How To Turn Your Broken And Unwanted Electronic Gadgets Into Cash
Posted May 1, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s something you never think about when you’re buying them: what do I do with my cell phone, my computer or my PDA when it breaks, becomes obsolete or I get a new one?
That was the problem plaguing V ince Renais. On his iPhone, “t he wireless function of it wasn’t working at all,” he explains. He didn’t want to throw away the $400 device – he wanted some money for it.
Many people either discard their used electronics or try to give it to someone else just to get rid of it. But it doesn’t belong in a landfill and while charities will often gratefully accept these electronic cast-offs, it might be nice if you could get at least some of your money back for your unwanted techno-junk.
As it turns out, you can. A company called BuyMyTronics.com has figured out a way to turn your trash into cash, by buying up those old unwanted electronic devices from you. How much you get depends a lot on what you’ve got to sell.
Renais sent his iPhone in, got $200 for it, and bought a new one. The turnaround took less than a week.
” I was, yeah, quite surprised and quite happy,” with the service, he beams.
Other examples? A broken iPod went for $228. They gave a customer $210 for a used BlackBerry. And one consumer walked away with $250 for an unwanted Xbox 360.
Why would a company do this?
” Because we can,” chuckles CEO B rett Mosely
How do they make money on all this? They take the working components from the broken units and use them to fix other non-functioning devices, then sell those for a profit.
The consumer wins by unloading a device that might otherwise sit in a garbage dump. And the company gains by recycling products that someone else can purchase for a smaller fee than buying them new.
“It’s a win-win,” declares Mosely. “eWaste stays out of landfills and we are able to put cash in people’s pockets. Our services are more profitable, faster and easier for the product owners than Craigslist or eBay.” The company promises payment within 48 hours, although you have to front the cost of shipping it to them.
The eco-friendly option pleases M ike Layton of Environmental Defence.
“This is a monster problem, and we don’t even understand how to deal with it. This waste has a lot of lead in it. It has mercury, cadmium. These are all heavy metals,” argues Layton. And they don’t belong in a landfill.
The firm, which is based in the U.S., has a growing number of customers in Canada.
Here’s where you can find an overview of how the system works, what they accept and how much you’re likely to get back.
Items accepted:
- iPods/MP3 players
- iPhones
- Laptops
- Game consoles
- Cell phones
- PDAs
- Digital cameras
- Camcorders
