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How to get the $500 Xbox Series X for as little as $300

Or get the Series S for as little as $100. Just trade in your old console at GameStop to save as much as $200 on the new one.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
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Rick Broida
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Save as much as $200 on Microsoft's next-gen console when you trade in an old one.

 Microsoft

Update, Nov. 5: Read our reviews of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

You can preorder the new Xbox Series X game console starting tomorrow, Sept. 22, but if you're not sure yet where to place an order for the next-gen Xbox, consider GameStop: The store is offering up to $200 in trade credit toward the purchase of the new Xbox. That would bring your net price down to $300. You can also apply that same credit to the Xbox Series S, which would leave you with a final price of just $100. (Just for the record, you can also apply the credit to a PlayStation 5 preorder.)

Read more: Which Xbox should you buy?

See it at GameStop

The amount of credit you get depends on which console you're trading in. Here are the available options and their values:

  • Xbox One (500GB): $100
  • Nintendo Switch Lite, Xbox One S, PS4 (500GB): $125
  • Nintendo Switch, PS4 (1TB): $175
  • Xbox One X, PS4 Pro: $200

Could you make more selling your old console on Craigslist or eBay? Perhaps. Right now, for example, I'm seeing a fair number of Xbox One (500GB) listings priced between $150 and $180. (If you're going to try to sell your console yourself, however, act fast. Once the new ones hit the street, old ones will do likewise, and values will plummet.)

Trade-ins must be presented in-store and are subject to manager approval. According to the terms outlined on GameStop's site, you've got all the way until Nov. 30 to do this.

What do you think? Will you take advantage of GameStop's offer?

Read more: Why Microsoft's $7.5B purchase of Bethesda's parent ZeniMax is a big deal for Xbox

Watch this: Here's which new Xbox you should buy

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