Amazon Lets You Get Rid Of Old Gadgets In Order To Save 20% On New Ones

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The gift-giving season is here, so people are scrambling to find themselves and the ones they love a suitable gift. Some braved the chaos that is Black Friday, others partook in Cyber Monday, but if you missed any of those annual events and are looking for an electronic device, Amazon has your back. If you're hoping to get an iPhone 17 Pro or a Pixel 10 Pro, a few clicks on Amazon will give you up to 20% off (in the form of a gift card) on the device. It's also possible for some trade-ins to net you an additional discount, which could be applied either as a rebate or instant payment. The online retailer includes phones, e-readers, smart speakers, home security devices, tablets, video game items, wireless routers, and media players in the deal.

Naturally, there are some limitations. That potential additional discount doesn't work with phones or video game items, unfortunately. It's also limited to one discount per customer, per category, per calendar quarter — so don't get ahead of yourself and start adding multiple items to your cart, thinking you can get multiple discounts.

You also can't exceed $1,800 in your trade-in order. Keep in mind as well that, if you're sending in a phone, you can't trade in more than one. The fine print from Amazon also says, "...final trade-in values are determined after the condition is verified." 

While you're sitting there reading through all the details of the discount, rest assured that Amazon accepts and lets you buy non-Amazon products. I just happened to have my old Echo Show laying around because I stopped using it when Amazon changed its AI-listening policy and didn't allow me to disable it. The trade-in process is incredibly easy. Amazon practically walks you through it. In fact, because my Echo Show 5 was registered to my Amazon account, it popped up automatically as a possible trade-in, and all I had to do was click the box beside its picture.

After I clicked "Appraise," it brought me to a new screen where it asked about the device's condition and warned that if it's not what I say it is, Amazon can charge back the discount I receive. I'll be bringing the Echo Show in to my local Whole Foods to do the physical trade-in and complete the process, though you can also mail it in. Just be sure to get it in by the deadline Amazon gives you. My deadline was more than two months after I started the process, so you should have plenty of time.

After I clicked on "Confirm," the gift card and 20% discount were automatically applied to my next purchase. I'm an avid reader, so I nabbed myself a Kindle Paperwhite, which would have been about $160 without the discount. Instead, it came out to just $131 and change.