AT&T mulling handset trade-up program?

AddALine_banner_788x148_AA0006D1 Everybody stay calm. Sit down if you’re standing up. If you’re already sitting, stand up and then sit back down either in the same chair or find a different, more comfortable chair. Okay, ready?

AT&T might implement a handset trade-up program.

Ba-hoom! Ka-blaaamo! BGR is reporting that the program, if real, would start around June and would be subject to the following rules:

  • The trade-in phone must be in “fair” shape and less than two years old.
  • Whatever new phone you’d choose wouldn’t get any subsidies applied to it, so you’d be paying the full price minus the trade-in value of your old phone.
  • Phones would be valued between $50 and $200.

It’s not clear whether you’d need to trade in an AT&T-branded phone or if they’ll be accepting phones from other carriers as well. That is, this program could be run by AT&T top to bottom or it could very well just be a partnership with a company like Dealtree, which provides trade-up services for companies like Best Buy, Dell, Sony, and other electronics companies.

Whatever the case, this information is still in the rumor stages. Assuming it’s real, though, it might make for a quick way to get the latest handsets before your two-year contract is up without having to dick around with Ebay – provided the trade-in values are fair.

[via BGR]