Samsung is reportedly disappointed with S20 sales, and that has manifested as a new "buy-back" program available to buyers of the Galaxy S20 series. If you pick up a Galaxy S20, Samsung promises to buy it back for 50% of the full retail price if you send it back within two years. That could mean hundreds of dollars for a phone that's on its last legs in 23 months and 29 days.

Samsung has a habit of offering enhanced trade-in values to encourage upgrades, but this program lets you get almost as much cash whenever you decide it's time to move on from your S20. Samsung has featured the buy-back program on its main S20 sale page, so it's really pushing this option. You have to opt-in at the time of purchase, and doing so reduces the value of trade-ins. If you don't have a trade-in, that's no problem. The base S20 could get you $500 back if you return it, and the S20 Ultra is $700-800, depending on the model.

Just like a regular trade-in, your buy-back submission has to be in good shape with no factory reset protection. If you can manage that, you'll get your 50% cash payment in a few weeks. Samsung apparently hopes a guaranteed 50% value will help people justify the higher cost of this year's Galaxy phones. That might work for some, but a price drop would probably do a better job.

Source: Samsung buy-back, Buy-back FAQ (not live yet)