BlackBerry offers up to $550 to trade your iPhone for a BlackBerry Passport

BlackBerry today announced a new trade-in program to woo Apple users over to its latest flagship device. In short, the company is offering iPhone owners up to $550 for their device, as long as they purchase a BlackBerry Passport.

The BlackBerry Passport Trade-Up Program is available only in the U.S. and Canada starting on December 1 and ending February 13. iPhone users upgrading to a BlackBerry Passport will get up to $400 USD/CAD for their iPhone, plus an additional $150 USD ($200 CAD) in the form of a Visa Prepaid Card.

The amount paid for the iPhone will be based on the condition and model of the device traded in; BlackBerry says it is willing to buy the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 6. The prepaid card will be sent by mail following the receipt of a qualifying iPhone as well as proof of purchase of a BlackBerry Passport, which must be bought from ShopBlackBerry.com or Amazon.com.

For the sake of comparison, the best trade-in deals in recent memory have come from Microsoft, which has previously offered to buy iPhones from anywhere between $200 and $350. So yes, BlackBerry’s offer is just ridiculous: the Canadian company is offering up to 1.5X more dough. In fact, this is one of those deals that we could see getting abused (buying and reselling BlackBerry Passports to make money).

In related news, BlackBerry today also announced it is offering $275 USD off and $250 CAD off BlackBerry Z30 smartphones purchased through ShopBlackBerry.com, as well as $100 USD/CAD off the purchase of a black-colored BlackBerry Passport. The timing here is very odd; while this is clearly meant as a Black Friday deal, the company today also announced red and white versions of the Passport.

So, U.S. customers can purchase a black BlackBerry Passport for $499 USD, Canadian customers can purchase a black BlackBerry Passport for $599 CAD, or either group can pay more to get a new color. It frankly looks like BlackBerry didn’t think this through.

Then again, the iPhone trade-in deal makes even less sense.