Amazon’s British customers who make use of its trade-in service to get rid of old books and video games have until the end of August to complete their final transactions, as the company this week announced that it is putting an end to this feature on the 31st.

Things like the popularity and condition of used items could be used to get money off against future purchases with Amazon as part of the scheme, but the retailer has clearly decided that it is no longer a viable part of its business and will instead return to offering a more straightforward approach to shopping online.

There are still many different places where video games and other items can be sold, with auction sites such as eBay sitting alongside more recent additions to the market that offer to buy old items in bulk from users who are having a bit of a clear-out of their possessions.

The trade-in scheme operated by Amazon will still be operational right until the end of August, so anyone who makes a submission to it will need to send their items off before this date.

The good news is that any gift cards that Amazon has issued as a result of a trade-in will still be valid, meaning users can use them to get money off their next purchase made via safe shopping online with this e-commerce giant.

The precise reasons for the trade-in scheme being closed down are unclear, although the logistics involved in orchestrating it were clearly very complicated, and perhaps it simply was not popular enough to merit long-term support.

Amazon even has its own marketplace through which customers can sell their items, so perhaps doubling up with the trade-in scheme was a needless addition in the first place.