I think you have misunderstood.  If you are talking about the genuine Sonos upgrade offer, and not a scam, this is just a chance to upgrade to the latest speakers at a discount.  Ignore it and keep using the speakers you have if you want to.  That’s what I’m doing.

I can’t see any problem in being given the choice.

Not sure where your £30 figure comes from.

My thoughts are that you’re not good at arithmetic.

You could trade in one of your speakers (cost new = £300), and for example get 30% off a set (pair) of new Play:5 speakers, discount @ 30% = ~£300.

Or, just keep them, like I’m doing. The email changes absolutely nothing, other than offering you an option you didn't have before.

I think the only product you have that is eligible (to judge from what is on your profile) is the Play:5 gen 1.  The gen 2 is so superior to the gen 1 it is effectively a completely different speaker.  I’d give it serious thought, if I were you.

I’m afraid the facts make a bit of a nonsense of your thread title.

My thoughts:

1. This is an offer, and as such it is not mandatory for you to upgrade
2. Are you confusing ‘30%’ with ‘£30’?  Because by my calculations, 30% of £300 is actually £90.  Furthermore, the 30% off applies to the purchase price of the new units (or sets of units) and therefore its “worth” has nothing to do with the original purchase price. 
3. What about this offer suggests your “high end stuff” is not going to last?  Because history says otherwise.  Indeed, Sonos’ original ZP units are still in use today, nearly 15 years after launch.  

Regarding the risk of buying a Sonos product in the secondary market, the risk has always been there (since the product could be non-functioning).   If looking to buying used, I would do so throw a site that offers some sort of return policy if the product is non functioning.

Apparently Sonos recycle activation cannot be reversed, I have 21 days left before my unit becomes useless just because I was looking to see how much i would save on an upgrade. Beware...!

To any lurkers: it’s made perfectly clear in the recycling procedure that, once committed, it’s irrevocable. To breeze past such warnings in the hope of somehow retracing one’s steps after checking out the savings on the other side is not wise. The Trade-Up offer is clearly stated elsewhere, including in the Ts and Cs that can be studied before committing.

The no backing out rule was made pretty clear in the documentation that Sonos makes available to you before you commit to the recycle deal.

I can’t tell you how happy I have been to trade my two ZP-80s for a $400+ each discount on a pair of 5.1 Beam systems. The $120 I got for an unused Play 5 Gen 1 on just a Beam was not bad either, might of sold it for more but now I have a pile of parts to play with too.

Wife is overjoyed to have a Beam on her TV and two big clunky AVR surround systems out of the house and replaced with the far smaller 5.1 Beams.

Is it possible to see what is available before committing to scrapping your device?

Looks like any Sonos Product.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/tradeup

The amount of discount could have a large bearing on whether to trade up or not obviously. I can't see a way to see what I could get and a price - without committing to scrap a device?  For example, where are the systems shown that you got?

Also, is the ability to trade up through an approved retailer a USA/Canada/Mexico thing only?

I’ve heard from people who have gone through the process that all individual products are available via trade up, but only select room sets are available depending on location. The trade up page does not show any bundles available. Can anyone confirm that all room bundles are available via trade up?

The discount is simply 30% of the price of the item/combo shown on the Sonos sales site.

I just went to the Sonos.com site, clicked Buy on the syatems I wanted and the 30% was taken off automatically.

I got three Beams, two as part of 5.1 systems. I’m in the US, no clue about other bundles or locations other than what I linked to above.

Directly contacting Sonos might be worth your time.

So I am one of the apparent dummies that went through the trade in process. To my great regret, I now have a room missing ( Sonos Connect into a Bose Amp; and no music in the back yard ( missing Play 5. I don’t recall all the obvious warnings about the process not being reversible . My recollection was I looking to see what 30% off was in an actual price. So after replacing 2 Bridges with 2 Boosts, I could only afford to replace one Connect with a Play. Still need to shell out to replace the second connect and Play 5. Apparently I have all of this great new features and sound benefit. I don’t actually use Apple airplay and now I have a reduced experience with two rooms missing. At least I helped fund Sonos upgrading its system and revenue . The obvious failure of being a committed early adopter!

I don’t want to spend another $ with sonos. I will lost my sonos connect amp in 18 days.

ANy suggestion to replace it?

Sorry, how did you lose it? 

Oh, you traded it up, sorry, it’s late. No suggestions other than the Sonos Amp, given that this forum is a Sonos forum. 

Just to learn that they can kill your Sonos with the push of a button is weird.

Imagine normal people on the street coping with that ? 

Not a good move Sonos 

You do realize the “kill with a button push” is true for most smart devices?