Could not find any pointers - can you all share?
…I’m assuming since Bambu has all the telemetry about my printer (yeah and yours too), they know what has been printed, how many print hours and their detailed telemetry tells them about maintenance too…
So what’s the trade-in process, please?
There is none.
Except, let me provide the correct return address…
Amateurs. I’ll supply a prepaid shipping label. 
…with my address on it…
LOL ok. Really nothing? I’m really surprised… Don’t they (Bambu) want to sell the new one?
Thanks for all answers. Disappointing…
IMHO when they try to invent new category (home manufacturing), they could also look how other leaders are allowing to update the HW (e.g. Apple 
). Prusa/Prusha is another different approach…
Sell the old one on FB marketplace.
Apple trade-ins are done through a network of retail stores. How exactly do you plan to get the user to pack and ship an X1 Carbon?
They would need a network of retail stores, probably not possible for such a niche product or a partnership with a retailer. Not impossible, but much harder and less efficient than Apple.
I can’t imagine why anyone would copy Prusa. Just buy a Sovol and you get good reliablity on an open source design, at a fraction of the Prusa price. The only machine they have that’s not a scam price is the XL and it took them 2? 3? years from release to get it working (and it still doesn’t print right with 0.6 nozzles)
A trade-in program would be a logistical nightmare and a money loser for Bambu. My dishwasher doesn’t have a trade-in program either.
Believe it or not, you can actually buy the new machine, while owning one or more of any other printer including theirs.
If you don’t need your current machine any more, sell it and put the funds towards the new purchase.
Generally nobody selling consumer machinery is taking back old equipment… That’s just not typical. Maybe for small handheld electronics with no moving parts, it might make sense, but machinery with a wide range of wear and tear… no sir.
Thanks @user_1322886946 for sharing, I’m not sure how about you, but I’m not changing my dishwasher every 2-3 years because of “new rainforest” program that is more gentle on my pots and pans.
The idea of trade-in (or Prusa’s conversion kit) is to continue supporting your fans and people who like to use newer versions. You can check out Samsung or Apple trade-in programs. Manufacturers then re-sell those items as refurbished. This then in return helps people to upgrade from A1 or other series or get into Bambu from competition.
My 2 cents. I think Bambu should seriously look into this.
Well I’m sure when Bambu becomes a billion dollar business, shrinks the size of a printer to fit in your pocket and has global wide stores on every street corner maybe they’ll look into trade in programs.
I hear you @Deafcat22, with all the telemetry the machine can be sending to the cloud, they likely know more about my printer than myself. Scary but IMHO beneficial for the next owner to get the machine as refurbished vs. eBay with “un-known” maintenance.
I think you’re greatly overestimating the capability of the machine to know what state it’s in. It has no idea if the user is swapping parts, breaking parts, failing at maintenance, making adjustments and modifications they shouldn’t, etc. The machine and its tech aren’t scary, they are super basic far as CNC machinery and robotics go. The biggest variable for the health of the machine, once it’s been delivered in working order, is the human operator(s) and then the variables of workload, operating environment, and maintenance practices… Most of these are far beyond the machine or Bambu’s ability to monitor or control.
Understood. I approached this without knowing the exact data the machine is analyzing locally or sending back. Knowing what other companies did for preventative maintenance is mind-blowing. So my assumption was that Bambu knows exactly much the motors consume, what’s their response and being able to estimate the load of the system in all 3 ways. Data from bed levelling (compensation deltas and forces), knowing the filament and temperatures used. Print hours, etc. I would expect Bambu to label the health of the printer with a number. That was my assumption to use this health number to estimate the residual value.
One thing is certain - if they did have a trade-in program, they would give you far less for it than you could get by selling it used locally or on ebay.
I can’t believe anyone want to buy this printer…
Depends on who you are asking … and what that person wants the printer for…
As for the part with " i can’t believe "… you should . After all, you have bought it in the first place, haven’t you? If you went for it, what makes you think others won’t?
They make solid printers, that helps them avoid having to do gimmicks like buy backs.
On a completely separate note, when referencing leaders of any industry, you should leave off Apple. They have made themselves a big name through marketing alone, Apple doesn’t do anything that isn’t already being done better and cheaper by someone else.
My trade in process was to list my A1 mini and x1c on facebook marketplace. You have to deal with a ton of crazy messages but in the end they sold for what I listed them for.