BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has announced a new trade-up program to lure Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) users into buying a Passport device. The Canadian company is offering iPhone owners up to $550 for their devices if they purchase a BlackBerry Passport.
Attractive trade-in offer
As of now, this trade program will be available in the United States and Canada starting Dec. 1 and ending Feb. 13. iPhone users who replace their phone with a BlackBerry Passport will be awarded up to $400 USD/CAD for their iPhone, along with an additional $150 USD ($200 CAD) in the form of a Visa prepaid card.
BlackBerry will decide the amount to be paid depending upon the iPhone model that has been traded in for Passport. The company said it will buy the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S and iPhone 6. Customers will get a prepaid card through the mail after the company gets the iPhone, along with a proof of purchase of a BlackBerry Passport that has to be bought from ShopBlackBerry.com or Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Until now, the best trade-in deals have come from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which offered between $200 and $350 for iPhones. BlackBerry’s offer is almost 1.5 times this, so it may create buzz among iPhone users.
More deals from BlackBerry
In separate but related news, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced Black Friday deals offering $275 USD or $250 CAD off on the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone purchased through ShopBlackBerry.com. Also it is offering $100 USD/CAD off on the purchase of a black-colored BlackBerry Passport. Now customers in the United States will get a black BlackBerry Passport for $499 USD, whereas Canadian customers can buy a black BlackBerry Passport for $599 CAD.
Also the Canadian company is offering new financing options to potential customers from PayPal Credit, where U.S. customers can now buy their favorite device without disturbing their bank accounts or holiday funds. If a customer makes any purchase over $200 USD, he/she can select the option to pay through PayPal and pay the rest of the balance in full by the payment due date according to their statements or have another option to pay in six installments spread over six months. Those customers who fail to make all the payments after six months are passed will be charged the accumulated interest from the date purchased to the date the payments are completed.
