Walmart, like many other online and physical retailers, is jumping on the smartphone trade-in bandwagon. The massive international retailer will begin offering smartphone trade-ins before the end of September and will credit customers as much as $300 depending on the condition and model that they are trying to get money for.
The program will officially kick off on September 21 at all 3,600 Walmart stores across the United States. For some people, online companies such such as Gazelle may still be better since Walmart will not provide cash for devices.
Instead, Walmart will only be putting credit towards the purchase of a new smartphone. We already know that the iPhone 5–if it is in good condition–will receive the full $300 , whereas the Galaxy S3 is only going to pull in $175.
Walmart announced the new program shortly after Apple unveiled two new iPhones. Apple itself recently opened up its own trade-in program in retail stores ahead of the iPhone 5S and 5C release .
Best Buy has been offering these types of deals for quite some time, but more and more retailers are finding that smartphone trade-ins can be great for business. However, retailers benefit significantly more when only allowing people to use their credit towards a new smartphone, which is why very few companies provide cash for used smartphones.
Much of the time Gazelle may still be a better option when trading in iPhones but for other devices, these in-store offers may be worth checking out. Now that there are two new iPhones on the market, it is likely that more stores will start offering trade-ins as well.
In case you are unable to make it to a Walmart–which is just about impossible–this deal will also apply at most Sam’s Club stores in the United States.
If you are picking up a new phone with this deal, you will have to deal with starting a new two-year plan or signing up for Walmart’s Straight Talk service.
