14 DAY TRIAL // There are many trade-in services you can consider whenever an iDevice upgrade looms, but none seems to beat Gazelle, the service that accepts pretty much every type of gizmo and pays you back the money that it’s worth, no questions asked.
Most pundits agree there will be an iPad 3 announcement next week (while others say it's going to be a tad more expensive). If that turns out to be the case, Gazelle says it’s high time you sold your old Apple tablet.
Update: statement from Gazelle's Anthony Scarsella.
“We’ve seen a 400% increase over the past few weeks in iPad trades and now is the best time to trade-in your iPad,” Gazelle Chief Gadget Officer Anthony Scarsella told Cult of Mac. “Prices for iPads have just started to decline since the news of a forthcoming iPad 3 from Apple nears. Also, with an expected price cut on the iPad 2, trade-in prices will continue to decrease heading into the rumored announcement on March 7th.”
Whether it’s the first-generation iPad launched in 2010, or the year-old iPad 2 that you want to replace with a shiny new iPad 3, the reCommerce firm promises to pay hard cash for it.
Specifically, an original Apple iPad with just 16 gigs of storage and WiFi-only wireless is likely to yield $140, even with some visible signs of usage (such as scratches or signs of wear). As long as it “works great,” they’ll take it and give you the cash.
Of course, that’s nothing compared to what you can get for a higher-specced version, or the newer iPad 2.
For example, a first-gen iPad with 64GB of Flash storage and WiFi + 3G will fetch $210. However, a base iPad 2 configuration that only does WiFi and boasts the minimum 16GB of storage will net you even more than the highest-specced iPad 1 - $240.
The high-end iPad 2 with 64GB of Flash and 3G wireless pays $340, if the tablet is locked on Verizon’s network. If you’ve got the AT&T version, expect a cool $360 from Gazelle.
You can get paid via an Amazon.com Gift Card; you can receive a check so you can withdraw the cash and do whatever you please with it (you didn’t actually think you were forced to buy an iPad 3, did you?); or you can get the money electronically sent to your account via PayPal.
So what’ll it be?