How to turn unwanted gadgets into cash

A staggering 155,000 tonnes of electrical waste is thrown away in the UK every year, which has a negative impact on the environment and the planet. It’s also bad for your wallet. The Recycle your Electricals campaign claims £5.6 billion worth of electronics is stored in UK homes.

That’s tens of millions of broken or unused devices that every London home needs to raise on average £200.

It is also important to recycle and reuse all these stored gadgets as they contain very precious and hard to obtain materials such as gold, lithium and cobalt. The material is either recycled into something new or passed on to someone to give it new life.

If you want to sell your device, you have no choice but don’t wait too long.

Which company pays for old gadgets?

Most PC makers recycle devices, and some (including Apple) offer credit on your next purchase. But for better deals, talk to third-party companies that usually pay more.Music Magpie, Spring, and CEX are all good starting points for selling technology.

Any company or individual selling equipment in bulk should see what Mazuma or Envirofone have to offer.

You should also take a look at the comparison sites, SellMyMobile and CompareMyMobile, to see what other services they have prepared to cash out your old gadgets. In some cases, you can see a big difference in the price you get.

It may also be worth checking out cashback websites such as Quidco and TopCashback. These sites sometimes offer a little extra money if you sell your old device through some services, but these deals vary and aren’t always available. Check first.

Another convenient way to turn your electronics into cash is the EcoATM machines found in over 53 hypermarkets. Here you can sell tablets and smartphones while picking up groceries.

In all these places, a fully functional device with no broken parts will always fetch more money than a well-worn gadget. Selling them with the original power adapter will usually get you more cash.

how this works

Raise more money by selling on auction sites

If you want to make a little more money for your gadget, try your luck at Gumtree, Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, or eBay.

Consumers tend to get better results (and higher bids) if they take the time to take good photos and write detailed descriptions of the items they want to sell. Using the right category is also very important.

You have to be honest about the state of your gadget. Buyer may return equipment that does not match the description. If you return it, you will lose money due to additional processing costs and the time it takes for the entire process.You may also receive negative reports against you on the site you use. However, be prepared to pay a selling fee.

ask friends and neighbors

Of course, your friends and neighbors may be desperate to get what you want to sell. Talk to them first.

You can expand your net a little bit more online. In London, millions joined his local WhatsApp group during lockdown. If you need to get rid of an old gadget, it’s often worth posting in these spaces. After all, if you sell your device to your neighbor at a fair price, you’ll not only please your neighbor, but you’ll also get more cash than you would keep after paying a commission if you sold it on an auction site. increase. Don’t share your real address in public groups. There may be untrustworthy people interested in these spaces.

Donate old gadgets to charity

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of selling your device, there are other ways to keep your valuable electronics from wasting. Most manufacturers now offer recycling schemes, and charities such as Little Lives UK collect and refurbish old electronics and give them to children who don’t have access to technology.

Many charity shops don’t accept technology, but some do. The British Heart Foundation even collects larger items. You can also check what your mobile operator offers. Three’s Reconnected service, similar to the Virgin Media O2-backed Community Calling initiative, hands over donated old phones to those in need. Another option is Wee Charity in Warrington. It collects items to refurbish and donates the proceeds to local community groups.

How to recycle old electronics

You may find that if you leave it for too long, your old gadgets are getting too old and no one is interested in buying them. Don’t just throw these things away as they contain harmful chemicals and metals. Londoners will find many recycling options, even for old electronics, from the Mayor’s London Recycles website can do.

Also, SquareBox collects them and takes them apart for the valuable components they contain, while high-street electronics retailer Currys offers a free recycling service that currently processes 65,000 tons of old tech each year. You can also check national schemes, such as those that are offered. Currys also appreciates the latest technology.

Before selling your device, it is important to first remove all personal information, passwords, data, photos and banking details from your device.

Some services promise to do this, but it’s much better to check before you let go. , this information is routinely abused. Protect yourself by following the manufacturer’s instructions to remove all data and perform a factory reset on your gadget before you give it away. If you use cloud services such as iCloud or Google, you should also unenroll your device from those accounts. But even with these little hassles, there’s no question. Londoners have more ways than ever to get cash out of their old electronics.