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Bring your old television set/refrigerator/personal computer, and exchange it for a new one at some extra cost.” Almost all of us have been tempted into trying out a scheme like this. But what’s behind this offer?

With green computing a major focus of all gizmo producers today, take-back offers are a good way of dealing with e-waste.

They are also an easy solution for consumers to get rid of an old gadget that has been sitting on their tabletops and gathering dust.

Consider this: Till a few years ago, one disposed off an electronic gadget by selling it to the kabadiwala. The “new and improved” version was bought later, after a time lag. But let’s keep in mind the fact that today none of us wants to spend a day without a refrigerator or a PC. So the best bet is to get the old product exchanged for a new one on the very same day. That’s why exchange offers today have so many takers.

Ask anyone, and the answer would be that an exchange offer is more a matter of convenience than anything else. It is the best way to dispose off a gadget after such offers have run the course of its life. And a discount on the new product is just a bonus that makes you feel happy.

With brands vying for shelf space in shops today, it has become a way of increasing market share for companies. And it is an all gain and no loss offer for the consumer. But, what does the company do with these second hand products? Do they simply dispose them off as junk to the kabadiwala?

More often then not, the exchange offers that the companies come up with are more a marketing strategy than anything else. They are the best way to increase market share, as people usually get attracted to discount offers.

LG Electronics has exchange offers on all its consumer durable products. “However, the company has hardly any role to play in this,” says Amitabh Tiwari, business group head of consumer electronics and home appliances. The dealer takes back the old products and gives a discount on the new product. “If the machines are in working condition, then they are often re-sold to customers who cannot afford new gadgets. At other times, when the products are not in working condition, they are dismantled and sold as scrap,” adds Tiwari.