The latest information I've found about upgrading to the 3G iPhone is that AT&T plans to offer you a trade-in if you bought your iPhone on or after May 27 and it is in like new condition. According to one report, you'll get your money back less a 10% restocking fee when you buy and activate a new 3G iPhone. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you go in to an AT&T store between July 11 and August 1 and haven't lost your original packaging or receipt, or scratched the phone.
But what if you are a true early adopter who stood in line to get one of the first iPhones and would gladly do the same again. You can certainly do that and buy yourself a 3G model. But you won't get a trade-in deal. So, now what do you do? Put it in a glass display case to admire? Toss it in a drawer like the fate of most unneeded cell phones? Try to sell it in a newspaper ad or auction it on eBay?
Here's another option. Recycle your iPhone for cash.
Now, just a second. Who wants to send a beauty like the iPhone to the recycling crusher? Relax. That iPhone is still worth decent money to a company that recycles newer technology phones for use overseas. How much money? I just checked the prices paid and, as of this writing, your 16 GB iPhone will get you $280. The 4 GB and 8 GB models will net you $100. You get a free postage paid mailer, send in your unwanted phone and charger, and you get check back in the mail.
You almost always get more if you sell your old unwanted cell phones as soon as you take them out of service. A cell phone gets stale faster than a carton of milk. But that doesn't mean that those dusty old cells aren't worth recycling. In the first two years, you can probably get paid something for just about any model phone. The higher tech smartphones bring more than the garden variety entry-level phones as you would expect.
The real oldies that were once goodies may not have a cash value anymore, but you can still send them in at no cost. Why do that? Mobile electronic devices contain goodly amounts of toxic chemicals used in their manufacture. Lead, cadmium and arsenic are just a few. Tossing one or two in the landfill won't create a public health hazard, but pitching tens or hundreds of millions of them is a real threat. Those minor amounts of toxic waste combine to degrade the environment for future generations.
Instead of just pitching that old junker phone, send it to the recycler and know that it will be dismantled and the materials recovered for reuse or proper disposal. It gets the clutter out of your house or business and you're doing a good thing.
You're intrigued by the thought of getting money for that stack of retired cell phones that your family or employees have accumulated, aren't you? Well, find out now how much your old wireless device is worth and then get paid to recycle them.
