Kobo is the global number two player in the e-reader industry. They have been making them since 2010, and they release a couple of new models every year. The e-readers and digital note-taking devices are sold on their network of websites, online through their retail partners and in stores worldwide. Kobo has been making a big push into environmental sustainability in the past year. The Kobo Clara 2e and Kobo Elipsa 2e are made of 85 percent recycled plastic— including 10 percent ocean-bound plastic, like water bottles or CDs. The retail box is made of recycled cardboard, and all documentation is made of vegan ink. Bearing all of this in mind, why doesn’t Kobo have a trade-in program for e-readers to put towards buying a new model and then sell these for discounted prices as web exclusives?
Kobo does operate a recycling program in Canada and the United States. Kobo finances the proper collection and treatment of our devices when they become waste to ensure they do not end up in landfill or other improper storage/treatment of waste. This is accomplished through partnerships in the provincial and/or state electronic waste collection programs. Kobo also offers a recycling mail-in option free of charge in Canada and the United States. Users get no monetary benefit by sending them your old e-reader.
Since Kobo is making a big push into making some of their new devices environmentally sustainable, they need to make their trade-in program, where users can send their devices to Kobo or another partner, they are evaluated to ensure they work correctly, and then a coupon code is dispatched to the customer via email, where that money could be put towards the purchase of a new e-reader or a refurbished e-reader on their website. This would continue to put e-readers back in circulation, bolster their existing refurb section, and lower the carbon footprint.
One of Kobos’s strengths is supporting older devices with firmware updates. Generally, if an e-reader is less than 5-10 years old, they still get updated every couple of months. New features, bug fixes, store enhancements and security are regularly available. Due to this, people who own Kobo e-readers tend to hang onto them for longer since E INK technology does not undergo paradigm shifts and new models are slight incremental upgrades over the previous gen. People don’t upgrade their e-readers whenever a new model, such as a smartphone, comes out. However, Kobo is in the best position to offer a trade-in program.
Trade in programs are nothing new in the e-reader industry. Amazon has been offering these services for over ten years. Amazon has a list of supported models available to be traded in and a general price list, depending on the condition. The prices could be better; however, Amazon bets that people will send them their old devices, buy something new and then sell the older models on their website or Woot for significant savings. There is always a market for older e-readers, from nostalgia to buying their first e-reader and spending a low amount.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.