Today’s question is from Laurel:
Is there a place to recycle used cell phones, play systems (Playstation 2), DVD players, etc.? These items still work, but are not in the best working condition to sell them on e-bay or in a garage sale. I thought I read somewhere that they could be recycled for a small gift card at Wal-Mart or Target. Thanks in advance! -Laurel
As part of the Clear Out Your Clutter Challenge last year, I gave some ideas of what to do with your clutter and also shared a link for some recycling programs for old electronics. I know there are other programs other there, though, so I thought it’d be helpful to open this open to the readers for their input.
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Best Buy recently launched a buy back program, I have not used it and therefore can’t recommend or not recommend it.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Misc/Buy-Back-Program/pcmcat230000050010.c?id=pcmcat230000050010
I have heard gazelle mentioned quite a bit on a few tech podcasts I listen to. They seem to offer pretty decent prices they don’t pay to recycle but they will recycle them for you if they can’t offer any money I think. Also if you use the code “twit” (for This Week In Tech) you will get an extra 10% on the first thing you sell to them.
http://www.gazelle.com/
The Best Buy program is only for things that were originally purchased at Best Buy, be in “good working condition” & I believe they only cover up through 2 years (from what I read). A great idea if you’re planning to buy from BB & tend to want the “latest & greatest” (like my husband) but no good if you didn’t purchase from BB or hang onto stuff until it dies or functions only so-so (like myself. lol). Still, something to look into!
Although you wouldn’t benefit personally from it, there is a program called “Cell Phones for Soldiers” that take old cell phones. For each old cell phone recieved, they give a soldier a $50.00 prepaid calling card so that they can call home, etc.
This sounds wonderful for them!
Can I get more info on this? My husband just dug out a box of our old cell phones and I would love to give the soldiers calling cards!!!
You can probably find out more specific info for your area online. There are several businesses that participate with drop off boxes in my area. I think it’s through the American Legion here. Just do a search for cell phones for soldiers in your area. Also, you can go to cellphonesforsoldiers.com.
Whenever my husband and I upgrade to new phones (we upgrade to the free ones offered – saves so much money!), we donate our old cellphones to Cellphones for Soldiers. The phones don’t have to be in working condition and you can donate phone accessories. Also, there is an area on their website to print a prepaid postage label allowing you to defer the cost of shipping! They recycle the old phones for calling cards that are sent to our military. When my husband was deployed to Afghanistan, I requested phone cards from Cellphones for Soldiers so that he can share with his unit. They mailed him 100 calling cards for free! That day the phone cards were received, many of the wives in my husband’s unit mentioned their husbands called them. My husband and I were thrilled because we ordered the cards for them. It warmed our hearts!
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
Several places, Target is one, have started recycling programs. You can also trade them in through SwabBucks. Not sure how well either of these programs works though.
We’ve taken an old tv and an old computer to Best Buy. Neither were purchased from Best Buy nor were they in working condition. You have to “pay” $10 for them to recycle the item but in return they give you a $10 store gift card. If you use Swagbucks you can trade in old cell phones for Swagbucks. Also if you have a battered womens shelter or something like that in your area they will take old cell phones. Any phone with power is supposed to be able to dial 911.
I don’t know if you do the Swag Bucks, but they exchange books, cell phones, and different game systems, games, etc. for Swag Bucks. I know the question was about gift cards, but this is another option
I second the http://cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ We have been sending our old cell phones there for a few years.
It’s a great program!
I’ve just heard you should send the phone along with the charger.
You can, but you don’t have to send the charger – from what I’ve read, they just strip them for the wires.
Cell Phones for Soldiers resells the equipment to a reuse/recycling company, then uses the proceeds to fund calling cards for military personnel. IOW a cell phone without charger is also valuable to the program.
Another option is donating to thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army as long as they are in working condition. The tax cut might well be a better deal and you help out the community. Plus you can check out the deals at the store while your there.
The thrift store in my town gives store credit every time you donate to them. This is what my husband and I do when we need to get rid of things!
Any suggestions for placed to donate carseats? (Texas)
I don’t think you can legally “donate” the carseats. I know baby thrift shops here in Nebraska can’t take them (but maybe can’t after the expiration date). Probably best to let family & friends have it or try craigs list if it’s not past the expiration date.
Rachel, I’m not from Texas and am not aware of what specific businesses are in your area, but I would imagine that any type of pro-life business could use them.
I believe that it is illegal for consignment stores to sell used carseats. I believe they are considered “unsafe” because it is impossible to prove they have never been in a wreck (you are supposed to replace a carseat after you have been in a wreck, due to the possible strain on the seat). But you may want to check with pregnancy centers. They can tell you if it is legal or not for them to accept and distribute used carseats.
It’s not illegal in Texas. You can take them to just about any resale shop and trade them or sell them.
If you want to donate them I would consider a battered womens shelter or something like that.
It’s legal to sell used car seats in Washington State as well.
i have not heard of it being illegal, but i do know that the carseat have an expiration date printed on them. the seat must be discarded after stated date due to safety regulations and such. just keep that in mind. also, babies r us is currently running their buy back program thru the end of the month, i believe.
The expiration date is because the plastic parts deteriorate with time.
Here in NJ it’s not an issue of legality, but law suits. Consignment and thrift and goodwill stores don’t want anything to do with baby stuff that may have been recalled and don’t have time to keep checking recall lists, and they don’t want car seats in case they have ever been in an accident and may not hold up again in one. I don’t think I would want to get a car seat from a used store anyway. It’s not safe. You can try putting it up on Craig’slist if you think it’s still in good condition. Or you could give it to a friend. However, if it’s been in a car accident or it’s older than 6 years, break it up visibly before throwing it away so that trash pickers won’t think they are getting something good out of your garbage.
It’s dangerous to use accident or expired car seats even if they look like they are in good condition. The plastic breaks down with age and shatters in an accident. A seat that has been in an accident has been stressed and won’t hold up in one again. The child could be badly hurt or killed by the seat if not by the impact of another accident.
Perhaps your local social services agency
yes in Jersey the consigment shops will sell them also. As long as there not older then 5 years old. And haven’t been in an accident..
I donated my infant seat to the crisis pregnancy center that helped me while I was pregnant. They were very excited because they actually had a waiting list of women who needed carseats that would hold a newborn! I think it helped that they knew me and I could vouch that the seat hadn’t been in a crash or anything.
Craislist. When Babies R Us does the donate a carseat get 25% off a new one I found one that was old and expired on craigslist and she was able to trade it in for a big boy seat. But I’d check the back and see if or when it expires. If it has it will limit your options on who will accept it. Goodwill, I don’t believe takes any of them. Good luck!
This discount is actually going on at BRU right now–I think through Monday. I just traded in an old booster for a new one with the discount!
You can’t donate carseats- because it may have been in an accident or damaged in some other way and no longer work properly. They won’t just take your word on it.
Personally, I would never give someone a used car seat, nor would I ever use one. (I would rather help them buy a new one!) Think about this: they are constantly updating requirements about child car safety. (Now they recommend leaving the car seat facing the back as long as possible, however when I had my child it was 12 months max or a weight of 20-something pounds.) If the seat that you are donating is more than two years old, it’s most likely outdated. Unfortunately, it’s one of the few things that just is not worth the risk of reusing.
I would never donate or use a carseat that wasn’t brand new. As a former plastics researcher, I can tell you that there can be damage to the carseat that you can’t see. Some plastics start to loose strength over time from sun and heat exposure. Also, if the seat were in a collision (over 5, yes FIVE, MPH) it needs to be replaced and not used again. Personally I wouldn’t want my child — or anyone else’s child — to potentially be injured due to a car seat issue. You canNOT look at a used carseat and see damage to the integrity of the seat.
If you know for a fact yours has not been in an accident, you could give it to a friend. We personally have been in a very traumatic car crash that thankfully no one was hurt but my little guy was 1 yr at the time. I would be sick to think I gave that to someone and it didn’t work when they most needed it to.
I donated our used car seat to our local police department. They use them for demonstrations for child safety classes and such. After they are finished with them, they cut the straps (so no one fishes them out of the bin) and recycle what they can. I’m not sure if this is available in all areas though.
If it’s never been in any accidents, you could try consigning it. Or post it on your facebook page, someone you know might know someone who needs one but can’t afford it.
You might also look up on ebay and see if there’s any demand for the seat cover, and sell just that part, and trash the rest.
I know some highschools, birthing classes, etc. will take used carseats to use in demos.
I’ve seen some carseats at my Goodwill too.
You can trade them in on Swag Bucks to earn points toward your total. I have turned in a few old cell phones. They pay the shipping to send it to them.
Office Max, Staples, and Office Depot have been offering $50 off new printers when you bring your old one in to recycle. Seems like an awesome deal! Much more than you would get w/ ebay or craigs list.
Recyclebank (http://www.recyclebank.com) will give you so many points (never used it so I can’t say how many) for things like old cell phones, laptops and the like if you recycle through them and they’ll pay the shipping to ship it too.
I tried recyclebank about a year ago or so to recycle 4 phones. I only earned 10 points each but they were probably outdated – someone could probably get more points for a newer phone. But they paid for shipping and the phones are out of my house!
Ebay also now has a “instant sale” program. They buy your stuff if you don’t want to do the selling. It’s for various electronics. They are giving $200 minimun for used cell phones for like iPhone3.
http://green.ebay.com/instantsale/
Flipswap.com will also accept old cell phones. I haven’t used them recently but I just checked their site and they will give me $13 for my 2-year-old cell phone, and Gazelle will only give me $1!! I did use them a couple years ago and had a good experience with them.
I can speak on the cell phones: you can donate them at a Verizon Wireless store. Verizon refurbishes them and gives them to domestic violence shelters. They donate free minutes to domestic violence victims along with the phones.
Or… Verizon just recently launched a buy back program. I don’t know a whole lot about it, but I think it’s just for more recent phones (so if you have one from 2004, they probably won’t take it back!). But if you do have any phones that are more current, they will buy them back and they will give you a small gift card.
I hope that helps!
radio shack also does a buy back program for a RS gift card
I’ve had good luck with Gazelle for selling electronics (iPod, camera, GameBoy) and cell phones. They pay for shipping and are prompt with payment.
My son’s school collects and recycles lots of electronic items such as cell phones, DVD’s and CDs, laptops, digital cameras, and more. They recycle them to raise money for the school.
I have used Gazelle and been really pleased with them. Their system is easy to use and they pay for shipping. We had a PS2 and a bunch of games – some of the games weren’t worth anything, but others were $1-$5 each. We threw everything in a box, they recycled the ones they couldn’t buy, and they sent us a check a week later. Perfect.
I also just sent some items into Gazelle to have them buy and recycle. The one caveat is that if they won’t buy back your items, you’ll have to pay to ship the items to them to recycle. Another website I’ve heard about is recyclingforcharity.com where they will donate whatever money from what you send in to the charity of your choice (from their list).
Does anyone know where you can recycle single-use batteries (like the standard AA’s and such)? The only place I can find is a site online that charges a great deal of shipping per box of batteries. I know we are not supposed to throw batteries away because they can leach harmful elements into landfills and eventually into our water. Consequently, I have two large bagfuls of batteries hanging out in my garage, just waiting for a reasonable solution! Thanks!
The school I work at has a battery recycle bucket for batteries (AAA, AA, C, etc.). Maybe your area has a similar situation.
your local utility is a good resource for recycling. Ours takes single use batteries and CFL light bulbs. Also check with Home Depot or Lowe’s for similiar items as well as tool type batteries.
Safety Kleen. You should have one in your area.
My town hall has a bucket to put them in.. what about calling yours?
My Staples has a small spot, Lowes recycles rechargable batteries, and our dump has a spot.
Our county recycling center has a section for used up batteries. I save them in a old coffee can and take them when they start “piling” up.
If you search for “donate old cell phone,” you’ll find a bunch of organizations. In addition to soldier support groups, there are also organizations that collect them for senior citizens and victims of domestic abuse. The latter two can use them to call 911 without a phone card or service.
I had a positive experience trading an old cell phone to flipswap for an Amazon gift card. I got $39 on a phone that was a few years old.
Do they take non-working phones too?? I have a few that turn on, but have baby drool damage and dont work how they should.
I have passed electronics that no longer work through the website freecycle.org The original premise behind the site was to keep things out of landfills. So, for example, I had a stereo system with a 3 cd changer, a tape player, and radio. It no longer played CDs. We didn’t need it anymore even if we could have gotten it fixed. Instead of throwing it in a landfill, I put it on freecycle and a guy that knows how to fix things like that got it from me. Don’t make any money this way, but you help the enviornment and maybe help someone else who is in need. (He could have fixed it and sold it for all I know as income or maybe he just had a radio to enjoy that he didn’t have previously).
If you have a mac computer, you can trade them in for some good money towards a new mac. I think we got close to $300 off our new computer from our 4 year old laptop that, while functional, was done.
where did you trade your old mac? i have one that is dying and looking for a new one.
You can do it through the Apple site . I’ve never done it, but we’ve checked to see how much mine is worth (sadly, not much!) I think it’s under “recycle”…
Costco.com has a recycling partner that will send you a shipping label to ship items for free for recycling, and if the items work at all, sometimes you can get a gift card for Costco. I think you have to be a Costco member – we just received a gift card for $52 by recycling a camera. But usually, items are only worth a few dollars.
Some nursing homes will take old cell phones and chargers. They can be used for 911 calls only.
Best Buy has prepaid envelopes for used batteries, etc. We always keep a stack of their prepaid envelopes around to send in our old batteries and it works great–even sent in a phone with its battery in the prepaid envelope. Costs nothing!
Swagbucks! They have a trade in program. I was able to trade my 4 year old phone for enough swagbucks to get a $15 amazon gc. They’re trade in for books is pretty good too!
Our local “authorized mac dealer”.
ecosquid is a site that does a “round-up” of all the major places that will accept your old tech and how much they will offer. I did a quick article on their site here: http://www.choosingsimplicity.com/2011/01/save-the-landfills-get-paid-cash-to-recycle-old-tech/
There is a good recycling program/fundraiser for cell phones & ink cartridges that our children’s ministry has made a few hundred dollars with. http://www.childrens-church-ministry.com/fund-raiser-idea.html
I haven’t had time to read all of the comments so I apologize if I’m regurgitating the ideas of someone else. Have you attempted to take it to Game Stop or Play & Trade or such similar store for credit? If you have other game systems you could trade them in for new(ish) games for your current systems. If not, I’m not sure if they give cash.
I believe you can “sell” your stuff to Amazon for gift card credit or possibly for Swagbucks. I don’t know the exact way to do it or even if it’s still possible thru Swagbucks but it’s better than just giving it away unless you wanted to do so far a tax write-off. Then again, if it’s just clutter and you aren’t in need of the money then I’m sure there are many families who’d take them off your hands that can’t afford them. Craigslist is another really good (free) classifieds listings avenue. Depending on the age/condition of the system and games, you may not get much. However, if you do choose to sell or trade and have some input, please do your due diligence and research how much each item is worth. Some of the older NES games are worth a lot, as some of the others are as well possibly?
My husband sold some game systems thru Craigslist this past year so we don’t have to pay Paypal fees or E=Bay fees, since they change their rules so often. If you offer the system and games as a bundle you’ll have better luck selling them because you won’t likely get much for each one individually. We’ve sold nearly everything so….we pretty much know what we’re doing and the best way to get it done quickly.
Good luck and feel free to e-mail me if you need more help!
I thought cell phones had to be turned in when a new one was purchased?
Nope. You purchase them, not lease them. They’re yours to keep.
anyone know what to do with old baby bottles that are NOT BPA free? Any creative ideas?
I understand there are places to recycle old electronics and knew of some that were listed but others were new to me. The problem I have been having is finding a place to recycle blood glucose meters that I do not want or use anymore. Does anyone have a suggestion about those? I have even tried the companies that distribute them. Help if you can.
why dont you just donate them to the local charity? they always come by to pick up these stuff.
If you have a Game Stop store in your area, they will pay you for the old game consols and the games or you can get a store credit for a new or used game.
As for car seats, DO NOT ever buy one from a consignment store or a garage sale. You never know what has happened to them. Even in a 5 mile per hour crash they are no longer good. If you know someone or are some who is below the poverty line, maybe social service programs or the police department have new ones that you can get. You have to qualify for it though.
Crutchfield.com has an arrangement with CExchange. We sent in an 8 year old monitor (big one) with their free shipping label and received a small GC for it. If you are in the market for other electronics now or in the future (Crutchfield has great customer service, too, with setting anything up, etc) it might be worth it since it only costs the price of printing out the free shipping label. They ask for any accessories but we found the power cord months later and they still gave us the online self appraised amount. Perhaps CExchange works with other merchants as well.
Wal-mart does offer gift cards for electronics buy-backs. Here’s the link:
http://walmart.gazelle.com/