Trade in your iPad, get a $200 gift card

http://content.microsoftstore.com/en-us/offers?WT.mc_id=PromoEmail_iPadTradein_9-5-13_GetDetails#offer-tablet-trade

by kapkapkap • 13 years ago

46 54 13 years ago

content.microsoftstore.com

smallsharptools• 13 years ago

Pass

kirpekar• 13 years ago

Does not include the iPad 1.

fitzhume• 13 years ago

It really seems like Apple left early iPad adopters out in the cold. Last major OS update wouldn't work on iPad 1, nor does it count for any trade-in ANYWHERE it seems like.

interpol_p3• 13 years ago

iPad 1 had a very decent lifespan compared to the tablets released by competing manufacturers shortly afterwards.

t0• 13 years ago

Their recycler (http://cexchange.com/) will resell the iPads to cover the $200 loss, which will actually create more competition for surface. This isn't too brilliant of a strategy.

eupharis• 13 years ago

Presumably this trade-in will be done by people who are thinking, "I'm not crazy about my iPad. I want to try something new." If Microsoft convinces these customers to try Surface versus something else (aka Android), it's a win.

The iPads will be resold to someone thinking, "I want to try a tablet, but I've never tried an iPad." Which is a different market segment.

Also, a $200 gift card != $200 cash. Some estimates say 20% of gift cards in the US are not redeemed. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_card#Redemption_rate

And even for the cards that are redeemed, Microsoft is making a profit off every $ that is spent. Plus interest on any gift card balance.

It's not far-fetched to imagine Microsoft making 30%+ profit off this, while increasing the (dismal) market share of Surface devices.

sspiff• 13 years ago

Or a person thinking "I want a cheap iPad for the kids", but either way, those people are less likely to buy a Surface, so your argument makes sense.

dingle_thunk• 13 years ago

Yeah, really makes you wonder why car dealerships offer trade-ins...

superuser22• 13 years ago

The rather amusing side effect of this marketing strategy is that Microsoft is buying a bunch of iPads. What are they going to do with them?

halisaurus• 13 years ago

Sell them! It's working for Apple.

mortehu• 13 years ago

Surely Microsoft disassembling them for parts would be better for Apple?

superuser22• 13 years ago

I have a feeling Apple's advertising team could have some fun with the fact that Microsoft is selling iPads.

AmVess2• 13 years ago

Going away presents for Ballmer.

batiudrami• 13 years ago

I'm sure they have a deal with a company who either resells them or strips them for parts, and pays slightly more than $200 for a working iPad.

ScottWhigham2• 13 years ago

I'd guess sell them. I sold my iPad 2 for $300 on ebay last month.

vnayak• 13 years ago

Or you can sell it on craigslist for $400

tinbad• 13 years ago

In comparison: Gazelle offers $175 for an iPad 2 WIFI-only 32GB (Microsoft doesn't accept iPad 1). You can say that on average they will make more on those iPads than they are giving away in value for MS products.

In other words, Microsoft is trying to come off cheap.

benihana• 13 years ago

The only tablet I'd trade my iPad in for is a newer iPad.

reginaldjcooper2• 13 years ago

I certainly wouldn't trade it in for a Surface, I might trade it in for an Android.

All the stuff I get is either free-as-in-libre or something my wife is going to enjoy using. Surface is neither, with the bonus that whoever was in charge was clueless enough to load it with 40G of software.

TheAnimus• 13 years ago

I feel sometimes as if I'm alone for liking my Surface RT.

8.1 for outlook was the real clincher. Before I hadn't really liked any tablets I'd used.

But now this thing really does go everywhere. Office is rather integral to my workflow, every alternative I've tried hasn't cut the mustard. Now when I'm away, I've got my laptop and my 'office slab'. The touch cover actually works rather well, I won't mind typing out a good long email on it without wanting to slam the device into the wall (which my Nexus 7 makes me want to do).

It is also remarkably adept at just working with anything I slam on the USB. I can use it to backup my SD cards to a USB HDD when travelling (having lost an SD card last year half way through my holiday I'm paranoid!) or I just plug in my USB headset for Skype. It can browse the web including pages that have bad touch events (ie menu comes down on mouse over, not mouse down).

And it does flash.

I've only got an iPad 2 to compare against for speed, and yes whilst I'd like it faster, it isn't problematic.

I can't really see a lot of the hate on the Surface, as a product it isn't really there yet. But neither is my iPad or my Nexus.

thorlog• 13 years ago

Apple is giving even less money for trade-ins.

drcongo• 13 years ago

I think you may have missed the point.

ryankshaw• 13 years ago

Some time ago I saw something that Microsoft gets $15 for every android device sold while google gets 0 (because of patent extortion). It would be pretty funny to see something now that says "Microsoft makes more in Q4 off iPad re-sales than from surface sales" note: I'm saying profit, not revenue, because of how much they have to subsidize surfaces thus making negative profit while at the same time re-selling the ipads they got for $200 at market rates, thus making a profit.

jmduke• 13 years ago

I bought an iPad 2 last summer for $200. This honestly isn't a bad way to get rid of it, except my biggest issue with getting a Surface at this point is my unfamiliarity with the Windows platform -- I'm not saying I wouldn't be able to use the thing, it's just that there would be a subconscious effort being made that I don't really feel like dealing with (at least.)

Still, I think having $200 to spend on Microsoft stuff isn't a bad trade. Office is expensive.

ScottWhigham2• 13 years ago

Weird. I just sold an iPad2 on ebay last month for $300. Looking at eBay, that is the current going price for a used iPad 2 in good condition (as mine was). So when I saw MSFT offering $200, I thought this was a bad deal for their consumers.

locksley• 13 years ago

Not worth it, you can sell an iPad 2 for $270 on eBay.

proof: http://www.thepricegeek.com/results/ipad+2

sliverstorm• 13 years ago

Sure, but both eBay and PayPal take a cut of the transaction, and the size of that cut has been growing. What is it now, 15% each?

akandiah• 13 years ago

No, ~15% in total. So, you're getting a better deal from eBay.

anuraj• 13 years ago

MS, isn't it a trade down - rather than trade in?

DH61AG• 13 years ago

And then they will use the iPads themselves because their products suck?

jbrooksuk• 13 years ago

I've tried both versions of the Surface and each time my opinion is "I wish they'd split their OS, like Apple." - people usually don't need an entire desktop OS (with touch screen functions or not) on a tablet, they want a tablet OS - like iOS.

broken_symlink• 13 years ago

The only ipad I have to trade is a first generation one, which they don't accept. Oh well...

Trade in your iPad, get a $200 gift card

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