Old cellphones, devices can be exchanged for cash

[Raineyrocks]

Old cellphones, devices can be exchanged for cash
Companies provide ways to recycle old devices
UPDATED 11:03 PM EST Feb 05, 2013

MANCHESTER, N.H. —If you have outdated electronic gadgets you aren't using, you may be able to make money off them while ensuring that they don't end up in a landfill.

The newest food court attraction at the Mall of New Hampshire provides one way of dealing with old electronics. The ecoATM will shell out money for used mobile devices.

On a recent day, Lori Kyer, of New Boston, was giving it a try. She plugged in her iPhone, and checked its condition and made sure it wasn't stolen. It then offered her $80 for the phone, but she decided she'll keep her iPhone for now.

"I think it's eco-friendly apparently, and that's the whole point -- to save the environment," she said.

There are 300 ecoATMs across the country, and the company said that could grow to 1,000 by the end of the year. The company said 60 percent of the devices reclaimed by the machines are used for parts or refurbished and resold. Forty percent have their precious metals melted down to be used in other devices.

John Beane, the vice president of engineering for ecoATM, is a University of New Hampshire graduate.

"You've got phones, old phones that are in your drawer that you don't know what to do with," Beane said. "You don't want to throw them away. You don't want them to go in a landfill, and here's something that will let you recycle these phones and actually let you take some money away in the process."

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that Americans buy 500 million new electronic gadgets each year. The average household owns 26 devices.

Some stores offer trade-in programs for tablets, phones, MP3 players and video games.

"They can trade in their devices and get a gift card, which they can use to buy anything in the store," said Robert Payne, Best Buy sales consultant.

Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/special-reports/Old-cellphones-devices-can-be-exchanged-for-cash/-/13386842/18403518/-/12s3s4oz/-/index.html#ixzz2K7UhKziD

[lildog]

As an IT guy, I get very nervous giving up old devices that had any kind of personal information on them.

I personally own software that can find things on hard-drives that have been long since deleted so I can tell you first hand what can be done.  And there is software much more powerful then what I use.  I have a cheap $90 program I downloaded off the internet.

Video games and computer components (minus the hard drive) are one thing but phones, hard drives, tablets etc...  I'd be cautious.