Gazelle to End Trade-In Phone Service Feb. 1, Steers Customers to EcoATM Kiosks

Trade-in and resell company Gazelle is ending its trade-in service Feb. 1, it emailed customers Wednesday. Mobile device trade-ins in process will “continue as planned,” it said, providing a link for customers to check on status. Consumers will still be able to buy used electronics from Gazelle’s online store “for a fraction of the price,” the company said, while steering trade-in customers to sister brand ecoATM's kiosks in 4,000 locations across the U.S. Gazelle was acquired in 2015 by Outerwall (see 1510300028), which was bought by Apollo Global Management a year later. After Apollo’s purchase, former components of Outerwall, Redbox, Coinstar and ecoATM became separate businesses. As of July, ecoATM Gazelle had collected over 25 million phones and tablets from consumers, it said. Redbox still operates about 41,000 video rental kiosks in the U.S.