We’ve bought two Kindles for the Aamoth household in the past year and we paid full price for each. We also have, at last count: two ancient Kindle e-book readers (one from 2009!), two dust-collecting Kindle tablets, three woefully underpowered Fire TV sticks, and the first-generation Fire TV Cube—a true powerhouse in 2019, now a shell of its former self.
Why am I telling you all this? Because even though these old devices are virtually worthless, trading them in knocks 20% off the price of most of Amazon’s current gadgets. I could have been getting discounts all along by sending back my ancient gizmos.
How the discount works
Step one: Underneath the price of eligible Amazon devices, there’s an unassuming light-blue “Save 20% with Trade-In” button.
Click it, and you’ll see a helpful pop-up with all your previously purchased Amazon gadgets listed.
Now, don’t worry too much about the trade-in value for each of these items. Just the act of trading something in gets you 20% off the new item’s purchase price.
You also get the value of your old device in the form of an Amazon gift card to be used on a future purchase.
So let’s say I wanted the $250 Echo Show 10. I could trade in my least valuable Amazon gadget—the aforementioned Fire TV Cube, which is worth a whopping $3.
By doing do, I’d get $50 knocked off the Echo Show 10 and a who-cares $3 gift card. But $50 off!
Which devices are (and aren’t) eligible
You can see a list of eligible product categories on Amazon’s Trade-in page. They include the following:
- Kindle e-book readers
- Kindle Fire tablets
- Fire TV sticks
- Echo speakers and devices
- Ring doorbells
- Blink cameras
- Eero routers
And while you’ve got a list of your old Amazon gadgets to choose from, you can also trade in competing devices as well—you’ll just need to search for them in the Trade-in pop-up instead.
Some Amazon-brand devices that aren’t eligible for the 20% off trade-in bonus:
- Amazon Fire TV sets (TVs with Amazon built in)
- Fire TV Soundbar
- Luna gaming controller and associated bundles
- Amazon Astro robot
- Various Amazon-brand accessories and cables
- Smart thermostats, lights, and sensors
- Refurbished Amazon devices
Don’t be like me. Look before you add something to your cart—and unload a nearly worthless gadget to boot.
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