Update 10/29/23: We have word that this program is now active.
Update 10/16/23: Internal documents now confirm the new trade-in system, including the new boxes, are delayed indefinitely. We’ll update when we have a new date.
Trade-ins. When you’re going to get a new phone, it’s always a good idea to trade in your previous phone to get a discount on the new one, especially if there’s an especially good trade-in promo that knocks hundreds of dollars off the phone you want to get. It’s a win-win — you get a cheaper (or free) new phone, and your old phone will probably make it to the second-hand market for a second lease at life. Everyone wins here.
The only problem, however, is how to ship these old phones for trade-in. Companies like Apple have been doing this for a while with their trade-ins. Sometimes, you can just use your old box, but what if you lost that or tossed it? It’s been an issue for T-Mobile for so long that it’s now willing to give users a shipping kit to ship back their old phones.
According to documents shared with us here at The Mobile Report, starting October 16th, if you want to send your old phone to T-Mobile for a deferred trade-in (where you take advantage of the trade-in offer now and ship the phone afterward), you can do so by using one of the return kits T-Mobile will send you.
The carrier will give you a kit that includes shipping materials, including a box for you to put your phone in, as well as instructions on what to do, and a shipping label so you can just drop it off in your mailbox or at a carrier’s shop. Frontline Experts should be able to provide these kits on demand to users who need them.
By using this, the trade-in process should be greatly simplified and easier to follow through, especially for users who have never done trade-ins, since you can just use a kit, drop the phone in the box, and follow the instructions to have the phone shipped to T-Mobile in one piece. You get your discount, T-Mobile gets your phone, and everyone is happy.
We don’t yet know what the boxes look like, but I’m sure we will soon, as the new trade-in boxes will start becoming available on October 16th.
