BALTIMORE – You know that shiny smartphone you bought six months ago? There’s an even better one hitting the market right about now. Or how about that flat-panel TV you bought last year. Now they come in 3-D.

With the ever-quickening pace of technological advances, you can be left in the digital dust.

Retailers now have a solution for consumers — and for themselves. They will buy back your old gadget in hopes that you turn around and buy the next best gadget on their shelves.

Under these “buyback” programs, big-box retailers and online merchants give cash or credit for a piece of used electronics. Best Buy, the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, launched its program earlier this year.

“Technology is changing so fast that the consumer a lot of times feels they’re being left behind, so they’ll postpone buying,” said Cynthia Jasper, an expert in buying behavior and chair of the consumer science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So it’s a way to make the consumer feel at ease.”

For retailers, buyback programs are another way to lure customers into stores to spend on pricey gadgets such as smart- phones, laptops, tablet computers and televisions.

Retailers also see buyback programs as an alternative revenue stream because they can sell used products through online outlet sites.

One California start-up has put its own twist on the concept. Its vending machine model, called the “ecoATM,” is an automated kiosk that accepts used gadgets and pays the consumer in cash or gift cards. The company behind the Redbox movie rental kiosks, Coinstar, has invested in ecoATM, which has already deployed some of the machines in California.

Retail industry experts say the consumer electronics market is evolving the way markets in used cars or used textbooks did. And if consumers believe their gadgets will retain some value, they might be more willing to upgrade sooner rather than risk the device becoming outdated and worthless, industry experts said.