Engadget is reporting that Best Buy is adopting a trade-in policy for Best Buy customers who previously purchased an HD DVD player from the retail giant:

Best Buy is following Future Shop, Circuit City and others in reaching out to casualties of the format war. In this case, anyone who bought an HD DVD player from Best Buy before February 23, 2008 can request a complimentary $50 gift card for each player. For those too traumatized to even look at their discontinued hardware and software, Best Buy also announced it's adding HD DVD players and media to its Trade-In Center program, starting March 21. No word on how much a player can net you, but once its updated, check BestBuyTradeIn.com to get an estimate and decide how much holding onto the past is worth.

Update: Best Buy just issued a press release with additional information about the more than $10 million in gift cards it plans to distribute, and details on how to make sure you get yours...

A couple of interesting wrinkles here. First off, Best Buy doesn't appear to be offering a full refund for HD DVD players, but unlike Circuit City they aren't requiring the customer to return the player. Second, it sounds like Best Buy is also accepting trade-ins for HD DVD discs, though it's not clear how much the discs will yield in terms of cash or trade-in-kind.

It's good to see Best Buy addressing the disappointment of customers who picked the wrong side in the HD Disc Format War. It's also interesting to see that they haven't merely copied the Circuit City policy and that they are providing a somewhat more flexible solution, though it's arguable that it's not as comprehensive as the Circuit City policy.

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