Get $5 Gift Card at Best Buy for trading in ANY old cell phone + other small devices

lawdood

lawdood

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Didn't see this posted anywhere else on CAG and didn't really know what forum it went in so decided this was as good as any.

Saw this on the BB website and went to my local Best Buy with 3 old flip phones I had each several years old. About 15 minutes later walked out with a $15 gift card. Decent deal if you have old cell phones collecting dust in a drawer like I did. Can also turn in other "small devices" (working or not) listed on the website too. Obviously, newer devices on their lists with greater trade in values will net you greater gift cards, but pretty sure this is the first time they've taken in anything, on their list or not. Limit 3 devices per day. Here's the link w/ details:

UPDATED: Offer valid until Feb. 2

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Computers-Promotions/regularCat%3Apcmcat293300050004/pcmcat293300050004.c?id=pcmcat293300050004&AID=10597222&PID=1312731&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2FComputers-Promotions%2FregularCat%253Apcmcat293300050004%2Fpcmcat293300050004.c%3Fid%3Dpcmcat293300050004&ref=39&CJPID=1312731&loc=01
 
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[quote name='FEN1XD0WN']where do you do the trade-ins in the store?[/QUOTE]
Usually around customer service.
 
When I walked in the girl at the front told me to take the phones to Mobile. The guy there then took me back to gaming where he processed my trade-in.
 
[quote name='lawdood']Not sure when it ends.[/QUOTE]
The link you posted has this on it: Offer valid January 1–19, 2013.
 
[quote name='Burning Karma']The link you posted has this on it: Offer valid January 1–19, 2013.[/QUOTE]

Thx, must have missed that, I'll add it to the OP.
 
Thanks for the heads up on this. Called my local Best Buy and they told me to bring my old phones in. I got 3 old ones hoping to turn into $15. Thanks OP.
 
Someone should bring in an old NES and try to trade it in since consoles are covered in the fine print. ;)

Thanks for the info, OP. I have four old, junk cell phones and a few bad MP3 players to trade in. I wouldn't be able to get anything for these normally.
 
[quote name='Blade']Someone should bring in an old NES and try to trade it in since consoles are covered in the fine print. ;)
[/QUOTE]

Except the old NES is worth more than $5.

I have a ton of old broken electronics too, but I wonder if things need chargers, cords, etc, even if they are broken...
 
With the phones I brought in, no chargers or anything were with them and BB took them back with no problem.

[quote name='usagi']I brought in a broken camera, and two old phones. One phone was missing the power cable. Overall most people have no problems trading items in categories listed.

Check if your item is listed here to reduce chances of rejected trade ins[/QUOTE]

Actually, with this deal, the item doesn't necessarily have to be in their system to get a $5 giftcard for. There's a post regarding this deal on SD and people there are reporting that as long as the item is a "small device" as such listed in the link in the OP above, BB will even put in a generic type code and give you a $5 giftcard for it. I guess YMMV on that...
 
I actually have a bin of old broken Genesis and PSX systems, I think I may take a few in tomorrow and see what happens.
 
To do this in the easiest way possible for you, go to fatwallet and print out the memo that best buy sent to their own employees, dated Dec. 12. In that memo, it says explicitly that if the item is not found in the system, they should process it as recycle and give you $5 in gift cards. Easiest to bring in the memo with you instead of fighting a multi-hour battle at best buy
 
[quote name='Yo Mama']To do this in the easiest way possible for you, go to fatwallet and print out the memo that best buy sent to their own employees, dated Dec. 12. In that memo, it says explicitly that if the item is not found in the system, they should process it as recycle and give you $5 in gift cards. Easiest to bring in the memo with you instead of fighting a multi-hour battle at best buy[/QUOTE]

Nice! It took a little searching, but I found it and printed it out. Looking at the details, this memo might open the door to some otherwise non-tradeable stuff. I'm going to take a few random things that normally wouldn't work (a dead HDD, a broken console, etc) and see what happens.
 
[quote name='sp00ge']Nice! It took a little searching, but I found it and printed it out. Looking at the details, this memo might open the door to some otherwise non-tradeable stuff. I'm going to take a few random things that normally wouldn't work (a dead HDD, a broken console, etc) and see what happens.[/QUOTE]

Can the link to said memo be posted or does that break TOS?
 
[quote name='Yo Mama']To do this in the easiest way possible for you, go to fatwallet and print out the memo that best buy sent to their own employees, dated Dec. 12. In that memo, it says explicitly that if the item is not found in the system, they should process it as recycle and give you $5 in gift cards. Easiest to bring in the memo with you instead of fighting a multi-hour battle at best buy[/QUOTE]

Wish I'd known that before. Brought in 5 old cell phones on Sunday and Best Buy refused them because they weren't in the system
 
I might have to try this. I just upgraded from a Droid X2 and they're saying it's worth $52 on the site. I don't have the original charger though, just an after market one from Verizon, not sure if that will affect it at all
 
Has anyone other than the OP actually had this deal work for them? I have some old phones that I would like to trade in, but I'm just waiting to see if this deal really works, or if it's just YMMV.
 
[quote name='Rob26Smith']Yea I have some ancient nokias that would like to trade away. Wonder if it would work.[/QUOTE]

On Tuesday (1/8/13) I traded in an old Pentium 1 laptop with no hard drive, a broken Sony camera, and an ancient Motorola startac cell phone with no battery and just a car power cord hanging from it. Got a $15 gift card.

Have some old Tracfones I'm going to trade in next time I'm at BB.

My question is, has anybody gotten this promo to work with anything besides a laptop, tablet, cell phone, camera, mp3 player, or game system?

I've got tons of old junk to take in like zip drives, scanners etc.
 
[quote name='Randolph4233']Has anyone other than the OP actually had this deal work for them? I have some old phones that I would like to trade in, but I'm just waiting to see if this deal really works, or if it's just YMMV.[/QUOTE]

I did it last week, but I was denied the first time because they couldn't find the items in their trade database and had to come back with the printed instructions. Total time was 2 hours to trade two devices, "I can't find these items, let me ask my manager...they are too old", etc.etc. Once I had the instructions, it took about 15 minutes.
 
I have a metric fuck-ton of old as crackberries from my business as well as other "small electronics" that I can't get a thing for (cordless phones, etc.). Time to get some creds...

Heh, anyone know if old internal hard drives, DVD players/burners, keyboards, mice, various cables, and power strips qualify as "small elecontrics"? :D
 
[quote name='karkyco']I have a metric fuck-ton of old as crackberries from my business as well as other "small electronics" that I can't get a thing for (cordless phones, etc.). Time to get some creds...

Heh, anyone know if old internal hard drives, DVD players/burners, keyboards, mice, various cables, and power strips qualify as "small elecontrics"? :D[/QUOTE]

I tried trading in an old parallel switcher and was told it didn't qualify. The camera and phone (that wasn't in the system) did. Time to head to storage and see what other old crap I can find.
 
[quote name='sp00ge']I tried trading in an old parallel switcher and was told it didn't qualify. The camera and phone (that wasn't in the system) did. Time to head to storage and see what other old crap I can find.[/QUOTE]

FLOL, I have so much old ass electronics shit, I will just take it in by the hefty trashbag and see what works and what doesn't. Helps to have a store literally a couple of blocks from my office.
 
[quote name='Randolph4233']Has anyone other than the OP actually had this deal work for them? I have some old phones that I would like to trade in, but I'm just waiting to see if this deal really works, or if it's just YMMV.[/QUOTE]


Check the thread for this on slickdeals, plenty of people there have gotten it to work on their old cell phones.
 
AWESOME timing!

I went through and was cleaning my apartment when I found an old Walmart bag full of old junk cell phones! I (almost) threw them out, since I knew they weren't worth anything.

Those are going to get taken in, as well as some old non-working IBM Thinkpads I've been hanging onto!
 
Heh heh heh...I even threw some happy meal toys that have sound chips in them in my trade in sack...should be fun trying to convince them they are "small electronic devices". Too bad it's not small ELECTRIC/ELECTRICAL devices, otherwise I might just take in light bulbs and batteries...:lol:
 
They didn't check the camera or cell phone I brought in. The offers says working or not, so I'd assume it's not YMMV, but as with all things Best Buy, YMMV.
 
MWAHAHAHAAAA, success! The employee in the games section handling the trade-ins didn't know what would qualify, so he called a manager over who actually thanked me for bringing in my electronics to trade in and shook my hand, I kid you not. No doubt they track the trade ins for this by store and use some metric(s) of this for employee/store/management performance.

Employee asked if I could trade the stuff in (mainly because it was complete junk) and the manager just looked at him, put a finger on the employee's lips, went "SSSSHHHHHH..." and winked. :lol:

Nah he just said absolutely, and to call him if there are any problems.

That said, the broken old cordless house phones, old usb hubs, and a couple of broken knock off third party dreamcast controllers didn't give the $5 promo, so the manager came over and gave me bonus values for them of $5 each.

The way it's supposed to work is, if the item isn't found by item lookup/scan, they are supposed to hit the "recycle" button and it has to be for one of the categories that appears that are part of the promo. Once they click on a category that is part of the promo, once they fill out any necessary info on the item and add it, it will add the $5 promo automatically. Otherwise, YMMV on a manager adding a bonus value manually.

I decided not to attempt to trade in power strips, AC adaptors, miscellaneous A/V and computer/peripheral cables, and the other knick knack electronic junk (never mind batteries and light bulbs), at least for now. I told a female friend about this promo and her response is "small electrical devices...you mean like dildos?" :lol: I laughed so fucking hard I was crying. I can picture somebody walking into Best Buy and plopping a dildo down on the customer service desk asking "where my $5 gift card at?"
 
[quote name='karkyco']MWAHAHAHAAAA, success! The employee in the games section handling the trade-ins didn't know what would qualify, so he called a manager over who actually thanked me for bringing in my electronics to trade in and shook my hand, I kid you not. No doubt they track the trade ins for this by store and use some metric(s) of this for employee/store/management performance.

Employee asked if I could trade the stuff in (mainly because it was complete junk) and the manager just looked at him, put a finger on the employee's lips, went "SSSSHHHHHH..." and winked. :lol:

Nah he just said absolutely, and to call him if there are any problems.

That said, the broken old cordless house phones, old usb hubs, and a couple of broken knock off third party dreamcast controllers didn't give the $5 promo, so the manager came over and gave me bonus values for them of $5 each.

The way it's supposed to work is, if the item isn't found by item lookup/scan, they are supposed to hit the "recycle" button and it has to be for one of the categories that appears that are part of the promo. Once they click on a category that is part of the promo, once they fill out any necessary info on the item and add it, it will add the $5 promo automatically. Otherwise, YMMV on a manager adding a bonus value manually.

I decided not to attempt to trade in power strips, AC adaptors, miscellaneous A/V and computer/peripheral cables, and the other knick knack electronic junk (never mind batteries and light bulbs), at least for now. I told a female friend about this promo and her response is "small electrical devices...you mean like dildos?" :lol: I laughed so fucking hard I was crying. I can picture somebody walking into Best Buy and plopping a dildo down on the customer service desk asking "where my $5 gift card at?"[/QUOTE]

Maybe TMI, but my old lady has a broken one. I should have her do it. :applause:
 
damn kark is king
I traded in 3 old cells ... and my GBA put me over the 3 limit... so that went back in the bag...
 
[quote name='sp00ge']Maybe TMI, but my old lady has a broken one. I should have her do it. :applause:[/QUOTE]

Seriously, please do. And make sure you film it!!!
 
Traded in 4 old/broken cell phones, a broken portable DVD player, and a pair of cheapy walkie talkies that I got for free years ago.

They didn't power up anything or ask for chargers or cords. But, for all the cell phones, they did remove the batteries and scanned the IMEI numbers. For the walkie talkies, they counted them separately instead of a pair; no idea why. The portable DVD player gave them trouble because it was a DVD player, but it was also "small" and the ad was for "small electronics." They ended up entering it as a "handheld gaming console" and I was on my way.
 
[quote name='BrolyB593']Hmm... do we have a list of what comes up when they hit "recycle" exactly?

This intrigues me greatly...[/QUOTE]

It's probably the same list of categories that you find online at their trade-in page. Like karkyco said, if the category that the CS rep enters for the item isn't considered "small electronics," then the $5 promo is a no go. The GSR girl told me that they don't know exactly which categories are included, but cell phones are a definite. They just keep looking for a category that fits the item and that gives the promo.

The CS rep told the GSR girl (who knew how to do the phones and everyone at CS was going to her for help) that she tried "DVD player" and "DVD movies" and it "wouldn't go." GSR girl kept telling the CS rep different categories (they were all ones that I've seen on BBy's trade-in page) to try until they finally gave up and used the handheld gaming one for my portable DVD player.
 
Big bag of cell phones netted $90. I plan on hunting around my house for more. I know I have a broken portable DVD player and some broken walkie-talkies.
 
[quote name='BLAZETIGER']Quick question for anyone who has done this. Do they require your ID or fingerprint like when trading in a game?[/QUOTE]

They do require ID at my BB.
 
I would love to do this I have like 6-8 old AT&T phones from my old job but knowing my Best Buy it would just end up being a real pain in the butt to get this to work right there.
 
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