First-Generation iPad Trade-Ins at Record High

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If you just bought a first-generation iPad, well, you can probably get a $100 refund. But if you’ve bought your iPad within the past year and you want an iPad 2, you’re probably going to want to trade up.

Retailers are reporting a surge in trade-ins for Apple’s first-generation iPad. Most of these are being resold back in exchange for credits or discounts on the soon-to-be-released iPad 2.

Re-commerce companies are offering buybacks for iPads in exchange for store credit or discounts, and companies like Gazelle.com and NextWorth are currently getting thousands of trades, which are soaring to record highs. Most of these companies have retail agreements with stores like Target, in which customers get credits toward a new purchase. Most customers are eyeing an upgrade to the iPad 2.

Some, like eBay Instant Sale are also seeing thousands of used iPads being sold in their used-gadget market.

The iPad 2 has essentially created a booming secondary market for used first-gen iPads. And as trade-in activity is seen as an indicator to how popular a new product will be, we can only say that 2011 is, indeed, the year of the iPad 2.