Most of us have a drawer somewhere in the house that is full to the brim with old gadgets that we don’t use anymore. If you’re having a clearout and you’ve gathered a huge pile of outdated tech, you might be at a loss for what to do with them. Here are a few ideas, so they don’t end up going to waste. After all, they were probably quite expensive when you bought them in the first place.
Try to get some use out of them
You don’t necessarily have to get rid of all this old stuff. Some of it might still be in good working order and so why not try using it again? Even if it isn’t running perfectly, try doing some repairs on your old tech to bring it up to speed. Companies like digsemi sell old components that you could possibly use to fix up your broken gadgets.
You could also try using old Ipods as storage devices. You might not need them to listen to music on anymore but they can still hold a lot of files, and it’ll be a much cheaper alternative to buying an external hard drive.
Sell them
If you don’t need them at all anymore, but they are in good condition, then you should consider selling them. There are plenty of different places you can sell your old gadgets and make a bit of extra cash.
Ebay is probably most people’s go-to option for selling secondhand goods. There is a lot of competition out there so you need to make sure that your listing stands out. Make sure you give good information about the product and be honest about the condition. If you lie about damage, you will get bad feedback from the customers and it will make it difficult to sell in future. When setting a price, have a look at what everybody else is selling similar products for. If you are too expensive you won’t get anywhere.
Amazon marketplace is another good option for selling, although you have less control over the listing. You can only list items that Amazon are already selling and you have to use their images. If you attain Pro Merchant status you have more control but you need to be selling on there for a while. If some of your tech is extremely old, then you might not be able to sell it on Amazon Marketplace.
Craigslist is a much simpler way of selling your old gadgets. You can even search the ‘items wanted’ section to see if there is anyone looking for the stuff you are trying to get rid of. If you are selling on craigslist you won’t have to worry about postage and that kind of thing, and you can usually get a sale fairly quickly. You could also try a good old fashioned yard-sale.
Donate them
If you’re feeling generous, there are plenty of different places that you can donate your old gadgets to. Charity shops are always looking for high quality goods that they can sell so they would be happy to take this old technology off your hands, and you’ll be helping a charity at the same time.
If you have an old computer then look into Computer Aid International. They take computers and refurbish them before donating them to third world countries in an attempt to modernise their lifestyles.
Fonebak offer a similar service, sending usable mobile phones to developing parts of the world. However, they will also take broken phones and recycle the materials.
You could always give them away to friends or relatives that might need them more than you do. Try advertising on social media to see if anybody wants them.
Recycle them
If your old gadgets are in no state to be used or sold to anybody else, you might have to just get rid of them. But just throwing them in the trash can be very damaging to the environment. Instead, you should make sure that you recycle them properly.
Most local authorities will have a dedicated area for electronics at their recycling plant. You can use RecycleNow to find your nearest recycling plant.
A lot of manufacturers these days are offering their own recycling services for their products. Dell will take any computer that you have bought from them, no matter how old, and recycle it free of charge. Look into the manufacturers of your products and see whether they offer a similar service.
Use these tips to clear out all of the old gadgets that are cluttering up your house.
