• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

BFG Announces 100 Day Graphics Card Trade Up Program

Jimmy 2004

New Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
5,458 (0.78/day)
Location
England
System Name Jimmy 2004's PC
Processor S754 AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2640MHz
Motherboard ASUS K8N
Cooling AC Freezer 64 Pro + Zalman VF1000 + 5x120mm Antec TriCool Case Fans
Memory 1GB Kingston PC3200 (2x512MB)
Video Card(s) Saphire 256MB X800 GTO @ 450MHz/560MHz (Core/Memory)
Storage 500GB Western Digital SATA II + 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax SATA
Display(s) Digimate 17" TFT (1280x1024)
Case Antec P182
Audio Device(s) Audigy 4 + Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 Speakers
Power Supply Corsair HX520W
Software Windows XP Home
BFG Technologies announced today the BFG Trade Up program. The program is designed to give customers a one time opportunity to exchange their current BFG graphics card within 100 days of the original date of purchase for a better model and only pay the difference in price, plus applicable taxes.

"As industry innovators of 24/7/365 technical support and the graphics card lifetime warranty, the BFG Trade Up program further demonstrates our continued commitment to provide value-added products and services that extend our customer's technology investment," said John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG Technologies. "Newer, faster graphics cards are always being introduced into the market. Knowing that the BFG Trade Up program is available, customers can confidently purchase a BFG graphics card today knowing that their investment will be protected when newer graphics cards are launched soon after. The BFG Trade Up program will also provide customers an opportunity to upgrade to a model more suited to their performance needs."

The BFG Trade Up program applies to all BFG graphics cards released after February 21, 2008. This includes all BFG graphics cards released by the company after this date including all BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9-series products. While the program is currently only available to U.S. and Canadian customers, BFG will offer the program in other countries as becomes feasible to do so.

Certain terms and conditions apply. For more information about the BFG Trade Up program, visit www.bfgtech.com.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

calvary1980

New Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
1,801 (0.30/day)
Location
Toronto, CA
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield L724A629 @ 3.8Ghz 423x9 1.47v
Motherboard Abit IP-35 Pro Beta 16.B04 (vDroop)
Cooling 6x Scythe S-Flex SFF21F, EK Multi Option 2 Port, dB-1 Compact, Swiftech MCR80, Swiftech Apogee GT
Memory 2x1 OCZ Flex XLC PC-9200 @ 5-5-5-18 1220 2.3v
Video Card(s) Inno3D Geforce 8800GTS 320
Storage Western Digital Raptor X 150
Display(s) Samsung Syncmaster 226BW 22"
Case Cooler Master RC-690
Audio Device(s) Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1
Power Supply Thermaltake ToughPower 1000
remember the days when eVGA was the little guy and BFG was the big guy? :)

- Christine
 

Nicksterr

New Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
83 (0.01/day)
Location
AL
Well, guess I'll be switching from evga now, even if it is just 10 days.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
2,817 (0.45/day)
Location
US
Processor Intel Q9400
Motherboard asus p5q-pro
Cooling Ultra120
Memory 6GB ddr2
Video Card(s) NVS 290
Storage 3TB + 1.5TB
Display(s) Samsung F2380
Case Silverstone Fortress FT02B
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi
Power Supply 750W PC P&C
Software win 7 ultimate 64bit
VERY good, they often have the cheapest cards
 
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
1,050 (0.17/day)
Location
indiana
Processor c2d e8400@ 3.8ghz 24/7
Motherboard Abit IP-35e 80$ lol
Cooling zalman cnps9700 led
Memory 2 x 2 gig patriot viper
Video Card(s) evga Gtx 285 oc
Storage 2 x 300gig sata seagate 7200.10 in raid 0/ 1.5TB for backup
Display(s) acer 24" TFT LCD AL2416WBSD
Case Antec 902
Audio Device(s) XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro series
Power Supply ocz gamextreme 700w
Software windows 7 ultimate
I'm 110% sure EVGA will respond to this lol:roll: 120 days for the epic win=for us too EVGA>bfg and the copycat tactics.
 
Joined
May 4, 2007
Messages
2,165 (0.35/day)
Location
Wallingford, CT
Processor Intel i7-5930k
Motherboard ASRock Taichi X99
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Memory 4x8GB HyperX FURY DDR4-2666 15-17-17-15
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G
Storage 1x Plextor PX-512M6S SSD, 1x WD 750gb HDD, 2x Hitachi 2TB HDD, 1x Seagate 4TB HDD
Display(s) 2x Dell P2314H
Case Fractal Define R4
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair AX860i
Mouse ROCCAT Kone Pure Color White
Keyboard Corsair K95 RGB - Cherry MX Brown
Software Windows 10 Professional x64
I'm still more impressed with EVGA, I've had bad experiences with BFG, their QC isn't that great and I don't like their support.
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,283 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Ah..the wonder of competition.

BFG sells its 8800 GTX OC for < $370 at Newegg.com right now. At one point they had the worst pricing.
 

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
25,776 (3.79/day)
Location
Alabama
System Name Rocinante
Processor I9 14900KS
Motherboard EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory 64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s) MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage 1x 500GB 980 Pro | 1x 1TB 980 Pro | 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s) Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD Quest 3
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores I dont have time for that.
hmmmm....now do i get anotherv 9600or trade up to the 9800GX2?
 

ShadowFold

New Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2007
Messages
16,918 (2.85/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Name The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling Stock
Memory Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage Western Digital 640gb
Display(s) Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s) Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores -❶-❸-❸-❼-
hmmmm....now do i get anotherv 9600or trade up to the 9800GX2?

Solaris you need a freakin 9800 man! I'd love to see how far you could push it!
 

nguyenpeter76

New Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
312 (0.05/day)
System Name XPS 420
Processor q6600 2.4GHz
Motherboard Dell - Chipset:Intel® X38 (Bearlake) only one pci x16 slot...gay
Memory 3GB @ 667 MHz
Video Card(s) ATI HD 2400 PRO 128mb (will upgrade later)
Storage 320GB
Display(s) Samsung 22inches Model 220wm (1680x1050)
Case XPS 420
Power Supply Dell's Underrated 375w PSU
Software Vista Home Premium 32-bit
haha this is quite funny and sweet. bout time companies start going at each other. hopefully this starts a chain reaction with companies starting to add step up programs, double life time warranty, and etc.
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Messages
10,242 (1.52/day)
Location
Granite Bay, CA
System Name Big Devil
Processor Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard ECS P67H2-A2
Cooling XSPC Rasa | Black Ice GT Stealth 240 | XSPC X2O 750 | 2x ACF12PWM | PrimoChill White 7/16"
Memory 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 1600MHz CL9
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC
Storage Intel 520 Series 180GB + WD 1TB Blue
Display(s) HP ZR30W 30" 2650x1600 IPS
Case Corsair 600T SE
Audio Device(s) Xonar Essence STX | Sennheisser PC350 "Hero" Modded | Corsair SP2500
Power Supply ABS SL 1050W (Enermax Revolution Rebadge)
Software Windows 8.1 x64 Pro w/ Media Center
Benchmark Scores Ducky Year of the Snake w/ Cherry MX Browns & Year of the Tiger PBT Keycaps | Razer Deathadder Black
I don't want a double lifetime warranty! I want a new card cheap! :D
 

nguyenpeter76

New Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
312 (0.05/day)
System Name XPS 420
Processor q6600 2.4GHz
Motherboard Dell - Chipset:Intel® X38 (Bearlake) only one pci x16 slot...gay
Memory 3GB @ 667 MHz
Video Card(s) ATI HD 2400 PRO 128mb (will upgrade later)
Storage 320GB
Display(s) Samsung 22inches Model 220wm (1680x1050)
Case XPS 420
Power Supply Dell's Underrated 375w PSU
Software Vista Home Premium 32-bit
I don't want a double lifetime warranty! I want a new card cheap! :D

yeah that too :D come on ati... make another but better video card for nvidia to counter :D
 

Palit_Guy

Palit Representative
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
398 (0.07/day)
I still don't understand why the upgrade program exists at all.

In my mind a trade up program is kind of like Rent-A-Center. You can get some good stuff there but the total cost of things is so outlandish that IMO it takes advantage of people in a not very nice way. At the same time it supports some folks who can't find a way to save up some money and buy the stuff outright so it supports the whole gotta-have-it-now mentality. I think it's right up there with a payday advance.
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
4,838 (0.78/day)
System Name Aquarium
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory 2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 3060
Storage 2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case Hyte Y60
Power Supply Corsair RMx 850
Software Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!
I still don't understand why the upgrade program exists at all.

In my mind a trade up program is kind of like Rent-A-Center. You can get some good stuff there but the total cost of things is so outlandish that IMO it takes advantage of people in a not very nice way. At the same time it supports some folks who can't find a way to save up some money and buy the stuff outright so it supports the whole gotta-have-it-now mentality. I think it's right up there with a payday advance.

Its an investment protection. New video cards are released all the time. 3 months is a long time to wait if your trying to play current games. It allows you a garuntee saying that the card you just bought will not be bested in the next 100 days, and if it is, then you get the the best. Its a fantastic deal-breaker for me. Glad to see BFG doin it (don't get me wrong, you guys do some great things at palit, that latest point thing you got is great).
 

Palit_Guy

Palit Representative
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
398 (0.07/day)
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=53258&page=3

I ran through the numbers on what the actual cost would be using the information available on eVGA's website in the above post. I've made similar posts in other forums as well and I always ask the question, "Could anyone share with us the actual costs they experienced from using a trade up program?" but I have yet to have anyone do that.

I've never used a trade up program myself so I don't have a real world story myself. Both eVGA and BFG are competitors so everyone should take what I say with a grain of salt lest I be accused of trying to flame them (which I'm not).

But when I add up all the costs involved in the above example of going from an 8600GT to an 8800GT the consumer winds up paying $68 more then if they just sold the card on ebay or to a friend or something.

I chose those two cards because they are as close as I could get on price which is where the consumer loses the least amount of money in the deal. As the card being upgraded to gets more expensive, the associated cost of the replacement card goes up even more.

So I'm not trying to take a poke at anyone, but I would like to understand exactly what the cost to the consumer is for trading up their card. Ultimately THAT is what determines whether or not a trade up program, IMO, is any good.

I can easily say that if anyone can show me the math on now to make something like this work WITHOUT hosing a consumer Palit will roll that program out within 60 days. But that's just it- we have to have a program that doesn't screw either the consumer or Palit.
 

Davidelmo

New Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
330 (0.06/day)
Processor Intel i7 920 @4.20Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte EX58 UD5
Cooling Titan Fenrir
Memory 6Gb Patriot 1600Mhz
Video Card(s) ATI HD4870 1Gb
Storage 2x250Gb Seagate Barracuda (RAID 0) plus 2B storage
Display(s) Samsung 22 inch Widescreen
Case Coolermaster HAF 932
Audio Device(s) Auzen Prelude 7.1
Power Supply PCP&P 750W Silencer
Software Win7 beta
Its an investment protection. New video cards are released all the time. 3 months is a long time to wait if your trying to play current games. It allows you a garuntee saying that the card you just bought will not be bested in the next 100 days, and if it is, then you get the the best. Its a fantastic deal-breaker for me. Glad to see BFG doin it (don't get me wrong, you guys do some great things at palit, that latest point thing you got is great).

True, but you are also paying again to upgrade. Not to mention that a card which comes out within 100 days isn't going to be whole leagues different to the one you already have. Also, if you knew the better card was coming in 3 months, why not just save for it? As the guy above you pointed out, it's preying on the "have it now" mentality.

It's an interesting idea but personally I would never use it. I can only see it appealing to real enthusiasts who always have to have the latest and greatest.
 

echo75

New Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
456 (0.08/day)
Location
Denmark
System Name Main
Processor Q6700 @ 3.5Ghz (with 1.50 Vcore)
Motherboard P5K
Cooling Xigmatek HDT S1283 (amazing performance)
Memory Corsair 800mhz 4GB @ 864mhz
Video Card(s) Asus 8800GT@ 720/1800/2100,blue Pcb with 92cm Glaciator cooler(4870 still under testing)
Storage Seagate 250GB SATA , 500GB eSATA
Display(s) LG Flatron 19"
Case Antec Designer (modded)
Power Supply Corsair VX 550W
Software Win XP Pro SP2
Benchmark Scores 3Dmark06 = 15,253 for 8800GT, 3Dmark06 = 15,807 for HD 4870
They say you still have to pay taxes right?? well here in denmark where taxes are so high you still would be paying a fortune so its not really worth it
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
4,838 (0.78/day)
System Name Aquarium
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory 2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 3060
Storage 2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case Hyte Y60
Power Supply Corsair RMx 850
Software Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!
Yes I already went over this with you before, I won't prolong the argument again. It does indeed cost a little extra to do the step-up, no more than it would cost for one to sell their card and buy the new one though.
 

Palit_Guy

Palit Representative
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
398 (0.07/day)
I think that's where we're disagreeing. I'm saying the trade up program DOES wind up costing the consumer more than just selling their old card and replacing it with a newer one.

The problem I see with this is that it doesn't FEEL like you're paying more but when you do the math you can see the difference in a reasonably substantial way.

If it was just $10-$30 I would be doing this in a heartbeat.

So I'm not trying prolong the argument either since I don't see it as an argument. I really could be wrong and if that's the case I want stop it. I don't like being wrong. I would also want to start this program at Palit.

In order to do that, I have to sit down with an accountant and go over the pricing concerns which means I have to have real examples of how the thing works. When I did the math the first time it didn't work out in the consumer's favor so I quit.

I would be very appreciative if you (or anyone else) can show me where I'm incorrect. I really would like to have a trade up program.
 

imperialreign

New Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
7,043 (1.15/day)
Location
Sector ZZ₉ Plural Z Alpha
System Name УльтраФиолет
Processor Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s) Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage (2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s) Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores 3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313
just a thought, but I've always wondered what the manufacturer does with the cards it takes back? I mean, I'm sure most are probably cleaned and re-boxed, or sold "open box", or used for RMAs - but what of the cards that have been "tough-loved"? We all know not everyone handles their hardware the same way . . . but, I've never understood how these kinds of programs are cost effective for the manufacturer, and always been under the impression that they bump retail prices a bit to make up for it.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, though, or explain this a little better.

As of right now, though, I gotta agree with Palit_Guy
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
4,838 (0.78/day)
System Name Aquarium
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory 2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 3060
Storage 2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case Hyte Y60
Power Supply Corsair RMx 850
Software Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!
Well, the thing is its hard to come up w/ exact numbers, b/c every situation is different. For instance, selling your video card can have wildly different results. An inexperienced seller like myself would probably net maybe $20-30 less from a sale than an experienced sale (hypothetically speaking).

So lets make a hypothetical, lets say I were to buy the 9800gtx today for $350 w/ $7.60 shipping on newegg. So thats $357.60. Now, lets say mid-July the 9900gtx hits, and that new core is a real killer (enough to put the performance 1.5x or so that of my current). Now, lets just say that at that time the price of the 9800gtx drops to $259 (as is the current case w/ the gts 512) and the 9900gtx markets for $400.

Ok, so I have to sell my 9800gtx for less than $250 most likely, as nobody's gonna pay a price for used what they could get new. Lets say I get $240 out of it. So now, to buy the 9900gtx, I have to spend $160 + shipping essientially. However, if I had the step-up, I would pay the $50 difference between my initial card's cost and the new card + shipping, probably around $60.

Now, of course this is all hypothetical, and likely, I wouldn't be able to get $240 out of a card that normally goes for $250 new. So the step-up saved me $100+. Its hard to make accurate judgments about hypotheticals, b/c is often different. But thats my example.

And by the way, thanks for being so open to things like this. It really is good to see a rep knowing where to look and how to please the customer. :)
 
Last edited:

Palit_Guy

Palit Representative
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
398 (0.07/day)
just a thought, but I've always wondered what the manufacturer does with the cards it takes back? I mean, I'm sure most are probably cleaned and re-boxed, or sold "open box", or used for RMAs - but what of the cards that have been "tough-loved"? We all know not everyone handles their hardware the same way . . . but, I've never understood how these kinds of programs are cost effective for the manufacturer, and always been under the impression that they bump retail prices a bit to make up for it.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, though, or explain this a little better.

As of right now, though, I gotta agree with Palit_Guy

You are absolutely right in what happens to the cards. In the tough love cases, you can typically just replace the heatsink or some stickers and they look fine. My research has shown that the number of cards traded in is very small overall so how to dispense with the cards isn't that big of a deal.

As far as whether it's cost effective, look at it from a marketing point of view because that's really what this activity is all about. The actual number of people that take advantage of a trade up program seems to counted using no more than 4 digits. I can't say specifically what our sales numbers are (no need to get fired) but I can say you need five digits to describe our monthly sales and that number will be going to 6 digits very soon.

So even if it's 5,000 people per year trading up their card it's just a really small number in the grand scheme of things.

So when you have a program that so few people participate in but spend so much time talking about- that's marketing. So if the company loses money on the program over all, they can offset some or all of that loss by taking a pull from the marketing budget.

This also gives me pause for thought because if I have to give up some of my budget to support a trade up program, that is money I can't spend on giving cards away in forums and fun contests. So at some point we have to consider what gets us more exposure and balance that against our conscience and what is fun to do.
 

imperialreign

New Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
7,043 (1.15/day)
Location
Sector ZZ₉ Plural Z Alpha
System Name УльтраФиолет
Processor Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s) Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage (2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s) Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores 3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313
You are absolutely right in what happens to the cards. In the tough love cases, you can typically just replace the heatsink or some stickers and they look fine. My research has shown that the number of cards traded in is very small overall so how to dispense with the cards isn't that big of a deal.

As far as whether it's cost effective, look at it from a marketing point of view because that's really what this activity is all about. The actual number of people that take advantage of a trade up program seems to counted using no more than 4 digits. I can't say specifically what our sales numbers are (no need to get fired) but I can say you need five digits to describe our monthly sales and that number will be going to 6 digits very soon.

So even if it's 5,000 people per year trading up their card it's just a really small number in the grand scheme of things.

So when you have a program that so few people participate in but spend so much time talking about- that's marketing. So if the company loses money on the program over all, they can offset some or all of that loss by taking a pull from the marketing budget.

This also gives me pause for thought because if I have to give up some of my budget to support a trade up program, that is money I can't spend on giving cards away in forums and fun contests. So at some point we have to consider what gets us more exposure and balance that against our conscience and what is fun to do.



TBH, I prefer the ideas of free give aways and what not a little more, because, as you pointed out, only a small percentage of consumers actually participate in the program - although I think it does work on a marketing scale . . . people see that program and feel that their options are more open, and that the company must care if they're willing to take hardware back and only ask the consumer to pay the difference.

But, then again, your kinda "locked" into that manufacturer's hardware if you do want to further upgrade in the near future - you can't trade one company's stuff in and go and grab another brand, even if they have better specs.

IMHO, I see trade-up programs as being more beneficial for those that only buy into low-end and mid-range products; but for those that like to stick to the 1337-range of cards, I don't see that as being cost effective, and there are also fewer releases in this category as well - meaing one might be pushing their luck hoping the next big thing will be out before your grace period is up.
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
4,838 (0.78/day)
System Name Aquarium
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory 2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 3060
Storage 2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case Hyte Y60
Power Supply Corsair RMx 850
Software Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!
And its true, it won't benefit everyone, and many won't use it. Its like a warranty, its protection. Not everyone will use their warranty for a particular product, but I don't think many would buy a product without it. Its a form of insurance in this fast moving tech world.
 

Palit_Guy

Palit Representative
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Messages
398 (0.07/day)
@farlex


Thanks for taking this the right way and not just getting frustrated with me! I've been playing with this in excel again just to make sure of the numbers so it took me a bit. I also looked up all the prices at evga's site, newegg and ebay to make sure I'm using real world numbers.

Just so we're clear, I'm trying to talk me into this, not you out of it.

To make things easier I have rounded up from all $XX.99 prices to a whole number.

Current Newegg price for evga 9800GTX model 872 is $320
evga msrp is $360

Current Newegg price for an evga 9800GX2 is $500
evga msrp is $600

original launch price for evga 9800GTX 872 $350

Ok. So you spend $350 on the GTX (at launch) and now you want to trade up to the GX2. The trade up program looks like $350 + ($600 GX2 msrp - $350 orig purchase price) = $600 total spent.

The ebay method looks like this. You buy the card for $350 (at launch). You sell the card on ebay for $250 (they are currently going for $299 and up) and buy a new evga for $500 giving you a total spent of $350 +$500 -$250 = $600.

If you waited a month to buy your GTX the original purchase price would be $320. That would put your trade up cost at the same $600 but the ebay method would go down to $570. But that's only if you stick with evga. If you were to buy a BFG instead you couldn't use the evga trade up program but the ebay method would put your total spent at $550.

So what we're seeing is a range of about $0 to $50 difference between the two methods. If you do better on ebay the difference gets bigger and if you do worse on ebay the difference gets smaller.

The only other consideration is shipping. In the trade up method you have to pay shipping to you from buying that card to begin with, sending it in and from trading up to the new card but the ebay method you only pay for shipping the cards you buy for two shipping fees.

In my case, the BFG card has free shipping while the evga card costs $7.
 
Top