Turn Your Old Tech Into Costco Gift Cards Before Black Friday - Here's How

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source connected Google.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Trade successful aged electronics for a Costco gift card.
• No Costco rank required to participate.
• Phobio handles shipping and pricing for your devices.

Have immoderate aged electronics astir nan house? You mightiness beryllium capable to move those into free groceries.

Also: Shop nan champion early Costco deals for Black Friday 2025

Big-box wholesaler Costco offers an electronics trade-in programme wherever you tin nonstop your aged devices and get a shop gift paper successful return. The champion portion is that you don't moreover person to beryllium a Costco member to participate.

How it works

A third-party work called Phobio handles Costco's electronics trade-in program. After heading to nan trade-in site, take your instrumentality type and exemplary from a list. The tract will inquire you questions for illustration whether nan instrumentality powers on, works, and is successful bully beingness condition. Phobio will make an connection based connected your answers.

The programme takes a wide assortment of devices, moreover those astir a decade old. General prices are:

• Phones: Up to $671
• Laptops: Up to $1,460
• Tablets: Up to $500
• Smartwatches: Up to $245
• Desktops: Up to $1,125
• Media players: Up to $5

Almost each of these prices are higher than they were past year, truthful moreover if your instrumentality isn't successful cleanable condition, it whitethorn still beryllium worthy trying. It appears to beryllium sporadic which devices nan trade-in programme accepts, but I was capable to spot offers for devices arsenic aged arsenic nan iPhone 8 bid and nan Google Pixel 6 series. 

Also: Turn your aged tech into Amazon gift cards and discounts earlier Black Friday - here's how

The worth for nan older devices is beautiful low, but it's worthy nan effort since nan process seems truthful elemental and you tin bundle aggregate devices.

Testing imaginable values

To trial imaginable value, I checked nan connection for a Pixel 8 Pro successful bully condition. Phobio offered a $175 Costco card. For comparison, nan going complaint connected eBay is astir $200 to $300, and nan trade-in complaint connected Google's charismatic shop toward nan acquisition of a caller Pixel 10 is $380. You're getting astir 60% to 80% of nan worth you would if you conscionable sold it, but you don't person to woody pinch nan hassle.

I besides tried trading successful nan oldest Pixel telephone I could, nan Pixel 6. Selling that telephone connected eBay could get you $100, pinch Google offering $140. Phobio offered maine $22.

Also: You tin bargain unit gift cards connected Google Play now - here's how

If you return nan offer, you tin either people a prepaid shipping explanation and message it successful your ain container aliases hold to person a prepaid shipping box. You tin take from a beingness Costco Shop card, which you'll get successful 1 to 2 weeks, aliases a integer Costco Shop card, which will get successful 3 to 5 days. You tin usage either type online aliases in-store -- nary rank necessary.

Costco's trade-in programme evidently isn't nan champion way if you're trying to get maximum worth aliases if you're specifically trading successful to upgrade your phone. Still, it is simply a bully measurement to easy people a gift paper for thing sitting successful a drawer.

Get nan morning's apical stories successful your inbox each time pinch our Tech Today newsletter.