RonG617

I have been trading in some books and dvds to Amazon. Can't be bothered with Ebay after some bad experiences selling. I noticed that the dvds go to Kentucky and as soon as the post office says they are delivered, the web site says they are in processing and within a few days I get my credit. The books go to Indianapolis and they get delivered and then nothing. I wait a week, complain to Amazon who then tell me to wait another week and then they give me a promotional credit and say the shipment must have been lost in the mail. It has happened the last 4 times in a row. I know things can get lost, but this doesn't seem right. Anyone else have any issues with trading in books?

My Other Self

Not trading in books, but I've found selling items to Amazon can be a PITA. I haven't in a few years, but when I sold BDs and DVDs to them they went to a 3rd party company in New Hampshire. They decided the actual "condition" of the items I sold to them even after I graded them accordingly.

Most of the items were sealed, and they downgraded their condition from "new" to "good". After that I stopped. I don't sell on eBay or Amazon myself anymore either due to getting burned various times, so if I do have anything I want to unload for cash I sell them back to a local record store. It's not much in return but certainly worth it alone for the peace of mind and less headaches with dishonest buyers.

g

I stopped trading in to amazon. They opened my sealed DVD's and wanted to downgrade their condition. They are dishonest. They returned them opened and with extremely hard to remove stickers. They suck.
If you are having that trouble with books it would seem obvious to stop sending them.

Why So Blu?

I used to LOVE trading back to Amazon when the program first started, because you would actually get a great rate of return on your books, CD's, DVD's, Blu-rays, etc., Hell, that's how I was able to buy my Plasma and Macbook.

Maybe a year or so ago I wanted to get rid of some more stuff and noticed that they only pay you pennies on the dollar now. It's such a load of crap. When I shipped to them I was instructed to ship their receiving station New Hampshire - I never had a problem with items being down graded, but back then there were only two categories. New and used.

I do sell through their marketplace, though. It's easy and you can actually make some good scratch if your items sell. You can also buy shipping labels directly from them and save a lot of time.

Drake

Before I send the items I take a picture of them, so if they say they are not new I have proof.

thefloater

I had the same experience. I was able to buy new movies and a dishwasher by trading in movies. Loved their free shipping but hated their slow processing. Now they pay crap for trade ins, better off ebaying them.

joe_b

There is definitely something shady going on with the folks who are processing the Amazon customer trade-ins. I had a box of about 60 DVDs I no longer wanted and spent a good amount of time browsing around trying to get the best trade-in value for them. Out of the entire batch, Amazon was only willing to pay a nickel to a quarter for most of them. I'd rather donate them to the library or Goodwill before letting them go for such a small amount.

Anyway, there were a handful they were offering $1-$6 in credit for. The total trade-in value for the ten DVDs was about $30 in store credit. I sent the box off on 1/2 and it was delivered to the facility on 1/6. I waited a week for the submission to be processed and they ended up rejecting half of the items -- four of which were still sealed. The reason given for the rejections was "Incorrect UPC". That's a load of BS if I've ever heard it, as the rejected titles were original studio DVDs that only had one edition to begin with (Shock Treatment, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, etc.).

I'm sure it's no coincidence that the only titles they accepted were the ones that were valued under $1.50. All the rejected titles had a trade-in value of $3 to $6 -- but now I see that they are only offering a credit of $0.25 for each one just a few days later. I plan to write customer service and complain whenever the rejected titles are sent back to me (just for the inconvenience and time I wasted). If they've been opened, I expect Amazon to issue credit to my account for the original trade-in value. I'd heard similar stories like this in the past, but my experiences with the Amazon trade-in store had always been positive until today. Never dealing with these jokers again.

UPDATE: I did a chat with customer service and they issued a promotional credit for the value of the rejected DVDs "as an exception" (a term that makes it sounds like they are begrudgingly doing something nice for a customer). The only downside is it will only apply to items sold by Amazon directly. I mostly shop with Marketplace sellers, so who knows when I'll get around to using it (especially with the $35 minimum they now require for free shipping). Still, it's very generous of Amazon considering the rejected DVDs are being returned to me.

Deftones

I think what is happening is, they don't get around to changing values. Then, when someone ships an item and they see how much they have to give in credit, they return them. That happened to me on a cellular phone. It was an older phone and the price they were giving had to be a mistake. They sent it back, stating the phone was "non-functional." The "new" price was half of what I was going to get. I got an Amazon CSR to give me the difference in promo credit. I am pretty much done dealing with Amazon now with trade ins.

zyzzle

Well, they put *their* problem onto the customer, and make it his fault! That's the very definition of shady business practices. If they can't update prices, then they shouldn't be in the business of accepting trade-ins.

I actually had this happen to me once with a textbook. They rejected it, claiming wrong ISBN, even though the book was pretty much brand new and exactly the ISBN specified. I complained and had a promo credit applied. And I got the textbook back. This was not a small amount. Even so, that experience cured me of Amazon trade-ins forever.

PhantomStranger

People on SlickDeals were arbitraging prices from other places on Amazon's trade-in program. Their listed prices don't change quickly enough to market conditions, which means people were exploiting the program for their own gain. The entire program is run very shadily, but most used DVDs are worthless these days unless one wants to set-up a full-time selling business.

zyzzle

Doesn't matter. If they can't adjust prices 'quickly' enough for those at Slickdeals, they shouldn't bother to remain in business. All it takes is an algorithym which adjusts in real time to supply and demand.

Shannon Nutt

I've never had a really bad experience with Amazon Trade-In until this week. One title got sent back because they said it was the wrong title (it wasn't) and they downgraded me on one item I should have gotten $24 for down to $2 because they said it was 'like new' and not 'new' - the item I sent was FACTORY SEALED! They're claiming it was 'non-original wrapping' - ironically, I bought the title from Amazon! So they're admitting it's re-wrapped?

So I sent Amazon a strongly-worded email. Hopefully they'll look at my other dozen or so trade-in transactions and realize I'm not lying or trying to scam them. It's just a pain to take the time to box up some movies, drive them to a UPS and then only get half of what you expected you would when it's finally processed.

In the future, I may just donate my titles to the library or something.

b2net

I always take pictures of the items including UPC as well as video of me packing said items onto the shipping box. It has come in handy a couple times. I usually do the customer service call back to discuss the issue instead of sending an email.

Shannon Nutt

The picture thing is a good idea...never thought of that.

Anyway, Amazon just credited me the difference, so all is well.

b2net

Good deal

hilts

Same thing happened to me, about the same time. 4 DVD's came back, brand new, in shrink wrap, claimed they were the wrong versionl. Fat chance. I searched them by the UPC's as I entered them. The Trade-In Store just had buyer's remorse, that's all. Pissed me off they slapped their stickers on each one but I wasn't about to burn up a lot of energy on it. They just never get another trade from me again.

Definitely shady, and really not typical of Amazon. Surprised they are tolerating this crap.

Shannon Nutt

I'm definitely going to start taking photos if I use trade-in again...I used it again this month, and they downgraded EVERYTHING I sent to the lowest "Good" quality. Two items I sent in where still sealed/never opened and most had only been viewed once. For every single one, the excuse listed was "minor scratches". Such BS. I emailed Amazon and all I got this time was a $5 credit. I sent them a pretty nasty reply to that about how their trade-in store used to be reliable and now just seems completely dishonest. I should have learned my lesson last time, but it was the first time I had an issue...now it seems like policy to penny-pinch every trade-in to the lowest possible value.

zyzzle

Their trade-in-store has been a lowballing, comical joke for years. Last time I used them, I traded in a sealed copy of the OOP Blue Underground Blu-ray of Argento's BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE for a halfway decent price, around $40. I just looked it up today for a nice laugh. New copies from $173, used from $67.99. Amazon's generous trade-in price today: *up to* a $1.00 gift card!

Yeah, something shady going on there, for sure! For folks easily parted with their wares, for preposterous prices, rave on!

DeanoBKN

I agree, I haven't used it in about 2 years. They actually used to give decent prices, especially on OOP titles but with physical media in a free fall now, unless you got some current video games, forget about getting any value from Amazon.

PhantomStranger

I don't think their trade-in business model works very well anymore. Far more people are selling than buying DVDs these days.

Why So Blu?

2009-2010 were the last years you could get nice deals there. Now it's a rip-off to trade.

zyzzle

Especially true, since they raised the shipping price on all DVDs from 3rd party sellers to a ridiculous $3.99 per title; no discounts for multiple titles in the same order, either.

DJariya

Amazon Trade-In store is pretty worthless these days. TV on DVD sets even new are only going for $1 to $1.50. DVDs and many BDs are going for 50 cents and if it's a relatively new release, you may be lucky to get $1.50.

I guess the market is so over-saturated with Used product right now, which has killed any re-sale value of home media.

zyzzle

And Amazon's 'third party merchant' will happily mark up those releatively new-release Blu-rays which they stole from you at $1 or 1.50. to $13.00 or $15.00 (plus the outrageous $3.99 shipping charge, don't forget!).

So, it's a blasted racket, and won't get any better any time soon.

EinCB

I decided to trade in my very old Nintendo Wii and a limited edition Xbox 360 Gears of War 3 console. The former I thought was in good condition and the latter like new. Both were downgraded to an acceptable condition because of "minor discoloration." I called Amazon and told them that that was a lie. They refunded the difference in a promotional certificate which I have a minor problem with because that means I can't use it for items available on the marketplace. Not a big deal, I'll live with it, but I think I'll sell my future items somewhere else. This all took about six days from shipping to getting the credit.

I thought I was going to get the amount listed to me, but my huge mistake was not doing research about their trade in process. Just wanted to share how things went for me.