gazelle

With the announcement of the iPad 3 right around the corner, a lot of people are going to be getting rid of their ancient iPad 2 to help fund their purchase of a pristine iPad 3. Rick Broida already told us how to get top dollar for the iPad 2 and Dan Ackerman filled us in on how to get the most for an iPad trade-in. (Remember to delete your personal data before selling an iPad.) But, what about those used electronics you have lying around that haven't been touched in days?

I rounded up five sites … Read more

I am the first to admit when I am wrong. And indeed, I made a mistake a few weeks ago when I mentioned in this column a certain Web site as a place to sell an old iPhone without checking the reputation of the site mentioned.

In the October 4 edition of Ask Maggie, headlined Where to unload your laptop for top dollar, I listed the Web site CashForiPhones.com as a place to sell a used iPhone. Since then, I've learned from various readers and through my own investigation, that this particular Web site has a reputation for … Read more

Gadget buyer Gazelle, which purchases gadgets in return for cash, today said it's seen an 80 percent increase in BlackBerry trades since last week, up from record highs earlier this month.

The metric follows an extended outage of Research In Motion's e-mail and BlackBerry messaging services, which left users unable to communicate with one another or send and receive e-mails globally. To placate angry users, RIM offered users $100 in free "premium" applications. The spike also coincided with the release of Apple's new iPhone 4S.

Gazelle's "Chief Gadget Officer' Anthony Scarsella told CNET … Read more

If the pace of used iPhone buybacks is any indication, many gadget lovers have already made their minds up about upgrading.

Buyback service Gazelle is seeing a used iPhone being turned in every 15 seconds today, according to company representative Michael Schneider. Last week, the company received about 5,000 used iPhones for buyback and reselling. On Friday alone, it received 1,000, he said.

The rapid volume is most likely due to people trying to lock into buyback prices before today's iPhone announcement. By later this afternoon, prices, which have been volatile, will likely fall significantly, he said. … Read more

As many as 40 percent of consumers say they plan to snag an iPhone 5 once it's available. Now, I'm no statistician, but I do have the equivalent of at least an 8088 processor in my cranium, and it tells me that probably a few of those folks are current iPhone 4 owners.

That could mean that a lot of households are about to gain a nifty new coaster, hockey puck, or doorstop with an Apple logo on the back. Or they could turn it into enough cash to by three old school Kindles or one of those … Read more

With the release of Apple's next iPhone expected to be just around the corner, at least one third-party trade-in service is seeing what it calls an unusually high amount of trading activity from people trying to offload last year's model.

Gadget buyer Gazelle, which purchases iPhones, iPads, and devices from other manufacturers, today said it's seen an 84 percent "spike" in people trying to sell off their used iPhones to the service compared to the same time two weeks ago.

"This launch has been so delayed and overdue, there's definitely a lot more of a hype," said Anthony Scarsella, Gazelle's "chief gadget officer" in a phone interview. "For us, this is really an unprecedented behavior, as gadget owners always wait--usually until a new product is announced--to trade in."

Scarsella suggested that the spike is even more peculiar given that the iPhone is a type of device where people usually only sell it after getting their hands on a replacement.

"This is especially true with mobile phones, because you can't really trade in your phone and go without it. With a tablet, and other categories, you can trade in your camera, wait two months, and buy a new camera. But with a cell phone, it's kind of like you need one on you at all times," Scarsella said. … Read more

Gazelle, which has a long history of buying used gadgets from users, is now running a pilot program to sell some of them back on a standalone Web store it launched today. The store sells all six models of the original iPad, which is being sourced with units Gazelle bought off its customers.

"We have been exploring the development of an e-commerce experience, and the iPad presented us with a perfect set of circumstances to get out in front of customers with a simple pilot," said Israel Ganot, co-founder and CEO of Gazelle, in a statement.

Ganot says … Read more

Apple's new iPad 2 is certainly a nice upgrade from the original, but it may not be revolutionary enough to convince owners of the original iPad to shell out for a second tablet. One way to justify an early upgrade is to sell or trade in your current iPad, to at least cover some of the cost of a new model.

Searching online for the best deal for my 32GB Wi-Fi iPad (which originally cost $599), I found the offers ranged from under $200 to nearly $400, although some required more effort on the seller's part than others. … Read more

On today's show, we're joined by Eric Franklin of the Crave podcast and Wilson Tang from the 404 for what turns out to be a much more reasonable and serious discussion than you might expect. Short version: what's going to happen to the Android tablets now that iPad 2 is out, and will there be an iPad 3? Also, Verizon ends iPhone unlimited data plan and security woes strike the Android platform. Plus: UFOs! --Molly