Opinion | The OnePlus 7T trade in program is a joke

Trade-in schemes are rarely ever worth your time, as companies generally offer awful values for relatively new handsets. As we covered last month, for example, Google felt US$295 was a reasonable price for trading-in a 128 GB Pixel 3 XL. Meanwhile, a 64 GB Pixel 3 would only get you US$225 off a Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL.

Apple and Samsung have slightly better form in this regard, with both offering up to US$500 and US$600 respectively for the likes of an iPhone XS and Galaxy S10e. By contrast, OnePlus is offering pitiful sums for its OnePlus 7T trade-in program.

As the screenshot below shows, OnePlus claims that it will give up to US$370 in credit for a OnePlus 7T when trading in a 256 GB OnePlus 7 Pro. The company only released the device in May, effectively devaluing a US$799 handset by almost 50% just six months after its launch. Worse still, we were quoted only US$340 for a 256 GB OnePlus 7 Pro despite listing it as being in perfect condition. Hence, we have no idea how one would attain that peak US$370 trade-in value.

Moreover, the company is offering up to US$600 off a 1 TB Samsung Galaxy S10+, a device that retails for US$1,599.99. Incidentally, Samsung is currently selling the device for US$200 less on its website. OnePlus has pulled questionable moves with its trade-in programs before too, on which we reported last year. In short, if you are considering a OnePlus 7T around Black Friday, sell your existing smartphone privately.