Online retailer Newegg has announced the start of its new CPU Trade-In Program this morning, along with a limited-time PC Trade-In Program with Intel. The full PC Trade-In program will run until August 11th, and CPU trade-ins are expected to join GPU trade-ins as an evergreen part of Newegg's Refreshed services.
For those upgrading their computer's silicon, what to do with the old processor can present many questions. Should you sell it on eBay for a reasonable return? Add it to your tech graveyard/museum. Throw it hard into the ocean? Thankfully, Newegg is here with an easy solution: send it back to them instead. While convenient and time-saving, Newegg's trade-in solution draws some skepticism for its low payouts and its track record with GPU trade-ins.
Newegg's trade-in process works the same as any other hardware trade-in. Those interested must first find a new CPU they like on Newegg, and only then can they get a trade-in offer for their existing processor, typically below the street resale price. After buying the new CPU, one can only send in their old processor, which will be tested before the trade-in credit is refunded.
Newegg's CPU Trade-In Program covers Intel processors from the 12th, 13th, and 14th generations and AMD processors from only the Ryzen 7000 series. The 45 CPU models accepted by Newegg range in value from $45 trade-in value for the Intel i3-12100F to $380 for the i9-14900KS. Best-case trade-in values for CPUs from Newegg are typically around 30-40% below what the same hardware sells for used on eBay ($260 Newegg vs. $400 eBay for i9-13900K; $320 Newegg vs. $500 eBay for Ryzen 9 7950X3D). Below is a handy chart showing what your used processor would get from the Newegg trade-in vs. the average sale price of the same processor on eBay, sorted by CPU popularity.
Newegg has been offering trade-ins on used GPUs since September 2023, which we characterized as an interesting system with laughable prices. $590 cashback for a used RTX 3090 Ti, which sells for an average of $900 on eBay, is a pretty terrible value, and this ~35% margin is again average for Newegg's trade-in GPU rewards. And that assumes that your GPU is accepted by Newegg, which is no guarantee according to countless internet horror stories of would-be trade-in customers who purchased their new GPU only to have their trade-in card rejected by Newegg customer service.
Of course, trade-ins are rarely the best value for a consumer's money. Regardless of the retailer, trade-in prices for most commodities are typically lower than if you sell your item secondhand. Trade-ins or buyback programs are attractive because they guarantee some money; rather than rolling the dice on seeing if your listing gets spotted online, you can cut your losses with a near-guaranteed payout.
Newegg gets some extra points taken from its trade-in program, as trade-ins must be connected with a new hardware purchase. Other hardware refurbishing or reselling sites like Jawa for PC hardware or Back Market for cell phones offer trade-in programs with similar margins to Newegg. However, these stand-alone services allow participants to pocket their trade-in money. With Newegg's trade-ins, if your old hardware is lacking, you get no money back on a big purchase you've already been locked into, a dangerous prospect for some budget-conscious buyers.
If you're sold on Newegg's trade-in program and want even less money back for your tech, you could trade in an entire PC for a maximum of $400. Until August 11th, Intel is sponsoring a PC Trade-In deal allowing you to trade in a desktop, laptop, or tablet for up to $400 off the purchase of a new 14th-gen computer. Eligible PC trade-in candidates can be no older than seven years old (while vague, it seems that self-built PCs may qualify for the program) and can only be traded in toward the purchase of a new machine with 14th-gen Intel silicon, a fun gamble on Raptor Lake processors with recent extremely high crash rates.
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