Amazon.com's Trade-in Program
A great way to recoup some of the costs of learning a new language
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Have old textbooks or language learning software lying around? Amazon may be willing to buy them off you for up to 80% of the cover price, regardless of where they were originally bought. They also buy back various kinds of electronics, video games, movies, tv shows, and music.
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Language studies, like most other types of studies, can get really expensive, especially if you end up buying all sorts of products to help you learn. If this is what you chose to do, but like so many other people, never really got much use out of these expensive products (or if you have actually completed them – go you!) then you might be happy to learn more about the new Amazon.com Trade-in Program.
The program not only allows you to trade in language learning materials, but a whole range of categories including electronics, video games, movies, TV shows, and music. The best part – it doesn't matter where you originally bought the items or how much you paid for them! So, if you have dust collectors such as these just sitting around the house, then it could be worth doing a quick search to see if Amazon would be willing to buy them from you. Make sure that you search for the specific edition of your item, however, because Amazon may sell multiple versions of the same item and you'll be required to find the exact one to complete the trade-in process.
Anyway, if you do happen to have some items that Amazon is buying, then you'll be given a general quote for the items before sending them in. And don't worry about the costs of shipping – Amazon has that covered. Once the items have been packaged and shipped to Amazon, they will review the condition of the items and give you a final quote. If an agreement can be made, then a payment will be issued, otherwise, the items will be returned back to you at no cost. Be sure to pack the items well, however, so they arrive in the same condition you sent them in.
As for payment, well all payments for Amazon's Trade-in Program are made in the form of Amazon.com gift cards, which then can be used towards buying anything your heart desires (on their site, anyway) like more language learning materials, the latest gaming console, Christmas gifts, your groceries – anything!
To give you a better idea about the amount of money Amazon is willing to part with to buy your used items, here are a few of the language learning items I found that are part of the Trade-in Program. Please be aware that the prices shown above may have changed since the article was written and that the items themselves may no longer be a part of the Trade-in Program.
Living Language Spanish, Complete Edition: Beginner through advanced course, including 3 coursebooks... [Audio CD – Unabridged] (2011)
List Price $49.99, Trade-in Price $14.74
French, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs [Audiobook] [Audio CD] (2005)
List Price $49.95, Trade-in Price $10.51
The Everything Learning German Book: Speak, write, and understand basic German in no time [Paperback] (2009)
List Price $19.95, Trade-in Price $2.72
SPANISH in 10 minutes a day® AUDIO CD [Audio CD] (2004)
List Price $59.95, Trade-in Price $16.07
Living Language Spanish, Platinum Edition: A complete beginner through advanced course, including... [Unabridged] [Paperback] (2011)
List Price $179.00, Trade-in Price $45.82
Now as promised, here's a more complete listing of the categories Amazon is currently looking for:
Main Trade-in Categories
Electronics: For electronics, they tend to look for consoles like old PlayStations, Xboxes, and Wii machines, handheld gaming systems like the PS Vita and 3DS, and accessories like controllers and headsets. The offered prices for electronics can be quite high depending on the demand for the particular product, but obviously the quoted price will depend on the condition of the item you will be trading in.
Movies & TV: In movies and TV they are looking for both DVD and Blu-ray movies in a number of categories like action and adventure, animation, art house and international, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, military and war, science fiction and fantasy. They are also looking for both DVD and Blu-ray copies of several TV shows. They've even got a VHS category, but I wouldn't hold my breath there as the category currently only holds one title as part of the Trade-in Program.
Music: Amazon has several categories of music they are looking to buy through their Trade-in Program, including genres like alt rock, blues, Broadway and vocalists, children's music, Christian music, classical music, classic rock, country, dance and electronic, folk, gospel, hard rock and metal, jazz, Latin music, new age, pop, R&B, rap and hip-hop, rock, soundtracks, and world music. The prices they offer for CDs can be pretty low (under $0.50 for many of them), but if you never listen to them anyway and would like to free up some space on your shelf, then it could be worth looking into.
Textbooks: If you are like me, then you probably have a bunch of old school textbooks just lying around. Despite my intentions (of course I'll use them again!) they just sat on my shelf, gathering dust, never to be opened again. Which is a shame considering how incredibly expensive they all were. Well, luckily, you can probably offload some or all of your unwanted textbooks through the Amazon Trade-in Program for a little (or a lot) of extra spending money. Some of the offers are even as much as 80% of the original cover price, which as I'm sure you'll remember was quite high in most cases. Featured categories include arts and photography, business and investing, computers and technology, education and reference, K-12 teaching resources, medical, professional and technical, science and math, and test prep and study guides.
Video Games: If you have old video games you no longer use, you should definitely search for them through the Amazon.com Trade-in Program to see what kind of money they are offering. For the more popular titles, the prices are actually quite reasonable most of the time. Even more obscure titles find their way into the program sometimes, so it doesn't hurt to look, because who knows what they'll be looking to buy. They typically look for games for all sorts of systems, including but not limited to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PC, Mac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vida, and Sony PSP.
Please note that any items you wish to trade in must be in acceptable condition to be eligible for the program and you'll be asked to specify the condition of your item during the trade-in process. More information about what constitutes acceptable conditions can be found at the following links: textbooks, eelctronics, movies and TV, music, video game consoles, video game accessories, and video game media.
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