Here’s an interesting development. It’s now possible to get 20% off on the new Kindle Scribe when trading in an old Kindle, and it doesn’t even have to work to get the discount.
I’m surprised Amazon is allowing trade-ins on the Kindle Scribe considering how much more the discount amounts to than a typical Kindle ereader order.
With a trade-in you can get $67.99 off the 16GB Kindle Scribe, $77.99 off the 32GB version and $83.99 off the 64GB version.
That’s a massive discount just for trading in an old Kindle that might only be worth $5 if it’s broken. I’m not an economics expert or anything, but how are they not losing money on that?
Some people were asking if the Kindle Scribe would be on sale for Black Friday, but that’s definitely not going to happen because it doesn’t get released until November 30th and they aren’t going to put it on sale before it even gets released.
However, being able to get 20% off what is already a fairly reasonable price compared to other 10-inch E Ink devices with the trade-in is a pretty big deal. Plus you can apply the trade-in value of the old Kindle toward the purchase of a Kindle Scribe to get an even bigger discount.
Just hit the “Save 20% with Trade-In” link below the price on the product page for the Kindle Scribe and it will bring up a list of Kindles registered to your account to trade in. The trade-in option is also available with the bundle packages.
However, be warned, if you already placed a pre-order for a bundle package and try to cancel it to use a trade-in on a second order instead, you’re going to run into a problem canceling the bundle order. I just tried to do this and couldn’t because the USB plug from the bundle already shipped. Even if it hasn’t shipped Amazon’s online system won’t let you cancel a bundle order because it separates the stupid USB plug into a different order because they’re in stock and ready to ship, and the system won’t let you cancel individual items from a bundle order. Long story short, you have to contact customer support to cancel bundle orders, provided part of the order hasn’t shipped yet.
Not sure if I will buy it, but I don’t see the 20% under the price. I did use it last calendar year (though less than 12 months ago). Do you know what the limitations are. Is it once per lifetime, once per 12 months, per calendar year and I just can’t find it…? Thanks.
Nevermind. I was looking at price on the right and not price in the middle. It is there. Don’t know how I missed it.
Now that you mention it, it is kind of weird how they list the price on the right and in the middle when they’re right next to each other. I probably should’ve specified. I’m still half-expecting the trade-in link to disappear at some point when someone figures out the math at Amazon. I don’t see how they can sell them for as low as $272 with a trade-in, and that’s not even taking into account the trade-in credit. That’s basically the exact same price as the 8GB Kindle Oasis without ads, and apparently the Kindle Scribe doesn’t have ads either.
Yeah. The price on this after trade in (and the 300 ppi) is what is tempting me to buy this even though I returned the Elipsa due to ergonomics and this seems similar, but even heavier. I think they will keep the 20%, at least for this generation. Amazon has deep pockets and is often willing to spend.
I do not see the 20% trade-in discount in Amazon UK.
When do you think it will be the earliest time we’ll see Kindle Scribe on sale? It should be about 20% as well, right?
Hard to say. If it’s like the Oasis was the past few years then it might only go on sale a couple of times a year on Prime Day and Black Friday. If it’s like other Kindles then it’ll go on sale every couple of months at least. It might be several months after it gets released before the first sale, though. Last year they had trouble keeping the Paperwhite Signature Edition in stock after it was released, so it took quite a while before Amazon put it on sale.
So, I’m pretty sure Amazon didn’t intend things to work this way, but this is what I did because I didn’t have an old Kindle laying around.
I ordered a refurbished Paperwhite 3 from Woot for $20. I then traded that in to get a $25 gift card (agree with Nathen, not an economist, but pretty sure that is a loss for them). Added that plus the 20% off coupon, and got the 32GB Scribe for $308.
After seeing you mention the rebate, I just cancelled my original and reordered with the trade-in. It’s a really good deal but there are 2 caveats. First it will cause your order to slip out a little. Mine went from saying delivery before 12/22 to delivery before 12/28. The second issue is the trade in has to be into Amazon by 11/15. So be prepared to go with out for a month or two.
I ordered a “bundle” on September 28 and arriving Nov 30 before canceling and re-ordering with the trade. They delivered the charger immediately and couldn’t cancel that, but complained about it and eventually canceled individually the cover and the device. Anyway, just ordered the Scribe alone. It is now coming December 19 and saved the $80 on a 64GB model . I sent in two old kindle devices, Why? They both worked.
I canceled the bundle order–the USB charger already shipped, so I had to cancel the rest of the bundle, since I couldn’t cancel just the Scribe. And as someone mentioned, it does cause the order to ship slightly later than it had been originally. So instead of arriving on November 30th, it’ll arrive December 6th. That’s not too bad.
However, with the trade-in discount and the two Kindles I was able to put toward it, I saved a pretty hefty amount. I’m happy.
Do you know if the (I think) 45 day clock to do the trade in starts from when you place an order or from when you get the kindle. Need to manage potentially returning the kindle if I don’t like it and doing a trade in if I preorder. Thanks
You have like a month an a half to send the Kindle in once you initiate the trade. Other than that, I don’t know about any other stipulations.
I tried for the 20% discount but the price never changed. I got an email to print a shipping label and the promise of the $50 rebate amount for the trade of my Oasis but never got the 20% discount on the Scribe purchase.
Do we know if the UK will be able to do a trade in against a Kindle Scribe? It’s not showing the option in the Amazon UK site.