Yes you read that right .. you can indeed get paid if you upgrade to a new BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 or Curve 9350/9360/9370. RIM has had their BlackBerry Trade Up program in place for a while now, but according to some emails sent out to eligible T-Mobile customers , there is also a BlackBerry Upgrade Promotion that could net you some quick cash just for purchasing a new BlackBerry.
RIM’s Upgrade Promotion gets you cash back in the form of a shiny Visa gift card when you purchase a new Bold 9900/9930 or Curve 9350/60/70. The promo applies to US customers only, and you’ll get $100 for a Bold or $50 for a Curve. Pretty sweet deal right? Well it doesn’t stop there. If you want to go allExtreme Couponing you can get pretty creative and end up with quite a bit of cash in your pocket by combining some promos.
Take this situation – This weekend T-Mobile is offering all of their 4G smartphones up for free- so if you are eligible for an upgrade or just want a new line – you can grab a BlackBerry Bold 9900 on Friday or Saturday and you’ll get a $250 rebate (of the mail-in variety) off the bat from T-Mobile, knocking the purchase price of your device down to $0. Add that to the $100 you’ll receive from the Upgrade Promotion and you’re at $100 cash in pocket. Not enough? Well say you have a BlackBerry Bold 9780 from which you’re upgrading — you can take advantage of the Trade Up Program as well and you’ll get an additional $80 back (according to the quote I received). So overall you’re looking at $180 in your pocket just for grabbing a brand new BlackBerry Bold 9900 from T-Mobile and sending off your old device. So yes, you’re getting paid to get a new phone and unload your old one. Even if you keep your old device you still end up on top with $100. Pretty sweet deal right??
There are a few catches to this one (aren’t there always?). The BlackBerry Upgrade Promotion only applies to US carriers and you’ll have to be eligible for all of these promotions. It’s looking like RIM and/or carriers are sending out emails to eligible customers over the weeks ahead, so keep and eye out if you think this may apply to you. The BlackBerry Upgrade Promotion goes along with any in-store promos, so like the situation above, if you can grab a device on sale or free from your carrier, you can still get money back from the promo as well. AND if you don’t have a use for your old device, send it in via the Trade Up Program and you’ll top off your wallet with even more cash.
So providing you meet all the criteria, you can make out pretty awesome in this deal. If you’re not a T-Mobile customer don’t fret as carrier sales come along quite often, so you should be able to wait it out and find a great deal. You’ll net yourself some cash, have a brand new phone and be one happy camper. You can even use that money to buy a a new BlackBerry PlayBook so you’re ready when OS 2.0 rolls out in the next few weeks!
[Crackberry]