Trade-in and E-waste

by Rian

It’s nearing the end of the year, and before we start preparing Christmas gifts some of my friends and I started discussing how are we making rooms of new stuffs. Or to put it more bluntly, we were asking each other how we are getting rid of old electronics.

Nintendo Switch 2 was released in June and is expected to see the sales go off the through during the Christmas; no doubt some of the gamers wouldn’t mind getting rid of (either by selling or simply throwing out) older consoles. There was M5 MacBook Pro base model, which is highly praised; no doubt it will also see higher than usual sales figure this year. MacBook is in a slightly better spot as it is often easier to find a trade-in deal either through official Apple Store or a third-party.

Few weeks ago, I was busy throwing out old laptops from 2000s and early 2010s, back when selling a laptop meant jumping through hoops. Before anybody tells me a collector may have spent a fortune for what I had — literally everyone else told me the same and I’ve kept them for the same reason — not only these laptops are already too common for collectors to find a mint condition alternative, it would be too troublesome to ship it from where I am. Calling an e-waste collection service was easier and free of charge.

Ultimately, I believe this is a matter of experience. If I were to upgrade to another laptop, anyone will offer a deal for a used M2 MacBook Air. That deal, no matter how cheap, will include free shipping and some monetary returns. If I want the convenience of trade-in, I can ship it right off instead of being waitlisted for e-waste collection to show up. If I am willing to put in some effort, I can reasonably assume there will be a buyer likely at a higher price offered by these mass trade-in deals. These are the things I cannot get a reasonable guarantee of for the products that do not have any sorts of trade-ins by the manufacturer or by the third-party dealers.

To some extent, I believe more extensive argument can be made that all manufacturers should be held reasonably responsible of the waste created. But it is a stretch. Not even Apple takes all of their gadgets. Apple Vision Pro notably lacks any trade-in deals from Apple. I also had trouble finding a third-party dealer who will buy my used 2019 Intel Mac Pro. But it is certainly a criteria, and I believe when we discuss an experience of using a device, it should include, not only the beginning of the migration, but migration away from the said device in the future.