Samsung Confirms New Money-Back Scheme For Your Galaxy Phone – Forbes
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 is part of the new Galaxy Compensation Scheme. Photographer: Angel … [+] Garcia/BloombergThis story was updated on January 14th with new details on the compensation scheme. After 12 months of staggeringly high trade-in prices for old phones, Samsung is doubling down on its trade-in pricing with a new money-back scheme for Galaxy devices.The Korean company announced today that it will launch a new trade-in program that doesn’t require the purchase of a new handset. The “Galaxy Easy Compensation” scheme will pay Korean Galaxy phone owners money for their old device, with values fluctuating depending on the condition. Crucially, no purchase of a new phone is needed.Samsung says that it will grade used phones on three scales; excellent, good, and recycle, with payouts adjusted depending on which category the used phone falls into. The company hasn’t released pricing for phones yet, but the list of accepted devices might give us some insight.These are all newer phones that were released in the last five years and, crucially, they’re all still within their update window. They all receive some combination of security patches and operating system updates. The scheme, which launches on January 14th, is only available in Korea for now, with expansion to other countries planned for the future.In recent sales, Samsung has valued some of these phones highly when trading in for a new device. For example, the company was offering $800 for the Galaxy S22 Ultra when buying the Z Fold 6. It will be interesting to see what the Korean company will pay for these devices when a new phone isn’t being bought.It seems that Samsung is planning to resell these devices, with the announcement explicitly stating that the company plans to “purchase used smartphones that customers do not use and use them for future resale.” Presumably, this means the recovered handsets will be refurbished.I don’t know how much value there is in a five-year-old Galaxy S20, but I can see newer handsets still fetching a decent price. Especially with Samsung’s new seven-year guarantee of software support. This also explains why Samsung extended software support last year to at least four years of updates for devices released after 2019.Samsung is clear, it wants its Galaxy phones to be as valuable as iPhones, regardless of how old the device is. “Samsung Electronics plans to preserve the market value of Galaxy smartphones,” the press release explains. That is a tall order for any Android phone.With that said, the Korean company may be inching closer to rehabilitating the image of Android handsets in the public consciousness. Recent data from Sell Cell revealed that Samsung phones are depreciating at a slower rate with every release. For example, the Galaxy S22 series lost on average 66.7% of its value in the 12 months after launch. However, the Galaxy S23 only lost 61% in the same time frame, which is a 5.6% improvement.A dedicated trade-in portal, which officially states what a phone is worth from Samsung’s position, adds some security to buyers who typically see the price of their expensive phones crater as new handsets are launched. But that security depends on what Samsung is willing to pay for said devices. We will have to see if Samsung maintains that high pricing for old phones when a new device isn’t bought.Update January 14th: Samsung has now confirmed that it will extend the new compensation scheme to France, alongside launching it in Korea. These are pilot programs that will kickstart today, January 14th. In a new release, Samsung reiterated its plan to improve the value of older Galaxy phones.“We’re excited to launch our brand-new year-round Galaxy Trade-In Program in an effort to enrich the value of Galaxy devices for users and contribute to a circular economy,” Samsung’s Head of Galaxy Value Innovation team, Jun Kim, explained.Samsung hasn’t revealed when or if the scheme will come to the US. But it will be interesting to see how it’s implemented considering the gulf in trade-in pricing between the U.S. and Europe. American Samsung shoppers benefit from eye-wateringly high valuations for old handsets, whereas European consumers have to make do with more modest pricing. Stay tuned for a breakdown of Samsung’s new trade-in scheme and how the pricing compares to the secondary market, and the Korean company’s own valuations during sale periods.One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site’s Terms of Service. We’ve summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:So, how can you be a power user?Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site’s Terms of Service.
