Microsoft may be trying to get iPhone and iPad owners to trade in their old models for at least a $200 Microsoft Store gift card. However, the company has yet to launch any kind of program where people who jumped in and bought the first generation Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets can trade them in for credit to get the upcoming Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 models.

As it turns out, if you did buy the first Surface tablets, you are perhaps better off auctioning them off on an eBay page rather than using one of those gadget buyback companies. Computerworld reports that, according to data provided by eBay, the 32GB version of the Surface RT tablet is currently selling on average for $285 on the auction site. That's compared to price quotes of $117 and $187 from Gazelle and NextWorth, respectively, for the same product. Microsoft continues to sell the 32GB Surface RT tablet for $349.

If you own a 128GB Surface Pro, eBay says that putting the tablet for auction on their site will allow you to get back $741 on average. Again, Gazelle and NetWorth are quoting trade in prices of $370 and $338, respectively, for the same tablet.

The only major drawback to putting up old Surface tablets on eBay is that it's a bit of a crap shoot in terms of predicting just how much money a person will get back for their product. The gadget buyback companies do offer a price that, while it may or may not be lower that what a person can get from eBay, is still a firm quote with no guess work or worries.

Source: Computerworld | Image via Microsoft