Samsung announces a more flexible replacement program, with no purchase required

Samsung has announced a change to its Galaxy Trade-In program that allows consumers to trade in select models of the company’s Galaxy smartphones throughout the year, without having to make a new purchase at the same time.

The new program is scheduled to begin today in South Korea and France, with other markets to follow later in 2025. The company says Its goal is to “enhance the value of Galaxy devices” over the long term by providing “amazing savings” through trade-in.

There are two major changes to the program, which will be run by the insurance and repair company Likewise. The main change is purchase requirements: Prior to this policy shift, the company’s trade-ins required a new purchase from samsung.com or the company’s app, with the option to initiate a trade-in only appearing during the checkout process.

The second change is “year-round” availability. Exchanges are already available at any time in the US and most other Western markets, but in South Korea they were previously restricted to specific windows – usually after the launch of major new products such as S25 unveiled next weekFor example.

However, there is still a significant limit to the scheme: you can only trade in specific flagship phones from Samsung. Right now, that’s limited to the Galaxy S20 series through the S23, and foldable devices from the Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 through the Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5. Oddly enough, the Galaxy S24 and last year’s Z Flip/Fold 6 are not. Not included, so you can’t sell anything too modern.