Trade-in programs have the effect of artificially increasing the resale value of the product. This is a very conservative move and serves only to reassure people that their investment won't depreciate faster than a known rate. It is most commonly seen in "luxury" goods markets, where status is a significant portion of perceived value AND a significant portion of the original selling price.

A very similar practice is followed by high-end car makers. The styling of high-end cars evolves much more slowly than that of low-end cars. This is to ensure that a new model does not "obsolete" the styling of an older one, driving down resale value.

Let's examine why this is bad for the average consumer who does not want to buy status:

The reason a D100 is worth so little today (practically free) and such a tiny fraction of its original price is that a D100 is technologically obsolete. I think most here can agree on that. The reason we agree on that is because we value a camera's capabilities, not its status. We place a value on that D100 equal to its intrinsic worth as a camera.

If Nikon were to implement a trade-up program it MUST offer the consumer more money for said D100 than the market rate of today. If Nikon does not offer more than the current market rate they will have no takers and the program is effectively nonexistent.

Since logic dictates they offer more than current market rates that means they have artificially raised the value of said example D100 while not increasing its intrinsic worth. Therefore the entire used Nikon market becomes perverted. No longer is one simply paying for capability, one is paying for the promise of artificial value to be refunded, as it were, at the end of a product's life.

Nikon is, like me and I suspect like you, interested in making money. I pay the bills, feed the kids, and hopefully make the world a better place through the power money gives me. Nikon can not burn money over the long term any more than you or I can.

As I said above, Nikon MUST offer more than current market prices for this program to be anything other than a slide on the quarterly Power Point. If they artificially raise the value of a camera the money must come from somewhere, and it won't be them. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

I don't know about you, but I want to pay for camera tech. I don't want to pay for status and I don't want to pay for a promise of money in the future.

It's a great idea and I would be trading in my D90 for a full frame in a heart beat ! Another great idea would be to release the D800 immediately and I'll pay full price for it even !!

Just a little FYI, Canon has a trade up loyalty program of sorts. They'll give you discounts on an upgraded model if you send in your old broken model - nothing fabulous, but I'd love a little discount to upgrade some of my gear.

Why would I do a trade up on a nikon to only get 10% off. While a great Idea in theory you can get refurbished bodies or bodies on rebate for less without losing your other nikon product. If I don't get at least 25-30% off I'll just buy it new and get the warranty to go with it. Now if you could trade in an 80-200mm f2.8 for a 70-200mm vr2 and only put in $1000 or $1200 extra I would go for it...

Lets be honest here. Does Nikon really need a trade-in program when everyone that reads this website, and forum are willing to purchase the latest and greatest the very night of the press release. Take the D7000 for instance, I remember quite a few here pre-ordered it that very night. With such demand, Nikon would be brain-dead to offer a trade-in program, and give away margin for no reason.

Phase One on the other hand is a far more costly purchase, and trade-ins are necessary to support the photographer who can't afford new, but wants better than DSLR quality.

I'd want a whole lot more than $500 for my D700 with 1.900 clicks.

NikoDoby said:
Hasselblad just announced it will offer up to $12000 for your old camera system if you buy a new Hassey. What if Nikon did this for people who already own an entry level Nikon and buy a model that's higher up? How about a $150-$500 discount? Would that be enough to get people to move up the Nikon model ladder?

Certainly, when the D700 successor is launched.

As much as we'd all like this to happen, my guess is that it never will, at least for consumers. I doubt that Nikon would ever give up any margin that they don't have to. I do know, on the other hand, that Nikon does make extremely attractive offers to pro Canon shooters to entice them to switch brands (50% of the value of their existing Canon gear, applied toward the purchase of new Nikon gear). So, even if any kind of additional in-brand "loyalty" program were to be offered by Nikon, I would expect it to be offered to NPS members exclusively.

NikoDoby said:
You should ALWAYS recycle your batteries. BestBuy has a drop off "basket" for old camera and mobile phone batteries near the entrance of their stores. Office Depot actually offers discount points every time you take back a used inkjet cartridges. You can then use the points to buy new ink or other stuff.

This is how I save money on my ink cost.

have you ever looked into those infinity inking systems? I love it for our printer, although maybe you are talking about for your high quality photo printing, in which case it probably wouldn't work. But for everyday printing I swear by it.

I may be on the wrong track but you cannot trade a computer even if it is in perfect working order. But there are companies that take old computers and recycle them for all types of materials like gold contacts etc. The problem is you are luckly if they come to pick it up and you get no money for it proberly due to the cost of recycling. I do not think cameras are much different. For full size or asp-c cameras they are computers with glass these days and the cost of recycling would be high for Nikon or most other cameras unless they are designed for some parts to be remanufactured or reused so I do not think that from a Bottom line point of view a camera maker other then Hasselblad would offer a "trade in" and I wonder how lond Hessy will keep their program going.

Skid said:
I'd be up for an offer like that, but then again I would guess that Hasselblads are much more expensive and don't have the sales volume that Nikon does. It would be like Mclarin and Ford doing the same thing in the Auto world.

Love it Skid! You hit the nail on the head! People will buy a two-four year old Hassy or other MF 25-50mp camera. No one wants a Nikon 10mp D40x. That is the main difference. They will resell the cameras and to break even, gain market share or maybe even in a few cases make money. Most of these type of programs are "loss" programs (aka loose money) geared to keep or gain market share.

Just think, when was the last time you saw a thread asking if someone should buy a used D200 or D80?

I do like the idea of doing this on Pro level lenses though!

Good topic NikoDoby.

p.s. what's up with all the battery talk - I couldn't figure our what the thread was about;)

@Monty11

I think you're spot on, at least whatever Nikon is calling their 'pro product' line, assuming Nikon were to jump in at all. I think the D300s is the only DX camera that falls into that category.

How they would do it is anyone's guess, but I would imagine they would grant so much credit to a new body for a old body that they would they sell as a refurbished/used body or just smash it to get it off the market. I have no idea.

For those who make a living with their equipment and have the pro bodies and jones for an upgrade, it would make some sense to participate in a program, whatever minor a savings it would be.

Whether it happen or not, dream on... and my best,

Mike

PhaseOne has joined the club: http://www.photonewstoday.com/news/phase-one-offers-unique-new-product-investment-protection-plan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+photonewstoday%2Fdhays+%28Photo+News+Today%29

If Nikon were to start such a scheme, I really doubt that it would apply to anything short of an FX sensor.

It’s a fantastic idea and I would definitely sign up for it. But my D90 is only 6 months old, and I don’t think I would trade it in for a new D7000 while also paying additional $700 out of my pocket.

I like to have two batteries and so I have a pair of En-Ele5 batteries for D90, Nikon should consider exchanging them for may be an extra En-El15.

If Nikon said give us your D90 body + $300 for a D7000 body. I would send it in right away.

Oh man if this existed I'd be on it so fast!

I have done similar programs with AMD/ATI, so awesome.

I would be surprised if Nikon did start a trade up program. I think they are well aware that there many who just store them and therefore they get to sell more cameras. Resource wise it sounds like a good idea. Governments in the future may require it. But until governments can effectively really set the highest priority level matters first many of these minor programs will be not much more than band aids.

Thanks Niko—It's good to be green :^)

On Earth Day admin should give [NR] a green color theme...

For every battery you throw in the trash you get to stay in Hell for an extra year :^(

Best Buy recycling page:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/null/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422

US recycling drop off locator:
http://www.ehso.com/ehso2.php?URL=http://www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/dropoff/index.php

NikoDoby said:
You should ALWAYS recycle your batteries. BestBuy has a drop off "basket" for old camera and mobile phone batteries near the entrance of their stores. Office Depot actually offers discount points every time you take back a used inkjet cartridges. You can then use the points to buy new ink or other stuff.

This is how I save money on my ink cost.

Do they recycle regular batteries too, like AA, AAA and 9Volts?

I really want to recycle them, but I can't find anywhere to recycle them. I cringe everytime I throw one out.

Yes Hasselblad is more like a car company (product price wise) but rebate and trade programs are almost always handled by a third party company that specializes in such things. Nikon employees wouldn't be the ones handling the recycling for such an event.

I'm pretty sure European laws are very strict when it comes to recycling certain products. So like it or not in a few years companies like Nikon will be forced into recycling their products. I'd like to see it happen before a law mandates it! It could help Nikon reuse a lot of the materials found in the camera and might actually help keep the cost of manufacturing new components low.

Think of it as a modular camera system that only Nikon can take apart and reassemble at their factories. It would also let Nikon make money off of a camera that they got paid for many years ago.

As for selling on ebay. Well yes you can do that but I hate dealing with all the fraud and pitfalls associated with online selling and buying! If you can get 70% on everything you sell there then great. However I'd be more comfortable dealing with Nikon and trading my gear for spanking new stuff instead.

A loyalty discount, though, would be a VERY easy thing for Nikon to implement right away! wink wink ;^)
Actually there have been NPS (Nikon Professional Services) version of this in years past.

NikoDoby said:
I really think we should ban you from this forum ;^)

adamz said:
I'm also for banning alpha :)

Hey! What did I do? Oops, I think I just went off topic—hehehe :^D *Finger pointing* Niko started it!

I think what pabnj says make sense. If I can save more selling my camera on eBay, then that's what I'd do. And he makes a good point about Nikon not being able to manage it. Hundred of thousands of cameras would start rolling in the first day!

Actually I think Nikon once did something like this. My mom and her sister tried to trade in my F2 for a crappy digital camera :^( Luckily the salesperson knew better and told them they had a very valuable SLR :^)

Niko, I understand what you are saying, and you have made some great points, but Hasselblad is in a different market altogether than Nikon or Canon. Hasselblad had a trade in program, but took it away a couple of years ago which they took a lot from their dealers, and from their customers. They lost business to Phase One who always has a very aggressive trade-in option, and were forced last month to bring it back. But Hasselblad and Phase both make a high end, high return specialized product offering them the ability to do trades whereas Nikon and Canon are high volume, lower margin commodity type products. Heck, they'd need to invent an entirely new department to handle the workload to resell, or recycle old cameras. A more manageable program would be turning in a Nikon UPC for an ownership loyalty discount.

Believe me, I love the idea, and would like to see it. Phase One and Hasselblad annual unit volume in the states is in the thousands, the program is manageable. Nikon unit volume alone is in the millions making it more of a challenge. Then again, there is doing what I did last year. I sold my old D80 on eBay for 70% of what I paid for it a year and half prior, and bought my D300. Now Phase does not even offer a 70% trade-in.

I'm also for banning alpha :)

Niko - I think it's a great idea, and if You ask me, a nice 30-40% discount if I needed to leave my old camera would be nice, or 10-15% for making me buy additional piece

I really think we should ban you from this forum ;^)

Anyway back on topic - How much of a discount would it take for you guys and gals to trade-up?

NikoDoby said:
Even disposable cameras are reused by manufacturers Alpha. The photo labs send them back.

I know, I know :^) (BTW have you read KR's review on the Fuji disposable?)

Maybe I can convince my dad to throw out one of his Canons... ;^)