Making The Most From Old Gadgets
Merry Christmas! Now that you’ve opened all your presents and got a bunch of new toys, it’s time to think about clearing out your old gadgets and looking at a fresh start for the coming new year. There are many options to consider, including selling, donating or recycling (if it’s really old).
Whatever you decide, make sure you wipe all your personal data from your device to not only protect yourself, but to make it look physically decent. You’ll most likely receive the most amount of money if you sell directly to a buyer. There are many sites to choose from, including eBay, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace or, of course, your social networks. If you do this, be sure to include the details of your device, including if it’s still under warranty. Staying local will probably be better, that way you don’t have to worry about shipping.
Another issue to consider when you’re selling directly: When new products are about to be released, it’s probably not a good time to sell. You might want to follow the trends a little to make sure you sell before the new ones are released, so that you won’t have much competition.
In any case, it’s a good idea to see what your pricing options are. Use a comparison site like USell, BuyMyTronics or Glyde. These sites help you determine a fair price to ask to sell/trade. For your phone, most wireless carriers have a buy-back program, as do BestBuy, Radio Shack, Amazon, Target and GameStop.
Whatever you do, don’t just throw away your old stuff. At least, recycle it, if you can’t get any money for it. You’ll do your part to avoid adding more toxic chemicals to the environment. This is especially the case for your old printers, monitors, GPS devices, etc., since those aren’t really hot items to resell. Good luck!
Click Chick’s Mobile App of the Week: Robinhood
Free Robinhood app aims to put people before profit PHOTO COURTESY ROBINHOOD
The company was started by two roommates from Stanford, and was meant to solve the problem of democratizing access to markets. They set out to build a financial company from the ground up that puts people first, not profit.
The app is easy to use: Put your desired stocks in your watchlist and when you’re ready, just swipe to buy. There are different color schemes to help you quickly identify when your stocks are open for trading. To me, the biggest deal with Robinhood is that you do not have to pay any brokerage fees to trade, at least for U.S.-listed securities.
The only drawback is there is a very long wait list at the moment, since the app is in its beginning phase. Of course, you still can download/use the app to test out some features, and the app itself is free.
clickchick@outlook.com
