for me, it was huge.

Got 2x MUA Special Edition Platinum Hits from buy.com for $58 total. And turned it into a $154 Amazon giftcard with the Amazon and TWEET 5% bonuses.

Last time I checked copies of this were still available at buy.com, but Gazelle quickly dropped the TIV from $70 to $16.[/QUOTE]

Nice flip.

It'd be nice to somehow coordinate our big flips, because I get a feeling we could potentially step on each others toes. For example, I spent $140 on some flips today that I am going to get $250 from Gazelle. In all likelihood these are some flips that others have seen out there too, and when Gazelle catches wind of my order they have been dropping the TIV's like a rock. That means that anyone who didn't lock-in before I submitted my order will come up empty handed, similar to this situation with MUA.

I know we all want to protect our piece of the pie, but if we had a coordinated effort we could all get in on the deals too. I'm not one to coordinate people, but it's something to consider for those of us who are doing frequent flips to Gazelle.
 
Does anyone know then if Gazelle limits the number of copies per game for trade? I know Amazon (or rather NorAm) restricts one to just 3 trades of the same game (presumably to discourage flips or dealers getting in on the deals).
 
No limits that I have encountered, and I've traded in 12 copies of the same title once and ~10 copies a number of times all at once.
 
It's hit and miss. They used to have a lot of gems out there that were completely out of whack. Games you could find in the clearance bin for $5-10 and they'd give you $20. You can still find 2:1 and profitable flips but not as many since they caught on when people like me submitted them in bulk.
 
[quote name='converse']It's hit and miss. They used to have a lot of gems out there that were completely out of whack. Games you could find in the clearance bin for $5-10 and they'd give you $20. You can still find 2:1 and profitable flips but not as many since they caught on when people like me submitted them in bulk.[/QUOTE]

sending in 12 of the same title is just retarded.
 
Did anybody ever have a problem with Gazelle not receiving packages? I live in Hawaii so i don't get free shipping and I had to ship my own stuff in but I checked my delivery confirmation and it said that there was noone at Gazelle to accept the product and now it's being held at the post office. Anybody else ever had this problem before?
 
[quote name='confoosious']sending in 12 of the same title is just retarded.[/QUOTE]
Compared to Ebay, yes, but I think I have a psychological condition that prevents me from selling on Ebay right now. I'm happy to run to a couple of stores and make $100 for 1 hour of "work" grabbing a few games. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it.


[quote name='pokadotpowerpuff']Did anybody ever have a problem with Gazelle not receiving packages? I live in Hawaii so i don't get free shipping and I had to ship my own stuff in but I checked my delivery confirmation and it said that there was noone at Gazelle to accept the product and now it's being held at the post office. Anybody else ever had this problem before?[/QUOTE]
Not my experience, sorry to hear it.
 
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