Best Buy Trade-in 5.0 - see FAQ in OP!

BudzMcGee

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Just seemed like a good time for a new thread. You can view the previous thread here!

THIS THREAD OP WILL NOT BE ACTIVELY UPDATED WITH NEW PROMOS - THIS IS PRIMARILY AN FAQ.

All Promotions are available in-store only, and they DO NOT stack!

Only the 10% Bonus from Gamers Club Unlocked will stack with these offers, and it definitely does stack despite what some employees will say.

Please read FAQ below before asking questions!


Flip discussion is allowed on CAG, but begging for list of games to flip is not only obnoxious but doesn't help the community in any way; don't be surprised if some users are only interested in trading information with other users who regularly contribute to the thread.

General video game promotions link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17093&type=page (Promotions are listed at the bottom of the page)

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BEST BUY'S VIDEO GAMES TRADE-IN PAGE & VALUE ESTIMATOR

Check which BB stores do trade-ins here.
In-store trades may be done in the Gaming Dept or at customer service depending on the store.

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F.A.Q. Best Buy has a short FAQ here.

How does the **% bonus TIV work?
The percentage is based on the final total of your entire trade in, so if the trade in is $100 and there is a 50% bonus your final gift card value will be $150.

How does the 10% Gamers Club Unlocked bonus work?
The 10% bonus for Gamers Club Unlocked members is calculated from the base trade in value. So in the above example, a $100 trade would get an extra $10 with the GCU membership bonus. So if there was a 50% trade in bonus it would be $100 base, $10 Gamers Club Unlocked bonus and $50 TIV bonus for a grand total of $160. 

How do I become a Gamers Club Unlocked member and get the 10% bonus?
Any video game section employee should be able to set you up with the GCU membership (should being the key word). The program has undergone some serious changes in the last couple of months. The program now cost $120  for two years and comes with a subscription of @Gamer magazine until May 2014 (which typically has a couple of great coupons every month). It will also get you a 10% bonus on trade ins, 20% off new games and 10% off of used games (Make sure to point it out to the blue shirt doing your trade-in though as it is easy for them to skip, and they are still new to it). It can take 48 hours (or more) for GCU to show up on your My Best Buy membership. Current GCU members have been upgraded to the new program for no extra charge and should have received a coupon to extend their membership for an additional 2 years at a cost of $30 ($15 a year). Members who had their subscription run out within a couple months of November 2013 will also get this coupon. 

I can't find the pamphlet or barcode to sign up for GCU!

Employees by and large seem ignorant of the program and probably won't be much help so here is what you need to do. There may be pamphlets around various areas of the store and if you can not find that try the touch kiosk. 

I didn't get my 10% bonus or the employee said it doesn't stack, what gives?
As of September 2012 the trade in system at Best Buy was updated, and employees seem to be having a hard time making sure that they add the GCU bonus. It should be added immediately after they scan your games, and before they take your personal information. You also should always try to know your full trade in value with bonuses before going to the store so that if the price is different you can identify it immediately. The 10% bonus definitely does stack with any TIV promo (100%, 50%, it doesn't matter). All the Gamers Club Unlocked pamphlets say so, as does the website, and are a great place to point to if an employee or a manager tells you otherwise.

For a full break down of when and how to help make sure your 10% was applied look in the spoiler.

How to get your 10% bonus

For some reason this is incredibly difficult for employees to get right. Following this process should work, but there is no accounting for the occasional very-bad-at-their-job employee.  

The 10% requires that they add your member information at a very specific point. The best way to describe it is that it must be entered along with your games, as it is on the same page. So immediately after they enter your games, but before navigating to the next page on their computer, the Best Buy employee has to enter your information, typically using your phone number, to find your account. It is on the same page as all of the games and if they are asking for your ID it is too late!  The big problem is that the next page also looking up your member information, but in a brilliant move of programming on Best Buy's part, it will not apply the membership bonus at this stage. An easy way to see if the bonus has been applied is to ask for the trade in total at this point as well, as the 10% (and any other bonuses) would already be applied; so if the numbers are off you know they need to go back a page and enter the information. Otherwise, that being done, it should work just fine.

Things to know/help you make sure the bonus is applied:

  • Always know your trade total, including bonuses, before going in. This will help you catch issues.
  • Hold onto your ID until they ask for it, that way you know that they are on that page. Before handing them the ID is a great time to ask them what the total was if they haven't already told you because you can still catch the issue now. 
  • Be polite and helpful. Try to not get frustrated if they didn't enter the information at first, and politely mention that last time you had this issue the employee had to go back a page. In the event the issue isn't being resolved it never hurts to ask if maybe someone from gaming could help.  MOST employees will be friendly and work with you. 
  • Lastly, be persistent. Some employees will take it personally when you try to help, some will just be difficult because lets face it, retail jobs suck and you're probably the 900th person to ask them for something today. Giving up though not only makes you lose out on the 10% bonus, and the Reward Zone points (as well as credit towards your Elite Plus status), all it does is make sure the employee doesn't know what they are doing for the next customer either.  You paid for the bonus, make sure you get it. 

Do we get MyBestBuy (Reward Zone) points for trade-ins??
Yes. You get one point for every pre-bonus dollar traded in. So if your TIV was $100 before bonuses, you get 100 Reward Zone points. Gamers Club Unlocked members (and possibly standard Gamers Club members) get double points for everything gaming, including trade-ins. So in the same example you would wind up with 200 Reward Zone points. To get Reward Zone points you must have them include your Reward Zone membership information (easiest to look up by phone number) with your trade-in (this is required for the Gamers Club Unlocked bonus anyway).

Can I use my Best Buy gift card to purchase Amazon Kindle Gift Cards or Visa Gift Cards?
Yes, although some employees may not be aware of this and incorrectly refuse to do so. Visa Gift Cards have a $200 limit and a $6 activation fee. Amazon Gift Cards are available in $25, $50 and $100 depending on your store selection. Some states, or even localities (county, city, etc.) may not allow the sale of Amazon Gift Cards. Yes, Kindle Gift Cards are good for anything on Amazon.

The value on the site doesn't match the store, why?
Sometimes the page may not update immediately. This is fairly rare though. The store's trade-in values are definitive though, so what they say is what you get. 99.99% of the time they will match up.

The value on the iPhone/Android app is way off, why?
The app often sucks for updating values (and some games simply don't show up), don't rely on it if you don't have to.

The game I want to trade isn't on the site, what gives?
While rare, there have been some games recently not showing up in the online estimator. You can always check in-store to see if the price is in their system and simply not online, but that is unlikely to be the case (as in, it is possible that has never been the case). When Best Buy doesn't have a game on file they can offer $1 as a generic SKU, but that's it. New releases appear to be added on Tuesday evenings. Many new releases are taking upwards of a week or more to be added to the site.

How come the GOTY/complete version doesn't show up in the estimator?
Best Buy doesn't differentiate between the vanilla and GOTY/complete versions of a game 99% of the time. This is largely a cover-all policy due to the fact that many GOTY editions include the game's DLC and bonus content as one-time use codes; meaning that the game has no extra value on the 2nd hand market and honestly, Best Buy probably doesn't trust their employees to make sure all the extra content is included. So no extra TIV for your GOTY games. The plus side is that GOTY and vanilla versions sell at the same price, so if the DLC is located on disc and you find a GOTY version in-store it will be the same price as the vanilla one.

When do trade-in values update?
No one knows for sure, but updates can and do happen at any time. Sometimes an update will happen at an atypical time, such as when GameStop has an advertised sale for a game well below Best Buy's trade in price.

What will be the TIV of Game X tomorrow/next week / next month/ etc
Nobody knows.

If I locked in a trade online, and the value drops, will I still get the locked in value when I mail it in?
Yes. You will get the locked in TIV as long as the item is received within 14 days of you locking it in (and the item is in the condition you described it as). Again, the item MUST BE RECEIVED within 14 days. It is not enough to simply ship it within the 14 day time period (like Amazon). Be mindful of this if you are trying to trade in a game that you are waiting to ship/arrive from an online store. If you miss the receiving deadline and then complain about it in the thread you will probably be made fun of. You have been warned.

Can you lock in the price online then trade it in-store?
No. Online and in-store are completely separate in every way but their base trade in values.

Do I get the XX% bonus or my 10% GCU bonus when trading online?

No. All bonuses, including GCU member bonus only work in-store.  The value listed on the website is the value you will receive, nothing more.

How do I get my giftcard for online trades?

Online trades will receive a E-Giftcard.  E-Giftcards can be printed and used in store, you can also go in store and ask a cashier to "transfer" it to a real giftcard, i.e. buy a real giftcard with the E-Giftcard funds if you wish. Apparently the online system states they will mail a giftcard but this is not accurate. 

Is there a limit to how many games I can trade in?
Officially, Best Buy recently changed their policy on this then changed it back. You can trade up to 3 copies of a title per platform. The system will not automatically stop you from trading in more than 3 copies of a game, some have done so frequently without issue but many others have been banned for trading over the limit in the past so it is not recommended if you wish to keep Best Buy as a trade in option in the future. Obviously it is YMMV, but do so at your own risk. If you regularly re-buy games at lower prices and trade in a lot it may be wise to keep track of all that you trade in.


Can I trade game disc only, or do I need the case and manuals, too?
Best Buy accepts disc only games (for the same value as complete games). The trade in will take longer though as the employee will have to look up the games individually. Yes, this also applies to DS, 3DS, PSP, etc. If you have the manual and artwork you should trade it in though anyway to improve the quality of the selection for people who may want to buy the game in the future (you can't know if the game will be complete when you buy online for example).

Can I trade in games that say "Not for Resale" on the back?
Yes, since the only thing that matters is the disc. Some employees will fight this though, and in that case, just trade the game in as disc-only. Employees have gotten much better about knowing this policy though, and busier stores are more likely to have employees that have done more trade ins and know the rules.

Does Best Buy accept game hardware?
Currently Best Buy only accepts various versions of the Nintendo DS in store, but some stores apparently accept consoles as well. Call ahead before bringing it in. That said, the TIV for most hardware is lower than competitors.

Does the **% bonuses apply to game hardware?
No, games only.

When I do a in-store trade, I am asked: to be fingerprinted, to have my photo taken, how much I weigh, etc. What's the deal?
Pawn shop laws regulating trade-ins and resale of used goods varies from state to state or even city to city. It is not Best Buy's rule, and varies from store to store depending on where you live. At a minimum you'll need a government issued ID (passport, drivers license, military ID, etc.).

I went to a store to do a trade-in and they asked for a Best Buy receipt. WTF? 
Some stores are required to have receipts to accept trade-ins, again this is due to local Pawn shop laws and could vary from city to city. You can always check if the store(s) near you require a receipt on Best Buy's trade-in site.

Can I trade sealed games?
Yes. You must present your receipt for the sealed games you are trading in. It is ok if the purchase was made from another store. You do run the risk of drawing extra attention to yourself as trading in sealed products is often a sign of theft. Do not be surprised if this is questioned by an employee, or you are asked to leave, open the items and return. You might even be flat out denied by the employee or manager despite the official rule. It is their right to do so.

How does the get **% with pre-order bonus work?
After trading in your games, the employee SHOULD then sell you the pre-order for $5.

How much is a pre-order at Best Buy?
Pre-ordering at Best Buy cost $5, in fact, you aren't supposed to pay any more than that (and most employees won't let you if you ask). Yes, you can use the gift card you just received from your trade-in to purchase the pre-order.

Can I cancel a pre-order and keep the bonus?
Yes, the trade-in and the pre-order are completely separate transactions. Nothing will prevent you from returning to the Best Buy canceling the pre-order and receiving a refund. Some users have claimed that they were flagged for doing this multiple times though and were denied, so be aware of how many pre-orders you are cancelling. Also keep in mind the obvious facts that this is not how the program is intended to work and over abuse will negatively affect the program long-term. Lastly, returns are tracked on a personal level by a third party. (Read: try not to cancel a bunch of pre-orders)

Do I have to cancel the pre-order at the same store where it was made?
No, this can be handled by any BBY. Don't be surprised if you get a customer service employee who says otherwise though.

Can I pre-order once and get the pre-order bonus on my next trade-in as well?
YMMV. Officially, the answer is no, but there is nothing that actually requires the employee to sell the pre-order in order to apply the bonus so if your blue shirt is in a friendly mood they may be willing. Doesn't hurt to get to know the employees at your store. That said, expect that you will have to pre-order another game and be surprised if you don't.

Can I combine a 3 games for **% and a pre-order for **% bonus?
No. Bonuses do not stack, and you must pick one or the other. The only bonus that stacks with other promotions is the 10% you receive if you are a Gamers Club Unlocked member.

Remember, all trades are technically at the discretion of Best Buy and they can refuse to accept a game for whatever reason they want (outside of you being black, woman, Jewish, etc.).

 
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Am I doing it wrong or something? I always seem to have plenty of games that I can use to transfer or do you guys max out everything.

Movers GS to BB BD and PUR are needed for some.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen PS3

BEN 10 OMNIVERSE 360 Wii U

Dark 360

Turbo Wii U

The Hip Hop Dance Experience 360 also a boomerang

Men In Black: Alien Crisis Wii

There are a couple $5 ones but I am lazy and they break even.

All my old boomerangs work as well except some no new ones were added by the 30%.
Literally none of those games are in stock within 30 miles of me. I did get to do a Dying Light $39 pre-owned from GS -> $42 BB trade though. Unfortunately that was the only PS4 copy of Dying Light around, my area sucks for GS pre-owned.

 
After countless trades at the Best Buy I am a regular at I encountered my first issue.  My gamer's club unlocked bonus was not on my total when I verified everything on my receipt (even though I mentioned being a member twice).  The manager's solution was to put the extra 10% on a separate gift card but I voiced my concern about possibly not getting the rewards points so he put 20% on the separate gift card.  I am pretty happy with that.  In the future I think I will stick to doing my trades during the week when the regular staff is working.   Let this serve as a reminder to everyone to verify your trade in totals before leaving the store. 

 
I traded SR4 PS3 and it went smoothly.  Got the 30% and 10% bonus no problem. I have only had one issue trading at 3 locations (really use 2 different ones for 90% of my trades).

 
After countless trades at the Best Buy I am a regular at I encountered my first issue. My gamer's club unlocked bonus was not on my total when I verified everything on my receipt (even though I mentioned being a member twice). The manager's solution was to put the extra 10% on a separate gift card but I voiced my concern about possibly not getting the rewards points so he put 20% on the separate gift card. I am pretty happy with that. In the future I think I will stick to doing my trades during the week when the regular staff is working. Let this serve as a reminder to everyone to verify your trade in totals before leaving the store.
I start off trades with anyone I don't know by explaining I have GCU, this is the percentage promotion, and that my total will be XX dollars. I literally had to lean over the counter and show the guy today how the trade in works. Best Buy is promoting GCU now and yet still won't train their employees, shocking!

 
Traded in evil with for $19.50, got it on black Friday for $25, I'm good with that. Traded the order 1886 earlier in the week for $30, was annoyed I missed the 30% but then I saw the trade in price dropped so it all evened out.
 
Here's a hot boomerang for you guys.

Guardians of Middle Earth (PS3) $9 ($7.20 GCU) to $13 ($14 GCU)

The only good one I found. I can't trade it in until Thursday so don't tank it until then. :pray:

 
Here's a hot boomerang for you guys.
Guardians of Middle Earth (PS3) $9 ($7.20 GCU) to $13 ($14 GCU)
The only good one I found. I can't trade it in until Thursday so don't tank it until then. :pray:
I don't think there is a physical disc for this game, just a download code. One of the reviews makes reference to that.
 
Huh no disc? Best Buys gotta stop having TiVs on those... :wall:

Thanks for telling me in time to cancel em.

 
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Do the values ever go down during a promotion week?  With GTA sitting at $30, I want to finish the rest of the heists before trading it in. 

 
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I told my dad to go into store and buy a gcu and after he did to trade in games. after he traded in he said he only got 59$. I asked him what happen he says best buy employee gave him choice of 30% or 10% bonus how do i explain to manager or something that i was supposed to get 40%?

 
I told my dad to go into store and buy a gcu and after he did to trade in games. after he traded in he said he only got 59$. I asked him what happen he says best buy employee gave him choice of 30% or 10% bonus how do i explain to manager or something that i was supposed to get 40%?
they're suppose to stack. I'd go back and say they made a mistake and forgot to add the GCU bonus. You also got to make sure you give them your phone number when doing the trade in. The 30% gets added automatically and when they enter your number it says that you are a GCU member and adds that extra 10%.

Unless this is something new since the drop in GCU price?

 
they're suppose to stack. I'd go back and say they made a mistake and forgot to add the GCU bonus. You also got to make sure you give them your phone number when doing the trade in. The 30% gets added automatically and when they enter your number it says that you are a GCU member and adds that extra 10%.

Unless this is something new since the drop in GCU price?
My dad said he gave them his email. thats how he made a gamers club unlocked account im going to call them and go back in tommorow. When i pick up my hardline pre-order. Also i had one of those 5$ deposit cards so when i go in tommrow can i tell them about my gcu and will it knock off 20%?

 
they're suppose to stack. I'd go back and say they made a mistake and forgot to add the GCU bonus. You also got to make sure you give them your phone number when doing the trade in. The 30% gets added automatically and when they enter your number it says that you are a GCU member and adds that extra 10%.

Unless this is something new since the drop in GCU price?
My dad said he gave them his email. thats how he made a gamers club unlocked account im going to call them and go back in tommorow. When i pick up my hardline pre-order. Also i had one of those 5$ deposit cards so when i go in tommrow can i tell them about my gcu and will it knock off 20%?

 
My dad said he gave them his email. thats how he made a gamers club unlocked account im going to call them and go back in tommorow. When i pick up my hardline pre-order. Also i had one of those 5$ deposit cards so when i go in tommrow can i tell them about my gcu and will it knock off 20%?
yea they can look it up by the email/phone number so it should've worked. I'm a guess he was talking to someone who doesn't normally do trade in's.

I always order online for in store pickup and it's discounted in the cart/checkout but yea when you checkout it should knock the game down to 48.99 + Tax (if your getting the standard). Actually for you it should come to 43.99 + tax since you already put the 5 down. Make sure that 5 bucks gets taken off, sometimes it glitches up and doesn't take that 5 off. I remember when unity came out a worker in line put 5 down and it didn't get taken off. Took him like 5 min of explaining to his co-worker that it was suppose to be $5 less. I just like doing in store pickup, eliminates that hassle and one less trip to BB to preorder.

 
yea they can look it up by the email/phone number so it should've worked. I'm a guess he was talking to someone who doesn't normally do trade in's.

I always order online for in store pickup and it's discounted in the cart/checkout but yea when you checkout it should knock the game down to 48.99 + Tax (if your getting the standard). Actually for you it should come to 43.99 + tax since you already put the 5 down. Make sure that 5 bucks gets taken off, sometimes it glitches up and doesn't take that 5 off. I remember when unity came out a worker in line put 5 down and it didn't get taken off. Took him like 5 min of explaining to his co-worker that it was suppose to be $5 less. I just like doing in store pickup, eliminates that hassle and one less trip to BB to preorder.
Turns out the employees. kept telling my dad that only some games are eligible for 10% bonus stacking. I asked for manager and she said she apologized for it and gave me extra 10%. she also said if she cant put it on gift card she will take it off of battlefield hardline

 
yea they can look it up by the email/phone number so it should've worked. I'm a guess he was talking to someone who doesn't normally do trade in's.

I always order online for in store pickup and it's discounted in the cart/checkout but yea when you checkout it should knock the game down to 48.99 + Tax (if your getting the standard). Actually for you it should come to 43.99 + tax since you already put the 5 down. Make sure that 5 bucks gets taken off, sometimes it glitches up and doesn't take that 5 off. I remember when unity came out a worker in line put 5 down and it didn't get taken off. Took him like 5 min of explaining to his co-worker that it was suppose to be $5 less. I just like doing in store pickup, eliminates that hassle and one less trip to BB to preorder.
The 5 dollar deposit still needs to be tax. So it's 48.99 plus tax, and then the 5 dollars are removed from the purchase. In nyc it's 48.99 plus tax, increasing it to 52.25. Minus the 5 dollar deposit, final price is 47.25. If employee discounted the additional 5 dollars and drop it to 43.99 before applying the tax, he missed up.
 
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Some dude who doesn't usually deal with trade ins almost gave me $39 for gta v for xbox one. I told him I have gcu so I should get an extra 10% so he said he'll check and asked for my number again. I hope the tiv's don't go down yet since I want to move more gs credit to bb
 
Looks like $32 for Hardline this week, $41.60 with 30% ($44.80 GCU).
nice but really digging it so far. Blood money is really fun, servers were acting up earlier on xbone but seems to be better now.

I'll prob hold on to it for awhile but we'll see how the maps hold up in terms of replay value.

 
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yeah i'm really enjoying hardline gonna try to plat it, the TIV will prob go up to $40 after this weeks 30% bonus ends.  i don't see a ton of people trading it in.

Gamestops TIV for hardline is $30

 
yeah i'm really enjoying hardline gonna try to plat it, the TIV will prob go up to $40 after this weeks 30% bonus ends. i don't see a ton of people trading it in.

Gamestops TIV for hardline is $30
Not sure if I want to keep it long elough to plat considering the long grind for the 2 25 kills trophy for online with those two weapons...

 
lol, just got an email from BB advertising preorders and tradeins and stuff, but the title was "

Get more fun from your PS3‏"

And the headline for the first box in the email is "Upgrade to PlayStation 4"

 
I'm enjoying Type-0, but I want to trade it in (as long as it's $44.xx+ like Battlefield) and it'll give me enough points for another cert. Then I'll just re-buy it right there for basically $3 extra... why re-buy? Because I'll have another FF XV demo code. So yes, I want to trade mine in as well... but no TIV... figures

 
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