Amazon has started a new trade-in promotion where customers can trade an old Kindle, even a non-working one, to get a gift card plus a $20 bonus credit toward the purchase of a new Kindle.
To be clear, this offer includes Kindle ereaders only, not Fire tablets. But all older Kindles are included, all the way back to the Kindle 1 up to the Paperwhite 2.
The $20 bonus credit applies toward the purchase of any of the current Kindles, including the entry-level model, the Paperwhite 3, the Kindle Voyage, and Kids Kindle bundle.
The trade-in value varies widely from each Kindle but all have a base value of at least $5 for non-working Kindles, which isn’t much by itself but for those looking to upgrade the $20 credit is a nice incentive.
Some of the older devices aren’t even worth considering trading in without the $20 bonus credit. For example, they’ve got the Kindle DX priced at only $5 even if it’s in perfect condition—you’d be much better off selling it on eBay.
But others have pretty good trade-in value, like the Kindle 5 for $33.60. The Kindle Keyboard is priced at $30, so with the bonus that could take $50 off the price of a new Kindle Paperwhite or Voyage. I know a lot of people still really like their Kindle Keyboard, however, but if the battery is starting to go bad now is a good time to trade it in and upgrade to a newer model.
Here’s the link to the Kindle Trade-In Promo page at Amazon with all the details and fine print.
I traded in my Kindle Keyboard because I really want a built in light. It’s still processing, so I’m waiting to see if it’s accepted. If not, it will get sent back to me free of charge.
Amazon should be offering trade-ins for Nooks or the Aura E-readers. It will gain new customers for Amazon’s E-reading content, and it might get them new Amazon Prime members due to the discounts offered prime members for E-books.
Kindle for Kindle trade in only keeps current customers and with Barnes and Noble appearing to be letting the Nook line die off; there would be no obvious reason for Kindle readers to jump to the Nook.