What to Do With Your Old Electronics

In November we purchased the iPhone 4Gs as our two-year contract with AT&T ran out (we've since switched over to Verizon). We previously had the 3Gs models and while mine was pretty much in mint condition, Kelsey's had a few minor bruises from running into the concrete floor of our garage on a couple recent occasions. Her screen was totally spider-webbed and although it was still functional, she could hardly read the screen anymore (props to her for living with it like that for two months). Once we purchased our new phones, I thought about what we might do with our old ones. Mine could be a secondary iPod which would be nice for working out, or it could be a source of entertainment for our nieces and nephew, but neither of those were great options. I can use my new phone for working out, and the last thing our nieces and nephews need is another gadget to play with.

After talking with a friend at work, he suggested selling it through Gazelle.com. I was skeptical. (Have you seen the cheesy commercials?)

I checked out the site and was pleasantly surprised by how much they were willing to offer me for a two-generation-old iPhone. They wanted to pay me $102 for it! I'm not sure how quickly this number declines so if you are in the same position and thinking of selling, I would do it now if I were you!

How the Process Works

  1. Sign up at gazelle.com for an account.
  2. Search for the electronics you want to sell (they take more than just iPhones).
  3. Get an offer. The site will tell you based on a few questions about your devices condition how much they are able to pay you.
  4. Ship it to Gazelle. They will send you a box to package your item with shipping paid by them.
  5. Wait for your check. Once it's received, they will review the item and within a few days mail you a check as long as the condition is as you said it was.

The whole process took a couple weeks. It was very fast and efficient. The longest wait was for the box to show up and for my phone to arrive to Gazelle. The site is pretty awesome, too. You can have updates emailed to you for every step of the process. Or you can log in and see where your transaction is at any step of the way. It was so refreshing as most of the time these types of sites are a hassle to work with.

Just for fun, I happened to see if they would take Kelsey's phone with a broken screen. They did! Can you believe that they paid $40 for a phone with a crushed screen? That thing was ready to be thrown in the trash!!!

It's super great to be paid for something we no longer use, but Gazelle also responsibly recycles electronics as well that they won't pay you for, so keep that in mind, too!!

They resell the products they fix and you can check out their refurbished store here.

(This was not a paid or sponsored post. I simply had such a fantastic experience that I wanted to share it with all of you. The world needs more companies like Gazelle.)

What do you do with your old electronics?