Recycle Your Cell Phones and Electronics For Cash

How many old cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, tablets, game consoles and e-readers do you have laying around? I’ll bet it’s more than one. Some people have half a dozen or more cell phones stuck in a desk drawer because they just don’t know what to do with them. How about converting this unwanted technology to cash? You can do that now. It’s quick and easy to sell cell phones and other electronics for quick cash online.

What makes this really easy is a service called uSell that gets you cash for your unwanted electronic gadgets. You may have heard of or seen companies that offer to recycle your stuff for free or make you a cash offer if they happen to want your make or model. This is a similar idea, but with multiple buyers.

You know those travel services that mash up multiple airlines, hotels, and rental car offers so that you can find the best deal? This is something like that. What you do is enter the make and model of your cell phone or other device and then check the boxes on what condition it is in and what accessories you still have. Then click the “find top cash offers” button. Almost instantly, you’ll be presented with one or more offers to buy your phone. These are from a variety of companies in the business of buying, refurbishing and recycling used electronic devices.

I gave the system a try by entering a digital camera that returned one offer. An Apple iPad 32 GB WiFi came back with 7 separate offers. The top offer can be twice or more the lowest offer, confirming the benefit of having more than one vendor to chose from. Sure, you can do a lot of searching yourself, visit a lot of sites, enter a lot of data or even try selling your device through auctions or classified ads. That’s going to take awhile. This took a matter of seconds. Really, the system is so fast that I had the offers as soon as I clicked the button.

It gets even better. Your next move is to pick one of the buyers so you can sell your phone. You’ll probably go immediately to the highest offer, but it makes sense to do a little due diligence and check out reviews of that company from other uSell users who’ve recently dealt with them. This is all provided for you, so it’s still quick and easy.

Ah, but what does it cost for shipping? Shipping is always extra, right? Nope. Shipping is free. You fill out a form and the buyer will send you a free shipping kit that includes a prepaid shipping label and often a box, too. Put your item inside and send it on its way.

What happens next is that your device is received by the buyer and inspected & tested to confirm that it matches your assessment. If so, you’ll get a quick payment, typically by check or PayPal depending on what you prefer. This is typically a week or two, not forever and a day. To get to this point you have invested, what, an hour tops?

Compare this with other methods of selling or disposing of your old electronics. It’s getting to be that you’ll get in trouble with the law if you simply throw electronics in the trash. So, you have to haul it somewhere that accepts such items and do it during their business hours. What do you get for all that trouble? A satisfying feeling, perhaps, but no cash.

Wouldn’t you rather get paid as well as clean out all that old electronics? Of course. Cash is always the most satisfying of all. So, wouldn’t this be a good time to fish through those desk drawers, boxes in the closet, basement or garage? Don’t reject items that are damaged or missing accessories. There may still be a market for them. Enter the make and model number and see if you can get an offer before you give up on that junker.

Don’t Be Part Of The Impending Worldwide E-Waste Crisis

Most of have heard by now that it’s not a good idea to just throw your old electronic devices in the trash. The awareness of hazardous e-waste has gotten to the point where some office supply and electronics or hardware stores have a big box where you can drop off your unwanted cell phones, old laptop batteries or compact fluorescent light bulbs. Communities have places where you can take your old computer or special recycling days a couple of times a year just for electronics. Savvy businesses and consumers also know that you can sell your unwanted electronics for cash rather than giving it the old heave-ho. So, why is the United Nations warning of a coming crises in e-waste?

This impending threat is coming countries that are now in a rapid development period as well as established patterns in the U.S. and other developed countries. China, India, Africa and Latin America are expected to be dumping large quantities of e-waste in the next 10 years. Why? Primarily because these countries are also becoming big consumers of electronic gadgets. E-waste just from discarded mobile phones will be 7x higher in 2020 than it was in 2007 in China. In India it will be much worse at 18x higher. There are similar large increases predicted for e-waste from old computers and televisions.

Much of this increase in e-waste volume will surely come from the modernization of these now developing countries. But some of it also comes from the industrialized world dumping their electronic trash in other countries. Nigeria, in particular, has long been an international landfill for electronic waste from the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, among other countries.

So, what’s the big deal with dumping e-waste as long as it isn’t in your back yard? First of all, it’s just not right to be victimizing these poverty stricken people who don’t even realize the toxicity of the materials they’re handling. Your cell phone or computer isn’t going to disintegrate in your home and poison you. But when these devices are smashed apart and cooked to try and recover valuable elements like gold and silver or left to decay in a trash heap, they release toxic chemicals that can ruin your health.

Do you really think that the global ecosphere keeps the bad chemicals over there and completely away from our air and water? Think again. The atmosphere doesn’t observe any national boundaries. It goes around and around the Earth, collecting dust and vapors from one country and blowing them into or raining them down upon other countries. The oceans work the same way. Dump it in the water way over there and you’ll eventually find it washing up on your shores too.

I think it’s good that an international body like the United Nations is sounding the alarm about the growing e-waste problem. We’re long past the day when we can turn a blind eye to pollution no matter where it occurs. This will almost certainly require an international effort to tackle the problem, especially in areas where there is so little awareness of the danger and few resources to properly recycle these materials. Companies like Apple have taken the initiative of offering a free recycling service for your old computer when you buy one of their new ones. That would be a good approach for all manufacturers.

In the meantime, we can all do our parts by ensuring that we turn our old unwanted electronic equipment over to companies that have the capacity to properly dismantle and process the cases and electronic circuit boards. Plus, don’t forget that many electronic gadgets can be easily sold for cash so that they’ll get a new lease on life and you’ll get money you can use for your next high tech acquisition.

Get After Christmas Cash From Old Gadgets

Ah, the gift giving season has rolled through like a retail tsunami. You did well this year. There’s really nothing else that holds the excitement of shiny new gadgets under the tree. But there’s nothing that puts a damper on the excitement like an empty wallet and big credit card bills about to land in January. What you can really use right now is some after Christmas cash.

Fortunately, there’s a fast and easy way to bring in some quick bucks without having to get another job or really do any work at all. It’s a win-win proposition because you get paid and reclaim some shelf space in your house at the same time. What you want to do is sell your old gadgets for cash while you can get the most.

Notice that I said old gadgets. You’re keeping the new ones, of course. It’s the stuff they are replacing that can go.

I know. You’re thinking of hanging on to the old model just in case you need it. Really? Are you actually going to re-activiate that old cell phone if you lose or damage your new one? It’s likely you’ll run out and get a replacement pronto. In all likelihood, you’ll never need your old device as a backup. Most electronics goes to the landfill in perfect working order. It’s trashed because it’s obsolete.

Here’s another astounding fact. Many electronic devices that are tossed to the curb have some cash value. Many others had cash value, but it vaporized over time so that now the dusty game or GPS in the basement is worthless. These things continue to pile up and eventually get hauled away as trash where they decay in landfills to pollute the environment.

Electronic circuit boards are an environmental nightmare. They’re full of lead and other elements that leach out over time. The green thing to do is get them to an electronics recycler so the materials can be reclaimed to make new gadgets. The green-in-your-pocket thing to do is get them to an electronics buyer so they be put to good use and you’ll get some money.

What’s the fastest and easiest way to get cash for your old electronic gadgets? Sell or recycle your gadgets online at no cost to you. Gazelle offers fast cash for cell phones, laptop computers, home audio systems, Blu-Ray players, digital cameras, MP3 players, video games, PDAs, gaming consoles, GPS devices, camcorders, satellite radios, calculators, external drives, camera lenses, LCD monitors, projectors, streaming media, and even movies.

How much can you get? Each device has a market value depending on condition and available accessories. You can find the current market value and get a quote in seconds online. If you decide to accept the offer, you’ll get free shipping and packaging. Send it in and a check will be on its way pronto. If it turns out that your gadget has no retail value left, you can still send it in for proper recycling

So, what are you waiting for? Gather up the gadgets that were replaced this year and any others that you have hiding in the closet or piled up in the garage or basement. Get instant online quotes to resell your electronic devices and send them in. Act quickly and you may get the cash before your next credit card bill arrives.

Green Solution For Old Cell Phones

Are you a reluctant cell phone collector? Most people have a few models in the basement or desk drawer. They all have one thing in common. They don't work anymore.

The thing about cell phones is that they go obsolete long before they stop functioning. There's the occasional dropped or crushed mobile. But most of these phones would work just fine if you charged them up and got them a cellular service plan. Ah, there's the rub. The plans are what costs. The phones are cheap. Even new models are often offered free or at a highly subsidized low prices. Why would you keep paying monthly fees for the old clunker when you can have the latest model for the same monthly cost?

So there they sit. Piling up one, two, or three per household. Collectively there are hundreds of millions of old cell phones going unused. Eventually, people clean house. What happens then is that millions of phones go from the drawer to the curb, and then on to the city landfill.

Isn't that where junk is supposed to go? Cell phones aren't like most junk. Electronic trash is both wasteful and hazardous. What you are putting into the landfill for the next hundred or thousand years is a package of chemicals that can only be harmful to the environment in the long run. They contain chemicals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and zinc. These materials are what makes the electronics work. There isn't a lot in each phone. But when you inject thousands or tens of thousands of phones into a landfill and they start to break down over time, you've got the potential for serious trouble some day.

So what do you do? Some communities have an electronics recycling day once or twice a year. They will take your cell phones and other unwanted electronic items and properly recycle them to recover useful chemicals. That includes the lead, cadmium, arsenic and zinc. But it also includes plastic, glass and gold.

Gold? Yes. gold plating is used on circuit boards and within semiconductors because gold is an excellent conductor of electricity and doesn't corrode the way copper and aluminum do. There's a little gold mine in each cell phone.

How would you like to mine some cellular gold of your own? No need to take a pick to your phone. All you have to do is send it in for recycling. This company sends you a prepaid mailer for your cell phone. You drop it in the mail and they take of of recycling or reuse so that nothing goes to waste. If your phone is a newer model and suitable for refurbishment and reuse in other countries or as an emergency phone, you'll even get paid.

How much can you make? That depends on how new and in-demand your old phone is. Even though you may have gotten the phone for free, it probably has value to someone else. Check to see what your old cell phone is worth.

So instead of letting old phones go to waste, why not get a check instead? Even if your old mobile is only suitable for recycling you'll at least have the satisfaction of knowing that you've protected the environment from hazardous waste and made the materials available for other uses.