"Trade In" Program - Dell IdeaStorm

Home
Community

Ideas
IdeaStorm

Blogs
Direct2Dell

Videos
StudioDell

HOLD that THOUGHT
IdeaStorm is in Read Only Mode until 10/27

Click here for details.

The Dell Community has contributed: 10385 ideas | promoted 697808 times | 80735 comments

How IdeaStorm Works:

6255

"Trade In" Program

6255 points posted to Advertising and Marketing, Environment, Sales Strategies by john_saddington 02/19/07

I'd love to see a "Trade In" Program and/or initiative, where a customer who's been a long time customer could trade in an old system for a new one, or at least, a good sized discount.

I've got an old laptop and seriously need a new one. It's been out of warranty for a long time, but, would love to get a discount for a new one if I could trade it in.

This would also be environmentally healthy!

matt 02/19/07	I would also like to see an "Upgrade Program". Especially for small business. The program could offer a discount and the used machines could be given to schools. It would be nice to have an optional service to install other programs move data, etc.
john_saddington 02/19/07	Great point!
technicaljoe 02/21/07	If upgrade or trade-in is available, I would most likely change the computer every time its warranty runs out (2-3 years?), rather than wait until it dies (7-8 years).
psychomp3 02/23/07	This is the best idea I've read in this entire Forum, Dell should take note of this.
john_saddington 02/24/07	Thanks. I think it's a great point to consider......
psychomp3 02/25/07	I just hope Dell is really looking at idea storm since they created it.
kokuryu 02/26/07	Doesnt this already exist? My mom keeps trading in her old Dell back to Dell for new upgraded onces...
littleprince 02/28/07	I believe this program already exist in some regions.
mrdisco 02/28/07	a trade-in is a great idea. it would work nicely with setting up a dell retail store to accommodate the incoming devices. think about it - a one stop shop where you can trade in, repair/upgrade, and test out/buy new pcs. they could also hold training seminars at such locations.
captainsensible 02/28/07	there used to be dell.tradeups.com but trading in your old system didn't pay very well.
mentallyprovoked 03/01/07	And what are they supposed to do with a 4yr old system? Do you really think the small credit you would get for the depreciated value is worth anything. Better option than a trade in.....Ebay.
captainsensible 03/01/07	Yes, ebay is the way to go! Especially if you have some hard to find memory, it can be worth a new system.
coopersecurity 03/10/07	As I said in another post, Free LCD monitors for long time users. Excellent Ideas.
beamermt25 03/14/07	I think it would be very cool to have this program and make a REAL savings on a new dell pc.
hitors 03/25/07	and it would be nice to have this program globally, not just usa
lorena 04/20/07	Not only notebooks but also PC. We have 3 old Dell PC gathering dust in our home because we hate to throw them away, yet every 4 yers we buy a new PC and depose an older version to join the gathering herd.
acannyoldminx 04/20/07	so far, the best thing about my recent Dell purchase is the recycle program. I don't get a discount but I do get to discard my old laptop responsibly and easily. You use the box your new unit came in; they send you the return postage sticker and everything!
hjwasson 04/24/07	A discount incentive to trade up to a new system certainly has merits. Even 10% or 15% would be a help. It would tend to persuade current Dell consumers to remain loyal, rather than jumping to Lenovo, Toshiba, HP or the like when it came time to shop around for a new system. What would Dell do with the old equipment? They should have students in STRUT programs (Students & Teachers Recycling Used Technology, aka StRUT - Students Recycling Used Technology) refurbish them, and donate them to poor schools and people in developing countries. If a big company like Dell were involved, they could compile batches of the same model to donate to classrooms or schools. Benefits: Increased customer retention, increased philanthropy (positive PR for Dell), another generation of students learning technology and less technology going into our landfills. I don't know what Dell is currently doing with the equipment they are getting back in their recycling program, but I hope it's green and similar to what I am proposing.
fancychevy 04/25/07	I would definitely trade in and up if I could have an offer like this. I not only have a household full of Dell computers and periipherals, and I try to get everyone I know to "go Dell". Alot of people are still stuck on the cost factor of Gateway or even EMachines (heaven forbid), and I am sure that the trade in idea would be another incentive to start using Dell. I have a major in computer tech and computer science and a minor in design, and I prefer to trade rather than upgrade, and always have because you get a nice clean machine everytime. Computers are like cars, we need them, we want the best, and we trade them in when there is a better one, or when we get tired of the old one, or Joe Blow down the street gets one we have to outdo.....why can't computers be the same?
guardianxps 04/26/07	The only problem is all computers depreciate in value, and from my experience after 2 years its really not worth anything. I would say a fair idea would be to place the depreciated amount from your purchase towards a system that is at a set % more then the discount. This is not a bad idea, but I wouldnt want to get something of value for free.
hjwasson 04/26/07	I believe the point of this thread is not to make Dell lose money - but to make more, by increasing customer loyalty to their brand. Also, I think most consumers who took advantage of this program would take their cost savings and apply them to purchasing additional accessories and longer warranties - so Dell would still be making a nice profit on each sale. If I were getting additional discounts on purchasing a notebook, I would opt to get a bigger hard drive, more RAM, better graphics processor, spare battery, travel adapter and better warranty (with accident coverage). Dell could implement a sliding scale discount on the upgrade program: 15% if you're trading in a system that's 2 years old, 10% if the system is 3 - 4 years old, 5% if the system is 5 - 6 years old, nothing for systems that are older. There are other less tangible benefits of a trade in program to Dell as well. The fact is, most computers still have plenty of life left in them after only 2 or 3 years of service - but we "First World," or "Industrialized Nation," consumers tend to always want the best available that we can afford, and we upgrade sooner than we really need to. I'm speaking on average, here - I'm well aware that there are plenty of very frugal people out there. This means that there's plenty of machines that would be disposed of that would be perfectly functional with very little refurbishing - and if donated to poor people all around the world, would generate very positive PR for Dell. Dell would be seen as being "Green," for doing it's part to keep technology out of landfills, and they would be seen as helping to increase the quality of life in developing nations. I envision classrooms or entire schools using Dell equipment they could never have afforded. Another benefit: Dell would be establishing brand loyalty with entire new future consumer group!
alphadec 05/01/07	Yes love to see a upgrade program so I don't have to go out and buy a new xps710 every 3 years...
akhale 05/02/07	I don't think this is a good idea... if the system can't be donated to a charity or fiend then the cost of shipping it someplace is likely more expensive that what the system is actually worth. Don't Bother!!!
hjwasson 05/02/07	akhale, that might be true if we were talking about donating individual units - but my vision is that Dell would be involved in amassing and refurbishing a bunch of the same model computer, and shipping them to very poor classrooms around the world. Economies of scale kick in at that point, and Dell gains additional benefits for public relations, developing new customer bases, etc. - perhaps even including donation tax credits (I'm no tax lawyer, so I don't know if corporations get the same tax benefits from charitable giving as individuals do).
akhale 05/04/07	hjwasson, It's a great idea for corporate customers to referbish theirs, maybe, using Dell guidelines. But who is going to pay the labor costs? By the time you consider that cost factor, Dell will be better off crushing and recycling the systems after customers drop them off for such a purpose.
rotthund 10/17/07	The challenge is to persuade folks (me) to replace usable old stuff with greener, new stuff. Trouble is, scrap price doesn't cover my use-value price for the old gear I'm using. Selling my old stuff as used/refurb means there's still a CRT out there. And the used price probably won't meet my use-value price. Example: I have a nice old CRT monitor that works well. It consumes 100W. But I don't wanna' give up on a good old monitor to spend hundreds to buy a new more energey efficent display. Example 2: I can buy a lot of gas for the price of a Prius minus the trade-in for my old car. (I'm not suggesting Dell sell cars.) Besides, it can do 35mph just as fast as a new Ferrari. After trading in a car, I'm not to hip on trading in cars. Go in with one car, come out with one car and thousands of dollars less. Maybe: * Provide software to track power usage. Not just web based estimators on the sales page. * Steep discounts on LCDs when trading in a CRT. * Discount when trading in a power hungy power-supply computer with a power efficent power-supply computer. Don't limit to previous dell customers. I'd buy a Samsung or Viewsonic from Dell if the price was right, and the trade-in was right.
hjwasson 12/01/07	I think that people who are 100% happy with what they have wouldn't be the intended targets of such a program. In my view, a trade-in program would be in incentive for those that are on the edge & trying to decide if they want to upgrade or not. The incentive for Dell is increased sales. The incentive to the customer is a small discount plus knowledge that their still usable hardware may be put to good use by someone else. akhale, Dell doesn't necessarily have to put a great deal of labor into refurbishing working units. There are STRUT programs (Students & Teachers Recycling Used Technology) that would be only too happy to work on computers for the experience and to put the machines to good use. Also, 3rd world countries aren't necessarily completely lacking in technical knowledge - they're just too poor to afford much technology. There are many people in the destination country who would quite industriously refurbish the technology if it were just shipped to their country as large shipments.
joes15 05/30/08	Merged Idea originally posted 05/30/08 Trade In program I think that Dell should have a trade in program for computers. I currently own a Dell Dimension E521 and would like to get a new Dell PC. If Dell already has one of these programs could someone let me know.
undead999 05/30/08	Merged Comment originally posted 05/30/08 dupe.. http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/62287/Trade_In_Program
mauricio_martins 06/27/08	Merged Idea originally posted 04/21/07 Trade in old computers to get a new Dell computer Dell could accept our old computer as part of negotiation in acquire a new model (from Dell obviously). I say this due the fact of the company is doing a great work on "Green" initiatives - battery recycling, RoHS (Pb-free), etc. Now, Dell will help us to give an end to our future electronic garbage.
john_saddington 06/27/08	Merged Comment originally posted 04/21/07 I've got a similar idea posted much earlier one. Take a look at one of http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/62287/Trade_In_Program
thejedimaster 06/27/08	Merged Comment originally posted 04/26/07 You probably get a very low price on it..wouldn't it be better selling on ebay?
mauricio_martins 06/27/08	Merged Comment originally posted 04/26/07 Maybe maybe... For those having entrepreneurial skills, selling on ebay/mercadolivre should be an option... for those no. There are people that simply like to "give the old" and "receive the new" no matter how much it costs. Probably Dell won't pay as much as it worth for old computers, but the initiative is a single path to the customers give a destiny to old assets. What Dell would do with that is another problem.
atxguy512 06/27/08	Merged Idea originally posted 06/27/08 Offer your customers Trade-In value for their old PC/Notebooks Dell should institue a Trade-In Program for PC/Notebooks, where the value can be applied toward the purchase of a new Dell PC/Notebook. Not only would this keep your loyal Dell customers, it would encourage those that purchase Apple, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba, etc. to consider buying Dell. Also, this program would align with Dell initiative for being a leader in "Green" PC and could enchance the company's recycling efforts as well. I personally own 6 computers in my household and would consider upgrading them if I could get some value without going through the hassel of Craigslist or eBay. BTW - SONY does this TODAY, but Dell would have more of an impact based on the sheer volume that is shipped by the company. https://www.cpsparts.com/tradeins/sony/valuewizard.aspx

track comments for this idea

Please log in to post a comment

recently demoted by:

Status

IdeaStorm Team

Meet the Team!

How IdeaStorm Works:

Categories

Status

IdeaStorm Team