Gazelle, one of the longest-used smartphone buyers in the United States, has announced the end of its central exchange program, which allows phone owners to send phones and other electronic devices in exchange for money.
The news, revealed in an email that Gazelle sent to some customers on Wednesday and shared with The Verge, it means that any potential Gazelle customer will have to receive a quote and begin the exchange process by January 31, 2021 (allowing 30 days for shipping over the phone) if they want to take advantage of the program. The service will officially end on February 1, while any active exchanges will be honored, the company said.
This is not the end of Gazelle’s business. EcoATM, Gazelle’s parent company, which has been in existence since 2006, operates kiosks that allow you to get instant cash for a used device, and Gazelle’s website is now used as a retailer to sell these devices at reduced prices after they are refurbished. (The problem is that ecoATMs may not pay as much as the traditional Gazelle mailing program, which typically offered more than $ 300 or more for a previous year’s flagship, such as the iPhone 11 Pro.)
Gazelle does not give a reason for the decision, but there are some major trends in the U.S. mobile business that point to a general decline in the benefits of cash exchange services. On the one hand, many more people now than in previous years rent their smartphones instead of buying them immediately, a big change since the days when American operators offered low-priced phones in exchange for firm two-year contracts.
It is now very easy to pay a modest monthly fee for a phone through a program like AT&T Next Up or the Apple iPhone update program, with the option to exchange that device for a new one after a certain period of time. Unless you decide to pay for your rental phone early, you can’t turn around and sell it to Gazelle – and you wouldn’t necessarily want to do that, as it doesn’t make a lot of financial sense.
In addition, Gazelle’s first deals exploded in iPhone exchanges when selling its phone to get the latest product from Apple was a popular strategy for early users. Now, Apple has its own robust exchange program (in addition to the leasing program) that practically gives you the same result.