trade in /recycle

Hi, kramert4,

Apple does have a trade-in program (https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in) if you’d like to trade it in with them. If you use them — and can afford to wait for the trade-in to process to complete (it can take awhile) — you can use the Apple Store Gift card credit towards the purchase of your new iMac. You can view the link and enter info on your existing iMac to see what the present value is they’re offering. Bear in mind the offering fluctuates, and unless you lock in and commit to a trade, the price you see could go up or down.

Additionally, there are other third-party firms offering trade-ins, too. You can google “trade in iMac”, and I’m sure several links will pop up. With these other third-party firms — Apple uses a third-party firm, too — shipping the iMac to them would be your responsibility. This won’t matter if you have the original box...

Alternatively, you can try to sell it yourself, using funds you receive to offset your payment method if you went ahead to purchase a replacement iMac without waiting.

I’ve traded in two iPads, so far, and both of them I traded in with Amazon, because: 1) they had the best price, 2) I had the shipping boxes, and 3) they offered an Amazon gift card in trade which was readily usable. I kept my old tablet, ‘till the next one arrived, allowing me ease of transfer. Had I gotten a gift card from Apple, I’d never have used the Apple Store credit in a reasonable time.d If you do use Amazon, however, there must be an EXACT listing for your equipment, model number, color, configurations, etc...

Lastly, I had an iMac to trade in, too, as with my iPadPro and a keyboard, I just wasn’t using it anymore, and the hardware had changed in the interim to where the newest OS X operating system could be no longer loaded. The problem I learned with trying to use any trade-in for that, however, was I didn’t have the original box, and trying to find and/or purchase one became cost prohibitive. (Nearly $100).

To make things easiest for me, I elected to trade in with Apple, despite not getting the highest trade-in price, because Apple sent me a shipping box post-paid with which to return it. It went without a glitch, and I now have an Apple Store Gift card — it cannot be used at the App Store, however — that has no expiration date. It’s likely I’ll use it when it’s time to replace my keyboard and/or with the new iPadPro I update to after a few years.

The downside of the credit is that it’s a virtual card for which the link will expire in a year. So, I had to set up a tickler system so I’ll remember to get a new link each year in order to have the card ready to use, when I need it.

Which route you’ll go will depend on your needs and how quickly you want to trade, whether you want to have the existing iMac there, when the new one arrives, whether you can sell it yourself and if you’re willing to deal with shipping containers if you’ll need to ship it.

Hope this helps!

You will need to contact Apple, we are all other users here. Personally, I would not recommend it because you can get a higher price selling it yourself.

https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in?afid=p238%7CsD9NrhLUc-dt_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_345423550316_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-brand--slid--apple+trade+in+program-e-product-

Note that depending on location, Apple may use a third party company, some of which may or may not be reliable.