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Lock in your trade-in value for tech purchases

TigerDirect/CompUsa partners with TechForward to offer guaranteed buyback program.

TechForward helps you secure the future upgrade of purchased electronics.

Packrats need not apply; for others I might have some good news.

TigerDirect and TechForward announced on Thursday their partnership to offer Guaranteed Buyback plans at TigerDirect and CompUSA retail stores for electronic products.

The plans lock in trade-in values for electronics at the point of sale for an additional fee, for up to two years. The fee is calculated based on specific model and configuration. In layman's terms, you pay a relatively small amount of money to ensure that you can sell back the purchased product within two years from the day you buy it, for a set price that varies depending how long you've had it. The longer you keep the product, the less credit you will get from it to use toward purchasing a more up-to-date device.

While trade-in services are not new, the Guaranteed Buyback service differs in one key point: TechForward guarantees the trade-in price of a product at the time you buy it, instead of simply giving you just the portion of whatever market value is left in your device at the moment you want to upgrade. This difference provides more certainty around resale values for those who upgrade their devices every year or two.

Considering the life cycles and how fast things get out of date in the world of high-tech gadgets such as MP3 players, digital cameras, and even laptop computers, two years actually gives you a rather large window of time to possibly get a good deal for the upgrade.

The Guaranteed Buyback plans also help make sure that used electronics are collected and disposed of properly. The plans will go into effect starting September 8 at TigerDirect and CompUSA stores, as well as online.